Uitenhage Sunset

Canon 400D
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM
f/5
1/1250sec
ISO-200
250mm

I'm Back

Wow, I almost forgot about my blog!! Been really busy the past few months! Got married on the 10th October to my beautiful wife. And being the Tax season in South Africa lately, its been really hectic at work!! But looks like everything is getting back to normal. So will start uploading more pics in the future!!

USB Macro

Canon 400D
Sigma 70-300mm APO Macro
Sigma EF-530 DG ST Flash
ISO200
300mm
f/5.6
1/60sec

Macro Soldier

Canon 400D
ISO400
300mm
F/5.6
1/60sec

Cape White-Eye

BMW Motorrad

Canon 400D
ISO-200
F/6.3
SS - 1/20
154mm

Black & White

I am obsessed with black & white at the moment! I just love it! For some reason it appeals to me much more than colour photo's. These 2 were taken in Keurbooms near Plett. I did the B&W conversion in Lightroom.

Fly????

Not sure what type of fly this is (if it is a fly at all). But thought it was quite nice!!

Rose

I took the top photo in our complex garden this weekend. I then edited in Photoshop and lightroom. Its amazing what you can do with this software. Where will it end???

Glass Stream

This was taken with my 18-200mm Sigma Lens at 154mm, F/14, 1/13 Shutter Speed, ISO 200.

Was looking for a glassy effect. Think it came out quite nicely.

Adobe Lightroom 2

I got hold of a copy of Lightroom 2 recently. I had heard quite a bit about it from the photography network. Wow was I amazed. It is a brilliant non-destructive editor. I particularly like the different presets you can use to create different effects on your photo's. And there are loads of presets you can download for it too.

We went to Kragga Kamma Game Park on youth day and I took a few photo's. These are 2 that I have edited using lightroom only.

I hope you like them!!

Lighthouse

So we went to Cape St Francis this past weekend. Was very nice, never been there before. This was taken with my Canon 400D with a Sigma 18-200mm lens. I edited it slightly and changed it to B&W and put a border using Photoshop.

Cheetah

I took this photo a while ago, so decided to see what I could do in PS with it. So changed it to B&W. Its amazing what PS can do. You would think B&W is plain and simple, but with PS there are so many different settings for B&W. This is how I finally edited the photo...I am going to make a big print of it and frame it for my wall!!!

Engagement Ring

Well I was messing around on Photoshop CS4 and Dynamic HDR this evening. So decided to see what I could do with a pic I took of my fiancés engagement ring. I first used PS to create two more overexposed ( +1 and +2) pics, then two underexposed (-1 and -2) pics. I then merged them using Dynamic HDR and also tonemapped them into a B&W HDR image. I then used PS again to create a black border. This is the result...

Arch Rock

While we were in Plett this last weekend, we decided to take a walk to Arch rock on Keurbooms Beach. These were some rocks at the bottom of arch rock where the waves were breaking on. Its amazing how smooth and clean the ocean makes these rocks...

Sailing Plett

Well I was in Plett this weekend visiting my mom who is down from Johannesburg. Weather wasn't too bad concidering it was suppossed to be 42kph winds with rain. Turned out to be a really nice weekend. As you can see, the bay was really flat. There was just enough wind for ths yacht to be out. I decided to try out the black and white setting on my camera instaed of using photoshop for a change. I think it came out really well.

Spandau Kop

Well this past long weekend I went to Graaf-Reinet (www.graaffreinet.co.za) & Nieu Bethesda (www.nieubethesda.co.za) with my fiance and her parents! I had never been to Nieu Bethesda and was keen to visit the "Owl House" (www.owlhouse.co.za). Well what an experience! Weird comes to mind! But very interesting, I was amazed at all the crushed glass used to cover the walls inside the house.

We stayed just outside Graaff-Reinet in Ardendorp. This was the view from outside our "room"! The koppie in the background is called "Spandau Kop". It was really dark but the air was quite clear so the stars were very visible. I had never tried a long exposure using the "bulb" function on my camera so decided to give it a try to get the moving stars effect. The top picture is an 8 minute exposure, and is my favourite of the 2. The bottom picture is a 12 minute exposure, but as you can see a few light clouds started forming, creating almost a "aurora" lighting effect. It was very cold this night (+/- 5°c), but well worth the effort of standing outside waiting to see the end result!

Keurbooms Blues

Well this is a picture I took at Keurbooms on May Day last year! I am going back to Plett (www.plettenbergbay.co.za) this weekend for a short break and will be visiting the Keurbooms beach again. This part of the world is so picturesque (when its not raining). I will be visiting my Mom who is down in plett at the moment. Watch this space for more pix from Plett/Keurbooms!!

A Special Photo

This is one of my all time favourite photo's I have taken. I took it on 5 August 2008 (3rd anniversary of my fathers passing). It was a strange day, sad yet happy at the same time. So I decided to go for a walk at the beachfront to get away from it all and just be. I took my camera with just in case. So I saw this beautiful sunset and decided to take a few pics. I had just downloaded a HDR program (Dynamic HDR) my brother had told me about, so I decided to take 3 exposures of this sunset and see what the program could do. And this is the result. I was quite amazed. I hope you like it too....

Rockhopper

This is a picture I recently took at Bayworld in Port Elizabeth (www.bayworld.co.za). This is one of 2 rockhopper penguins in the enclosure. Reminds me of Madagascar the movie.

First Photo Upload

This is an HDR photo I recently took with a macro lens (wish it was my macro lens). I love the depth of field in it, and the colours are amazing!!

My First Post EVER

So, this will officially be my first blog post EVER!!

Well let me start off by telling you a little bit about myself. I am a 26 year old guy. I am engaged to a wonderful fiance, and we will be taking the big step on 10 Oct 2009. I live and work in Port Elizabeth, South Africa as an accountant.

This blog will be a small showcase of some of my favourite photo's that I have taken and will be taking. I have only been taking my photography seriously for about a year now (got my first D-SLR in April 2008). I use a Canon 400D with various lenses (though I wish I had more).

I enjoy taking various types of photo's, although macro photography is my favourite at the moment.

I will over the next few days start uploading photo's (maybe 1 or 2 a day).

Hope you enjoy it!!!