Photography & Imagery Archives

Zoom. You gotta love it!

My Friend Neil and I were out the other day roving around between some Trout waters that were not looking all that promising. Neil asked me to stop, and asked if he could borrow my camera. I had been boasting about just how fantastic these bridging cameras are nowadays. On optical zoom only, shot from the passenger seat, this is what he got: On no zoom: 1200mm equivalent, optical zoom only! And in the photo editor back home, effectively using digital zoom: And a bit more, just to show where you can go with this thing: These were taken

11 July 2014

Dust and smoke in the Midlands

Yesterday I headed out along the Kamberg road. Sunday past, this had been the scene of a wild and awful wind. One that lashed the dry veld angrily, kicking up dust and tossing branches. Inevitably, fire had been involved too. The farmers were now on guard. Houses, and even lives were lost down Kokstad way. Yesterday was calm. In fact it was calm all day, and with Sunday’s wind fresh in everyones memory, the farmers were out in force burning fire breaks. Palls of smoke rose from a few spots up the valley. Something was burning up in the berg,

21 June 2014

A chance encounter

If you carry a camera around on Trout waters long enough, you eventually bump into a co-operative Rainbow. It wouldn’t take a fly, but after I had photographed it, I caught it with my hands. Yes, I returned it. No, there were no witnesses.

2 June 2014

Father & Son, Camera & Oils

11 March 2014

Lang my yer lam reek

To my fishing buddy on his birthday: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF2l_XP6Fkg?feature=player_detailpage]

1 February 2014

Highmoor memoir

Highmoor is a wonderful fly-fishing location. It sits high up above the top of the first line of cliffs forming part of the Drakensberg range (known as the”little berg”) at the source of the Little Mooi river. I have been fishing it for many years, and visits there are always a minor pilgrimage. A recent trip inspired this amateur clip.

5 November 2013

First rains

Oh September rain You drench my folded vale. Your cold and cheerless mist Like linen, soft and pale. But you seduce. You persist. And your verdant prize Is my Holy Grail. Gone be fawn and dust. Out with brown and drought! It is your sparkling stream for which I lust. And water for my Trout. Come grace us with your driving squalls, And saturate us in your dew. Oh how I have prayed for you! Explanation. August here in the KZN midlands is not a pretty time of year. At the end of a long winter, the

30 August 2013

A few lines on a cloudy winter morning

A cloudy winter dawn The first light of day brings honking geese Hinting at what lies beyond the drawn curtains, and out across the drab patchwork landscape: Low slung cloud, and dampened dust, Odours of dead wet kikuyu grass, and a wafting hint of silage, hanging in the still morning air. And farmyard sounds that carry in the silence Pervading morning memories of childhood on the farm. Nostalgia nestled in the moment, Like my sleepy being in this warm bed. Commentary/explanation

14 August 2013

Keepers

My friend Roy sent this to me the other day: “I grew up with parents who kept everything & used them time & time again! A mother, God love her, who washed aluminium foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen before they had a name for it. A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones. Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in

9 July 2013

Golden threads

A little photographic trick: Look for opportunities where the fly-caster has a dark background behind him, or at least a patch of dark, across which his fly line will pass when he casts. You might have to ask him to step forward out of the shadows just a little in order to get the sunlight to catch his arcing line. Then take pictures on continuous shooting , in order to get the line at the perfect spot. These opportunities will present themselves more in the early morning or late afternoon, and more so in steep river canyons, where shaded vertical

3 July 2013