D600 on The Singemonkey

April 28, 2025

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 15:53:51 +0000

I’m still playing with close up photography with flash. Off the camera this time. This little running cactus on our front stoop - placed there by @cara.stacey - didn’t flower at all the first few years we were here but now is running colours up the mast it seems like every two or three months.

April 17, 2025

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 19:43:56 +0000

And here she is: the African Honey Bee. Known in the USA as the African Killer Bee (they’re a lot more venomous than European or American honey bees. You do not want to piss off a swarm of them). I came so close to nailing focus on this one. Insect photography is hard.

April 17, 2025

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 19:40:32 +0000

I think this is a bee of some kind. I’m not sure how many South Africans realise we have many different kinds of bees besides honey bees.

April 17, 2025

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 19:38:16 +0000

Doing a bit of close-up photography with flash for the first time really. I had more ambitious plans which fell apart but this on-camera flash with a tiny soft box was actually a great introduction. ISO and aperture darkened the ambient light so that the flash did most of the work isolating these flowers against darkness. Kirstenbosch naturally an ideal place to experiment.

March 15, 2025

Sat, 15 Mar 2025 19:16:37 +0000

Lovely morning at Intaka Island with my dad and my dear cousin @joydemillar Waiting proved worthwhile and this living jewel of South Africa’s rivers and lakes eventually settled close enough. It had a ring on its tiny leg. These little Malachite Kingfishers are about the size of a large hen’s egg. This one is, I think, a sub-adult with traces of black still on its bill.

January 04, 2025

Sat, 04 Jan 2025 10:29:23 +0000

Another one from Kirstenbosch the other day. This is the remnant of a protea flower.

September 19, 2024

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 21:21:58 +0000

Tiny critters in a big landscape. Almost every pile of boulders (ancient magma chambers exposed by erosion and then crumbled by weather, plants, and time) has a pair of resident klipspringers (rock-hoppers) - an adorable, agile, and feisty little antelope.

These plaques on the rocks are the kind of memorialising that used to be de rigueur in the old days. Now such things are usually confined to camps and gates rather than forced onto the landscape.

September 19, 2024

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 17:39:38 +0000

Kruger is about landscape as well as beasts, birds, and trees.

September 15, 2024

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 21:51:42 +0000

The prettiest kitty. Dozing on a branch over the Sabie just like her ancestors have probably done for thousands of years.

September 12, 2024

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 06:29:53 +0000

The smallest hyena I’ve ever seen. Its ma is obsessed with it.

July 12, 2024

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 15:32:04 +0000

First self portrait in nearly 4 years. I think the last time was towards the end of the great plague year.

I’ve finally got some flash triggers and can begin getting back into doing some stuff with lighting - having forgotten nearly everything I knew. I’m not very good at it at this point but, as Jake the magic dog said, sucking at something is the first step to being kinda good at it.

June 26, 2024

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 15:53:58 +0000

Took another crack at the sunbirds. There were so many. I took more decent pictures of them today than in my entire life up until. Trying to think how to post a few more without it being boring.

June 20, 2024

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 09:24:38 +0000

I had a lovely experience with this little character. It’s a Cape Spurfowl - a common little ground bird that starts life as a fluffy golf ball on spindly legs. I was struggling to focus as it got nearer and nearer until it was right next to where I was lying on the grass - inspecting me at close range for signs of edibles. They’re lovely up close with their intricate patterns.

June 20, 2024

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 08:18:32 +0000

À propos first thing in the morning? The Cape Town Valkyrie, the Hadeda Ibis. I recently read that they have a sensitive organ in their long beaks that can detect the tiny vibrations of prey wriggling beneath the ground.

June 19, 2024

Wed, 19 Jun 2024 08:57:02 +0000

It started to drizzle now as I got back from my run and we got another spectacular rainbow.

Auto white balance let me down here in the camera and my phone’s warmth control couldn’t get it all back. This is also where I realised that the default Apple photo editor has no perspective controls - at least none that I can find.

Edit: doh! @ezlemoen pointed me to the perspective controls and I realised I’d seen them before.

April 05, 2024

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 17:20:16 +0000

This young guy has been going through some exciting times. It’s wonderful watching him and his sister growing into kind and passionate young adults.

April 05, 2024

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 16:48:57 +0000

Common as they are, I never get bored of the elegance that is the Little Egret. One day I’ll get a good pic of one.

My old man and I were out birdwatching at Green Point Park which is a really pleasant place to spend an afternoon.

May 13, 2017

Sat, 13 May 2017 21:46:33 +0000

The #bosslady @karenmaramoss guiding the ship.

May 13, 2017

Sat, 13 May 2017 21:41:26 +0000

My dear friend Marcus doing what he does best.

May 08, 2017

Mon, 08 May 2017 20:05:51 +0000

First pic of #famousskitten in a while. Its not been #happy with the #arrival of the #gremmie #kittens and is trying to #sleep until they start to #behave. Poor thing.

May 08, 2017

Mon, 08 May 2017 19:46:23 +0000

#crumb is enjoying the #fire phenomenon.

May 08, 2017

Mon, 08 May 2017 19:33:28 +0000

It’s like this.