Karoo Cloud Landscapes...

at 1000, 985 and 979km's...

The stretch of road between the Gariep dam to Philippolis via Colesberg, was uneventful. We were tired and hot and bothered and just wanted to get to Philippolis for a rest. We stopped anyway because we found some great cloudscapes and the landscape was really desolate with  fine yellow grass on either side of the road as far as the eye could see.

Selfportraits...

at 1000km..

From Colesberg to Philippolis is about 57 km. We didn't stop in Colesberg because by this time we had been driving the whole day and we just wanted to get to Philippolis to rest and eat something, preferably in a shady spot out of the sun!

Philippolis accommodation.

I can heartily recommend the Starry Nights Karoo Cottages ( http://www.starrynights.co.za  ) in Philippolis. The cottage was spotlessly clean and tastefully decorated in old farm style furniture. The cottages are in the centre of town and within walking distance from all the sights and restaurants. We had a large one bedroom cottage and at R440-00 (44 euro) per night is not bad although there are more affordable rooms and accommodation available. The old jail cells have been converted into guest rooms and apparently is very quiet at night, not that the town is noisy at all...

click image to enlarge...

Typical Karoo cottage, similar to the one we stayed in...

Philippolis Portraits

Still at 1030km...

Before we leave Philippolis (I think you might have had enough by now! ) i will show my last few portraits I made here...

With my big camera slung over my shoulder I took a very early morning walk through town. I also had my small little X1 with me for quick portraits. As I walked and photographed the buildings I would come across early risers and ask them if I could take their photograph. All said yes, these small towns have very friendly people!

              Johan Louw, 30 year resident in Philippolis, fixes old trucks and drills water boreholes...

Philippolis, portrait of Claire...

Still at 1030km...

Here we have a portrait of Claire..she works at Ko Ma In ( Afrikaans for 'come in' ) a restaurant and coffee bar in Philipolis. It was very early on the Monday morning and Claire was on her way to work and she graciously agreed to have her photograph taken. She was a bit apprehensive about going to work and when I asked her why she replied that sometimes the customers give her a hard time...

Philippolis Architecture...

Still at 1030km...

With my camera and shift lens on a tripod I took a walk through Philippolis. The buildings hint at a prosperous past...there is even an art deco style building that was once a bank....

Philippolis, boys will be boys...

At 1030km...

As we drove out of Philippolis on our way to Trompsburg I saw these youngsters playing soccer in the street. I stopped and asked them to form a group and made some exposures. Then one of their friends a little further up the street saw what was happening, shouted and said he wants in as well. So then I asked each one to grab a pillar on the 'stoep' (veranda) and to give me a 'serious' pose...

Between Pilippolis and Trompsburg...

At 1040km..

As we left Pilippolis on our way to Trompsburg we drove past this horse and cart going at a fast trot towards Trompsburg. 

Between Jagersfontein and Bloemfontein...

at 1158km...

I am going to start at the end and work my way back to the beginning...Why? I thought it would make it easier reading the whole blog when its all finished, as blogs have the last entries first......and just to be a little different.....

Freestate Journey 2011

In the next few post I will be telling you about my journey to the Freestate in December 2011.

Pilippolis, Gas Station

Its all in the mind...

The image here is of a petrol station in Pilippolis, in the southern part of the Freestate. Last year in December I stayed there for a night. The next morning I got up early and went for a walk with my camera to photograph the structures of this rather old town...

Bonsmara Bulls - a Portrait

Bull Photography. 

It was quite difficult to separate the bulls from the herd - the bulls kept on running back to their herd! Eventually we managed to isolate a bull for a few moments and then I had to be quick to get my image. I had to wait till the bull turned into the correct position where it looked good and I could see the scrotum clearly.....and only then snap off a few exposures..... apparently that's how bulls are supposed to be photographed!!! . . .

A Standerton Farm, the architecture...

On the farm there was an imposing main house , still in good condition, although it looked as if the exterior had been modernised a bit. The stables were a bit more rundown although still in use. There was also another very interesting house on the farm of newer vintage. It is not in use and some of the wooden floors had caved in.

What I really liked about these structures was the patina they had acquired over the years and also that they were mostly in their original condition, without any of the ugly alteration that are made over the years by insensitive owners.

For all these images I used my Mamiya ZD medium format digital camera with a 50mm shift lens. It is a 22mp camera and although rather old in digital terms is my prefered camera for architecture. It has to be used on a tripod -when using the shift lens- and that makes for a more measured working pace. The 50mm shift lens has a normal to wide perspective, slightly wider than a 35mm lens in 135mm format terms.

click on images to enlarge...

I prefer to photograph architecture and also landscapes with a 'normal' point of view...usually square on from the front. I suppose I want the 'photographer' to intrude as little as possible. I want to show what I saw and not be 'creative' about it with unusual angles and perspectives. These are 'stately' structures no matter their use or origin or 'budget' and I want to show them in that way.

A Farm near Standerton....

The Landscapes of an African Farm near Standerton, South Africa......

On Thursday I travelled to photograph a farm near Standarton. Initially the owner asked me to photograph his Bonsmara stock. The Bonsmara breed is a local one that was specially bred for South African conditions.

Near Haenertsburg

Four trees and some advertising....

Solarized Portrait of Karla

About a year ago. towards the end of 2010 I signed up at the Leica forum. 

I had bought a small Leica camera, the X1 and as the forum only allows images made by Leica camera to be posted on the forum, I could now post my images there. At the same time I signed up as a sponsoring member which had a few advantages such as no ads, and personal galleries could host 100 images instead of three etc etc. As a bonus for signing up I got a free download of Color Efex Pro software.

I don't use the software much but occasionally it helps with a colour problem I might have with an image.

Here is a portrait of my daughter Karla that has gone through some heavy manipulation using the solarization software.....its not really my style but my daughter thought it was ' awsum ', she's 15 and I, it being an image of my daughter, how could I not like it......

Isola Bella's white peacocks

Isola Bella, is a tiny island in Lake Maggiore near Milan in Italy. 

It is one of three islands that make up the Borromeo island group. Isola Bella has been totally transformed over the years and today there is a large castle, terraced gardens and a jetty. The whole island was build to resembles a ship . . .

Lucern architecture

In May2010 I visited Lucern in Switzerland for 4 days.

During most of that time it either rained or was overcast. Fortunately when it rained it was the soft drizzle kind, not the thunderstorms with heavy shower kind that I am used to over here on the Highveld . . .

                                                                'Vero Moda', Lucern 2010

The Star of the Show....

Ebenezer dam, Magoebaskloof.....

All I know about this speedboat is that it is called a Regal and has a 5 liter V8 inboard engine and at speed is smooth enough not to spill my G&T........!

Mees doing a handstand....

Regards, Ivan

Simple Portraits

Portraits, Ebenezer dam, Magoebaskloof

One of my first cameras was a medium format Mamiya C330 wth a square film format. Later on I had a Hasselblad, also a square film format. I still remember the ads Hasselblad ran in those days touting the superiority of the square format over the other formats like 6x7, 6x4.5 etc. Today of course Hasselblad still makes a square format camera but its flagship digital camera is 6x4.5....but today to get a square image you would have to crop it...

                                                                             Amy

A Lazy January Afternoon.....

Ebenezer dam , Magoebaskloof....

The hot sun, swimming and skiing makes everyone tired and then the talking and clowning around gets less and less and less until we sleep.........

Regards, Ivan

Going, Going.......Gone.......

Ebenezer dam, Magoebaskloof.

Amy, just turned 18 and a champion swimmer that regularly swims in the top three nationwide, captured here gettig ready for her early morning practice swim. The width of the Ebenezer dam at this point is about 600m, I verified this via a pair of rangefinder Leitz binoculars that belong to her dad, so her swim will be about 1,2 km in total.....

New Years Eve, 2011

As this is my first post on my new blog and also my first post for 2012, I thought I would start with a slightly out of character image.

My teenage daughters and their friends jumping into the air at my command! The images were made on New Years eve at a friend of mine's holiday cottage on the shore of the Ebenezer dam in Magoebas kloof in the Limpopo Province of South Africa . . .