Colours & Textures of Naples, Italy

Naples is very different from any other part of Italy that I have ever been to. The traffic, kamikaze scooters, graffiti, grime and the dirt is an assault on ones senses. But gradually the shock wears off and one does notice some unwritten code in operation, some fleeting moments of order. 

The ancient city looms large over all human endeavors and provides a colourful and gritty backdrop against which the Neapolitans go about their frenetic seemingly chaotic business of living , working and existing..

Some of my favourite Eos M Pictures

The Eos M received a lukewarm reception at launch...mostly because of the pedestrian AF speed. A firmware update did improve the AF but it is nowhere near the speeds one can get from some of the other camera brands.

Last year with a price drop interest suddenly picked up. I even bought a black one for myself with the fixed 22mm lens and EF lens adapter. This year I added a white paired with the standard IS zoom lens...I didn't really want another camera but I got the whole package for the same price as the lens alone would have been...

Swakopmund, Namibia 2014

Recently there has been some rumors of a new Eos M camera. I certainly hope that my 'dream' mirror less might be announced although I am not crossing my fingers. My dream Eos M would have a build in or add on view finder, and a  Eos 7D mk2 sensor.... 

Welcome to Strydenburg !

I don't have much to say about sleepy Strydenburg, except that on the day we were there it was very hot and dusty.  But the town is neat & clean and the people are friendly!

Welcome to Murraysburg !

Murraysburg is far from the main road to Cape Town...We drove through it on our way to Nieu Bethesda from Victoria West.

Our first impressions were rather sad as the first thing we saw as we entered town was the cemetery...

                                                           'God is love'

Blue Is The Colour...

Yesterday I went for a walk down Steve Biko str and Voortrekker str in Pretoria North...

I wanted to test my Canon Eos 6D and Canon Ef 85mm F1.8 lens. I recently bought the Eos 6D as a replacement to my Eos 5Dmk2. A few weeks later I also got the Eos Ef 85mm f1.8 lens.   The 85mm gives subtle compression, is small not to attract too much attention and is sharp right out into the corners at medium apertures

Greylingstad...

I stopped in Greylingstad on my way to an assignment at the nearby Sasol Impumulelo mine. 

This is what I saw in the short half an hour or so . . .

       

Review: Canon Eos M & EF 40mm f2.8 STM 'pancake' lens - Part Five

My user report of the 40mm F2.8 pancake lens and the Eos M . . .

These two were made for each other...

Read part five of my review.

                                                             

My Eos M...Some Personal Photographs

I visted some friends in the small town of Mokopane. 

There was not much time for photography but I saw this young woman at the supermarket...luckily I had my Eos M with me...

Molteno

In December last year we traveled through Molteno on our way to Hofmeyer...

It was a Sunday afternoon and a typically summers day. Molteno lies in the Eastern Cape and the town has some interesting architecture most noticeably the Dutch Reformed church that was build by Italian craftsmen. 

Hofmeyer

Hofmeyer lies on the road to Cradock from Burgersdorp...

Its a very small little typical Karoo town. It has not seen much development and everything looks like it probably did 30 years ago if not longer.

Nieu Bethesda in the Karoo region of South Africa

Two nights and one and a half days...

Nieu Bethesda has a very small population of about a thousand people or so. The last time I was here was in 2000, and in the preceding 12 years the town has definitely taken on a more touristy flavour. The are over twenty guest houses and almost all of them were full over the long weekend in December 2012. There are at least two restaurants that are open at night and quite a few more open for lunch...

Lucerne, Switzerland Continued...

In my previous post I talked a little about how difficult it was for me to photograph in Lucerne...

Maybe it was the weather or maybe it was just me or maybe it had something to do with the aesthetics of the place...

Lucerne, Switzerland

I have been lucky to have had the opportunity to visit London, Paris, Barcelona and Italy.

So when my wife, Cheryl, invited me to join her for a few days in Lucerne, after her business trip there,  I was a bit hesitant at first. I always had this picture in my mind of mountains and orderly little towns and cities. 

Bethulie Houses

Still at 800km...

I enjoy photography best when I have time and I don't have to hurry. That's why I like to stay over in a place that I think will be interesting to explore at my leisure. One nights sleepover is adequate for this and if one can arrive at ones destination in the early afternoon have a bit of a rest and then one has the rest of the day, evening and the following morning to walk around and explore. I usually just walk rather aimlessly around and look for images that I could make . . . 

click on images to enlarge.

Bethulie - Facades

At 800km...

Bethulie is a small town that resides almost on the banks of the Gariep dam. Its famous for being the town were Patrick Mynhardt was born. Patrick was well known for his performances of the Herman Charles Bosman's characters on stage . . . 

Click on images to enlarge . . .

Venterstad, architecture...

At 858km's..

Venterstad, not to be confused with Ventersdorp of ET fame, is a small little town below the Gariep dam. We travelled through Venterstad on a very hot Sunday morning. The only open shop that we could find that was the pub in the local hotel. We wanted to buy ice for our cool box but they don't sell ice so we had to settle for a couple of cold cool drink cans to keep our food for the 'braai' (barbecue) that evening cold . . .

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....

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...

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.

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