Terns

Busy day so a bit of a cheat and quota photo.

Here’s an image that I took this week of some Greater Crested Terns in Cape Agulhas.

And yes, it does need to be that big, thank you very much.

Nothing very cheaty about that, but I did already share this shot on my Instagram, so if you think you’ve seen it before, well, you might be right.

I don’t often do this sort of thing though, so you should probably follow me on the ‘Gram just to make sure you don’t miss out on anything. Or to catch me out when I try this sort of twice posting nonsense again.

Hitting the road

We’re heading off today on the road trip that I mentioned a little while back. This will necessitate several (or more) hours of driving along the national road, some of which I know like the back of my hand, some of which I haven’t driven since 2013.

We’re in no hurry: everything is booked and in order, so we can afford a fairly leisurely drive and – almost certainly – a few stops for coffee and padkos on the way.

I’m going to be sharing images when and where I can, probably mostly on Instagram, so click through and give me a follow to live vicariously through me for the next week or so. I predict horses, landscapes, wild animals and deserted beaches.

But what do I know?

See you on the other side.

Coming (going) soon

Just a quick admin style post to inform you that the beaglesitter is booked, and we’re going away for a few days from next weekend. Thus, I have my blogging work cut out pre-writing extra posts this week to cover those days, just in case there’s no time, wifi or will available to actually get stuff done while we’re away: it is meant to be a holiday, after all.

I’ve done this before on several occasions and it’s worked just fine. If there are things to share, and I can and want to share them, then I’ll simply add some “live” posts in.

You probably won’t even notice the difference. Seamless.

Unless, of course… something big happens in the news that I didn’t know was going to happen, and then I blog about it – ostensibly after it’s actually happened – but actually the post was written before it took place, and therefore fails to reference it. Or worse still, appears to make some callous or inappropriate reference to it. I used to joke that such an event might be a nuclear attack or some such. But right now, that doesn’t seem quite so far-fetched, so I’ll probably avoid that subject. After all, few have forgotten the infamous “Safest Road Tunnels Next to Rivers in Europe’s Capital Cities” post, prewritten to cover our late August trip to the Karoo in 1997.

Awkward times.

More details of the trip coming soon, and I’ll obviously remind you nearer the time to get my instagram locked and loaded on your device of choice, because sharing photos for likes and attention us to look back on in the future will surely be a huge part of our short family break.

In the meantime, the usual dross and mediocrity laughs and merriment continue unabated in the run-up to our road trip.

Stay tuned!

Day 277 – Top Nine

Here are my 2020 “Top Nine” photographs on Instagram.

I think that they’re decided by likes and attention, rather than any sort of consideration of actual composition, lighting and/or skill.

Maybe they’re relying on the people doing the likes and giving the attention to makes the judgement on the composition, the lighting and/or the skill.

Morten dominating there, clearly. Also some pre-lockdown cricket, a tree-climbing beagle and a quick and dirty ISS shot. And don’t let’s omit the shipwreck in the sun.

Some decent memories there.
Seems like there were some moments worth remembering after all.

Day 126 – John Kraus says no

I’ve been following John Kraus on Instagram for a while now – you may remember him from such posts such as Rocket Science. Not because I’m some sort of rocket nerd (I’m really not), but because… well… Look at this stuff:

and this stuff…

Amazing.

John seems to have a pretty cool life, whizzing all over the world to take images of various rocket tests and launches. And if you think his IG is good, go and have a look at his “real” reel here.

John is heading off to Alaska to cover another launch this week:

I’m heading to Kodiak, Alaska tomorrow for Astra’s (@astraspace) first orbital launch attempt, scheduled for August 2nd-7th. Here’s a look at (most of) the camera gear I’m bringing to capture this mission. Also: I’ll still be here in Florida to photograph the #Mars2020 launch — I’m flying out later in the day. 

and here is that image of (some) (some!!) of the kit he’s taking with him:

Wow.

But it was this comment:

and the reply:

that caught my eye.

“My picks, not yours” !!!

Actual lol.

It was (possibly) worth a try.

 

Photos: John Kraus.
Seriously – go and have a look at his work.