Nikond600

Another flower that looks like a frozen space explosion to me.

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. ...

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.

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. ...

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.

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.

Last one for a bit, I promise.

Another from the rainy day in Newlands Forest. The D600 is just young enough to have live view for composing but old enough that it’s awful at it.

More ferns. But this time from a walk in Newlands Forest a few weeks ago during the rains. I was having a great time out there until the eyepiece of the camera dislodged my hard contact lens - sending it tumbling to the endless complexity of the forest floor. It might as well have fallen through a wormhole into another dimension. An expensive mistake.

@kanesnaps and I trying to get back into regular mountain walks. We started small with the popular Constantia Neck walk to this ferny cliff with its ever trickling water. I felt these steps coming down here had a Lord of the Rings feel. I walked up to here in my new hiking boots - a completely traditional all-leather, stitched sole type to replace my high technology Zamberlans that have finally worn out after a literal quarter century. Thing about traditional leather boots though: wearing them in is a painful trial. But experience says that once that’s done they’ll be more comfortable than any off-the-shelf synthetic footwear. I swapped to my ancient trail running shoes - a hand-me-down from @jason66c - for the second half.