Some Odd Balls

Every Sunday Cee’s Photography hosts an Odd Ball photo challenge.

Odd Ball Photos are those great photos that you take which really don’t seem to fit into a common category. We’ve all taken them and like them, because we just can’t hit delete and get rid of them. If you have any of those type of photos, this challenge is for you.

Because of time zone differences I am too early for today’s challenge, but here’s my contribution for last week.

The pictures speak for themselves in terms of odd-ball-ness.

Shadows

When I first decided to take part in the Daily Post Shadow photo challenge I thought any pictures I used would have to be limited to those taken either early in the morning or late in the afternoon, when shadows are long and dramatic.

Then I came across this picture I took of these little guys, soaking up the mid-day sun on Boulders Beach in Cape Town.

Last year I was invited to write a small story about Walking With Rhinos in a local publication.

Although the walk I was on sets off early in the morning, I was lucky it was mid winter – by 07.00am it was already pretty hot.

Now back to Cape Town, where wedding guests play a genteel game of croquet while waiting for the bride and groom to appear after family photographs

Walking back to the car one evening, after an extended Sunday lunch at The Brass Bell, we came across a micro pig playing with a dog in a children’s play ground.

Happy, hot dogs take respite from the glaring sun.

Our shadows briefly rest on the Zimbabwe bank of the Zambezi River, a fleeting reminder that this used to be home.

 

 

 

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Two Very Different Items

My Dad wrestling with a crocodile – not something you see every day.

These penguins look very much alike, but there are two of them and they do look very cute.

As do these adorable young vervet monkeys.

Man and machine – applying lime to the wheat fields.

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Have a look at Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge to see more entries in this week’s challenge – Two Very Different Items or The Number Two.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Clouds

This is my second entry for this week’s challenge, Clouds.

Cures Most Known Ignorances

This Land: Namibia

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge for this week asks us to find a theme in the second and third verses of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land”.

In 1999 my family and I went on a camping trip to Namibia. Three weeks and seven thousand kilometers later I was convinced that country is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and I’ve selected a few of the pictures I took for my contribution.

NOTE: These are scanned copies of photos I took with my ancient Canon A1, before I owned a digital camera (had they even been invented then?). Unfortunately the quality is not great (and I am completely clueless when it comes to picture enhancing programs like Photoshop) but hopefully you will get an idea of the grandeur and beauty from the few I have chosen for this post.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway

I saw above me that endless skyway

I saw below me that golden valley

This land was made for you and me

I’ve roamed and I’ve rambled and I followed my footsteps

 

To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts

 

And all around me a voice was sounding

This land was made for you and me

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Metal

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Metal

Cee’s Which Way Challenge: 2014 #10

The Mulobezi Express winds its way between Livingstone and Mulobezi – a logging village in the middle of nowhere – and bisects the farm, almost down the middle. We have to cross it many times a day to get to the top fields.

The Mulobezi Express Line

Derailments are a regular occurrence and often it is out of action for weeks. When this happens the passengers all rally together and using logs as levers and a lot of elbow grease and sweat, somehow manage to lift the train back on its tracks.

When it is in operation we hear it come rattling past twice a week, its wheels screaming in protest – sometimes very late at night – loaded to capacity with people, livestock and goods if it is heading towards Mulobezi, and logs for its return journey. It sounds as if it is heading directly towards the house, which is very unnerving and the dogs always go barking crazy, tearing up and down the fence shouting insults.

Maintenance is a very loose term in this part of the world but from time to time a crew of men are sent along the line to check for problems and, if they can, to fix them. They are always a cheerful bunch and we can often hear their laughter and singing echoing through the trees as they make their way deeper into the forest (the dogs don’t like this either!).

The Maintenance Crew

Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge