15 January 2014 - Factory Fire

Just after 8am I looked out of our bedroom window to see a huge plume of black smoke rising high into the sky.  This was no bush fire...  something big was burning.

I grabbed my photo gear and raced off following the very visible smoke plume.

A textile factory in the North End area of Port Elizabeth was ablaze!  I managed to get onto the premises and get some shots before the police asked me to leave.

Thankfully there were no serious injuries. And although the roof of the factory collapsed and the walls caved in in places, no surrounding buildings caught alight.  Scary stuff....

7 January 2014 - Birds of Eden, Monkeyland, Jukani

The weather prediction was for rain but I decided to take a drive to the Craggs (near Pletternberg Bay) anyway.  I wanted to see how my new Canon 5D MkIII would perform in the low light conditions at Birds of Eden.  And, of course, to get as many photos as possible to upload to the Microstock sites.  Monkey Land and Jukani were also part of the plan.

Well it rained on and off as predicted but that wasn't the problem....  the heavy overcast conditions meant that while the light was soft and even, it was also very low.  I was shooting at ISO2000 up to ISO4000 and still having to use a slow shutter speed and wide open aperture. Lots of soft pics due to camera shake. The very shallow depth of field didn't help either.

Jukani was very interesting and is beautifully laid out.  We had the excitement of watching two big male lions roaring and charging at each other. Only the fences of their enclosures kept them apart (and from attacking us as well!) Powerful stuff.   However, from a photographers point of view, the photo opportunities were very limited due to the (very necessary) double fences.

It was an overall disappointment as far as the shoot went, but I am very impressed with the 5DMkIII's high ISO capabilities.  

Anyway, here are a few of the better images from the day.

30 December 2013 - Fire Eater

The circus was in town so I used the opportunity to arrange a private demonstration by the Fire Eater.


This was tricky....  outdoors the wind was blowing the flame away and indoors the light was so low it was difficult to see what was going on. Anyway "Paul" kindly gave me a few minutes and we managed to capture a few interesting shots.

Oh, and I learnt a few tricks of the trade! Not that I will ever try it.