Slangkop Lighthouse at Kommetjie, Western Provence

I recently spent some time in and around Cape Town and on one cloudy afternoon found myself heading south towards the small town of Kommetjie.

Kommetjie (Afrikaans for "small basin"),  lies about halfway down the west coast of the Cape Peninsula at the southern end of the long wide beach that runs northwards towards Chapman's Peak and Noordhoek. The village is situated around a small, natural and rocky inlet that resembles a basin. The area is a popular spot for surfing because of the powerful waves from the Atlantic Ocean that rise up over rocky reefs formed by hard sandstones of the Table Mountain Group. I ventured on to the Southern part of the town and followed the sign boards to the Slangkop Lightouse. The clouds were very heavy and I was imagining the dramatic images that I might be able to capture. I parked and headed over the wooden walkway towards the sea side of the lighthouse and I had timed it perfectly. The tide was out!

Now Slangkop is the tallest cast-iron tower on the South African coast. It was installed on the 4th March 1919 and stands 33 metres high. The tower looks out over the surfers, fisherman and divers and over the years it has served its purpose steering ships around the dangerous rocks and hidden reefs. Slangkop was established as a result of a commission appointed on 29 September 1906 by His Excellency, the Honourable Sir Francis Hely Hutchinson, Governor of the Cape of Good Hope.
The height of the focal plane is 41 metres above sea level and the light has a range of 33 sea miles and has four flashes every 30 seconds. The lighthouse is now fully automatic and receives its electricity supply from Cape Town Municipality and has a standby diesel alternator in event of a break in the mains supply (or Eskom loadshedding)

I navigated down the rockery slope and onto the rock bed (which might I add was exceptionally slippery, leaving me finding myself smack onto my butt a few times). There was a lovely contrast of colours between the colours of the rocks, the green moss like growth and the reflections of patches of blue sky in the water puddles. I set the tripod up and started shooting, often changing positions for different viewpoints and compositions.

The light was constantly changing due to the movement of the clouds and being close to sunset, the colours were changing as well. No two images were going to be the same.

After I had captured enough images I went back up to the wooden walkway and the light had changed quite dramatically again.

In between the lighthouse shooting the sun had set and I had turned and managed an image or two.

I stopped for one last lighthouse image on my way to the car park to round off a very successful afternoon.

A picture speaks a thousand words

They say that a picture says a thousand words.. and it does... really.. One picture can save a thousand words of descriptive text which at the end of the text can leave many different images in our mind because we all relate a written description to our own unique imagination and interpret it differently. If we in turn look at an image there is nothing that can be misconstrued or misrepresented... or is there?

Well summer has finally arrived and so off I went and got my Porshe Boxster out from storage. Now you must understand.. men and their cars.. well, that's a story all on it's own. I love this car and have been the proud owner for several years now. I will even let you into a little secret.. the mileage is exceptionally low and the insurance premiums even lower...

I posted this image on some photo groups on Facebook and got some comments like "I'm jealous" and "wow"... 

BUT... is everything what we really see the truth? Do I own a Porsche Boxster? Hell no! Would I like to? Of course!! So where did I get this Porsche from? I cannot tell a lie, directly from my showcase. What? you might say, you keep a Porsche in your showcase? Well actually I do. 

Now this is where the "trickery" comes in. This photograph was not manipulated or "Photoshopped" as many would put it. It is very much as I shot it. I will admit I had to slightly change the colour of the grass under the Porsche because I didn't have the patience to match it up with the grass in the background when I shot the image. Other than that, it is exactly as I shot it.. 

 Aha.... well there you go. The secret is out the bag! I don't own a real Porsche but indeed do own a scale model replica of one. So by using a photographic technique called "Forced Perspective" I was able to achieve an out the camera real image of what seems to be my Porsche in my front garden. This technique has been around since just about the advent of photography and I'm sure has been used many many times to fool the viewer!

So does a photograph speak a thousand words? Yes of course it does.... but seeing isn't always believing is it?

 

SAA Museum Society - Rand Airport

The South African Airways Museum Society was founded in 1986 by individuals within South African Airways and interested outside parties with the aim of preserving the history of South African Airways as well as that of general civil aviation in South Africa. The Museum is based at the Transvaal Aviation Club at Rand Airport in Germiston. Historic items such as photographs, aircraft instruments, timetables and other important documentation are on display in the society's display hall. This is open to the public and the society regularly participates in open days to encourage particularly the younger generation of South Africans to take an interest in aviation as a potential career. 

The museum has a static display of aircraft including the Boeing 747-244B "Lebombo", 747-SP "Maluti", two Skymaster DC-4's, a Douglas DC-3, a Lockheed Lodestar, de Havilland Dove and even 2 simulators.

As per usual in the recent while, the time of day that I visited presented very harsh light and I was shooting into the sun a lot. This resulted in bright sun flares in some of the images but I wasn't really unhappy with the results. I was also shooting with an ultra wide angle lens to fit the aircraft into the frame so some traditional lines may of been slightly distorted.

This massive "chamber" is the compartment where one set of wheels of the Jumbo lifts up into.

They may not look big but wait until you stand next to a Jumbo's wheels!

The air sucking blades of the Jumbo's engine.

Douglas C-54D-15-DC

de Havilland DH 104

The B747 Simulator

Airbus A300 Simulator 

In memory of all those that have served and answered the call of the sunset.

Sunset Calls

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun,and in the morning.

We will remember them 

Today would of been my fathers birthday. Born on the 9th July 1920 in Tarkastad in the Cape province, he lived through many advances and changes that the world has experienced over the last century. The most profound event that influenced and shaped his adult life was his military service during the 2nd World War. From the scorching North African Desert to the bitter cold climate of Europe under most pressing circumstances, these events would dominate his life to the extent that even many years after his discharge, he was still a soldier at heart. I grew up hearing war stories and experiences that he had gone through that I must admit, must of been terrifying for any young man. Things like lying in a bed in a tent on a temporary airforce base whilst the Stuka bombers are dive bombing the base, not knowing if the next bomb will land on you or not. Many different events like this that I fortunately never had to experience and I wish for my son to never have to live through.

Driving home I wondered what image I could capture that could serve as a worthy image that I could dedicate to my father on what would of been his 93rd birthday. It suddenly dawned on me... the memorial at the M.O.T.H.'s Dickie Fritz Shellhole in Edenvale. They have a Lockheed Ventura and a Puma helicoptor as well as some canons and a tank.

When a soldier passes, it is referred to as the sunset call and what a more appropriate image would it be if I could capture the Ventura with the sun setting close by. I raced down to the Shellhole, quickly obtained permission to shoot some images and managed a few shots before the light was gone.

In memory of you on your birthday dad. Happy Birthday.

The Franschoek Motor Museum

Whether you are a Petrol Head or simply just male, this is one place that you should visit at least once in a while. This is the most comprehensive collection of motor vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles and memorabilia that I have seen in one place. It is to be found in the magnificent setting of L’Ormarins which is in Franschoek in the wine valley of the Western Cape.

The collection pieces are immaculate and must be worth many millions of ZAR. Shot with my Sony A99 and CZ16-35. No flash used.

The Entrance leads you past this wonderful large painting.

The collection is housed in these large buildings

What a beautiful setting