Sunset...

Was a beautiful July afternoon, to the rest of South Africa, it's winter but not in Ballito... we were at the coast relaxing after a day of doing, well, very little besides a short trip to the beach and back. I looked up and saw the golden colours on the clouds so I jumped up grabbed my camera and went for a walk. The heart in the cloud is just coincidence, honestly... took a stranger to notice it.

Firstly, as I walked out the front door I noticed the rays peeking over the clouds between the houses, which are cropped out of this image as they spoiled the shot.

Then, as i walked half backwards up the slightly steep road to where it would be more open to take photos I kept stopping to take pictures. Oh yes, a trick I figured was to use my sunglasses as a lens filter. This helped to create lens flairs too.

As I got further up the "hill" along the road, I kept taking phots, still using my sunglasses over the lens.

Ah, the brisk walk is over... I reached my final destination. This small cluster of trees were great to shoot, and so photogenic. They posed wonderfully for me and never complained. Notice the compostion of the tree and location of the sun... a well done pfoto according to the pros. Okay, I did have to crop a little off the top and clone out a few stray twigs and stalks of grass as per their request.

The constant shifting of the clouds provided a great oportunity to get great sunset photos, I stepped back a bit more to get more of the sky in as well so you can see how the colours were changing as darkness loomed behind me.

Of course, while I was up there... I just had to snap up our accomodation, thanks to a friend who owns a small place there. This is Caledon Estates, Ballito. Thanks go out to my buddy, for walking out when he did (I never noticed him until afterwards) and providing perspective to the size of the place. Phase two of the estate is now beginning construction. Pity about the pylon and power cables in the background. I could clone them out but that would steal from the reality of the shot and the place. On the stroll back, I noticed this tree with new shoots, in July, in winter... so a sihouette shot came to mind. Pity I couldn't get a better shot, this is still a bit busy for my liking.