Picture This! by karin

Little Hay Barn

2010-10-22T14:44:00.003+02:00

Some more images taken at the gorgeous Arolela Guest Farm, in and around this delightful little hay barn.

Klasie

2010-10-20T20:45:00.000+02:00

A few weeks ago, we had the privilege of spending a weekend at Arolela Guest Farm in the Overberg. To say that it was a great getaway is a complete understatement! Stunning scenery, authentic farm activities for the kids, heart-warming hospitality - the list goes on.
Klasie is the donkey on the farm. I don't think Klasie quite realises that he is a donkey - given a chance I'm sure he would happily follow the kids into the house and pick a bed! Whenever someone gets close to his camp, he comes running, braying at the top of his lungs! He is a very entertaining and most endearing creature and it was a lot of fun to spend some time with him.

The day my lens died: Cape St Francis Lighthouse

2010-08-19T19:57:00.002+02:00

Minutes after taking these pictures, I discovered that the autofocus on my 50mm lens was malfunctioning. Lens has since been sent in for repairs (fault was due to the fact that the kids dropped the camera, but I'm not getting into that!) and they are able to repair it. But like all things photography related, it's doesn't come cheap. Let's hope it works properly when I finally have it back!

I love milkshake

2010-08-05T18:12:00.002+02:00

It's a huge struggle to get them and then they fall out

2010-08-04T17:15:00.002+02:00

During the past two months, Joubert has lost all four of his front teeth. I love this phase in his life and find his toothless grin totally adorable!

Wheel of Excellence at the V&A Waterfront

2010-07-23T16:35:00.004+02:00

What I'm looking at while the others are fishing

2010-07-21T09:40:00.002+02:00

As you can see in my previous post, my family is somewhat into fishing. You will note though, the lack of photos of actual fish. Mmmm. That's why I rather stand around with my camera until I get bored and then go read a book.

Early morning fishing

2010-07-19T15:57:00.004+02:00

Storms River Mouth

2010-07-15T10:59:00.002+02:00

Back again?

2010-07-13T19:18:00.004+02:00

I regularly check the stats for my other blog, but because it's been so long since I posted on this one, I haven't been monitoring the traffic for a really long time. So yesterday (while I was supposed to be attending to more pressing matters) I randomly checked Google Analytics and was very surprised to see that some people still come here. So to all those lovely folk, if you ever come here again, thank you for checking in. I think you may have inspired me to make a renewed effort to revive this blog.
I stopped blogging here for several reasons. I created a new site specifically for my business and it absorbed a lot of my time in the early stages. I then got into the habit of not doing regular posts on this blog. I also moved to the Cape which resulted in a whole new way of life and I felt less inclined to spend every waking moment in front of the computer. I run my own business and look after my two children with very little support. I don't have family close-by to help and don't have a nanny. My son struggles at school due to learning problems and this takes a lot of my time. And I need to have free time to spend with my family and with myself.
Starting a blog seemed like such an easy thing to do, but it can be a full-time job all by itself. I soon realised that a certain code exists in the blogging community and that you are expected to make certain contributions if you'd like to create a following. I tried this for a long time. But I just couldn't keep it up. I still read quite a number of blogs, but almost never leave comments. I know that this is frowned upon (yes, I'm a lurker), but I find it too time consuming. I read all my favourites in my reader and I don't click through to all the posts to leave a comment. That might make me a horrible blogger, but that is also why I don't expect you to comment here. Feel free to lurk - trust me, I understand :)

In honour of all those blogs that I read every day, I'll update my blog list within the next 24 hours to reveal those who entertain and inspire me.

And I suppose I can't finish off without a photo or two...

Texture

2010-03-23T17:45:00.003+02:00

Flower at sunset

2010-03-10T20:14:00.001+02:00

Portraits for me

2010-02-07T17:00:00.002+02:00

I've been wanting to get canvasses done of Joubert and Emma for the house for ages, but I can't decide which photos to use. I hardly ever spend more than 10 minutes at a time photographing my own kids and I'm just never 100% happy with the result. And the more I look at the images, the less I like them.
So anyway - I took these about 2 weeks ago and jazzed them up with textures etc, but now Henk doesn't like the editing that much, he says it's too drab and needs more colour. But when I do more conventional editing on them, they seem too boring, so I guess it's back to the drawing board.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

2009-11-11T20:24:00.004+02:00

During my last few days in Switzerland, snow started to fall closer to Zurich and my sister and I took a drive into the hills in search of photo opportunities. Living in South Africa, we are not exposed to a whole lot of snow and I have never walked in, touched or played in proper snow. I was in such awe! It was the highlight of my trip and a supreme delight to experience real snow for the first time in my life. The stunning beauty and silence of it on the one hand and the uncomplicated fun on the other hand - nature truly is wonderful. Now for the first time do I understand the obsession people have with skiing and snowboarding - it must be absolutely awesome!

Gotthard Pass

2009-11-10T22:31:00.003+02:00

When we travelled from Zurich to Lugano, we took the Gotthard Road Tunnel which, at 16km, is the third longest road tunnel in the world. This tunnel provides a much faster link between central Switzerland and Milan than the Gotthard pass.

On the way back though, we decided to take the Gotthard Pass instead as it promised to be a beautiful drive through the Swiss Alps. Not being a huge fan of heights and feeling a little weary of slippery icy roads, I was not too sure how much I would enjoy the excursion, but it was worth every nail I chewed off!

Lake Como and surrounds

2009-11-09T21:50:00.004+02:00

After a day and a half around Lake Lugano, we decided to cross the border to Italy and explore Lake Como. One of the reasons that Lake Como is so famous is that George Clooney owns a house here. Unfortunately I didn't get to see either George or his house - next time girls ;)

More of Carona

2009-11-05T17:43:00.004+02:00

Lake Lugano and Carona

2009-11-04T21:48:00.004+02:00

So after a few days in and around Zurich, we took a drive to the south of Switzerland where we stayed in a tiny village called Carona high up in the hills surrounding Lake Lugano. My sister told me that we would be entering the Italian part of Switzerland, but I didn't realise just how Italian it would be! Suddenly all you hear is Italian, all you see is Italian, and all you eat is Italian (yum ). The architecture is also completely different and so many beautiful textures and colours - I was in photographer's heaven!

Zurich: Part Three

2009-11-03T20:40:00.003+02:00

This is the last installment of Zurich images - tomorrow I'm moving on to a different part of Switzerland.
These are just some of the smaller and odder things I noticed while exploring this beautiful city.

Zurich: Part Two

2009-11-02T19:20:00.004+02:00

Firstly - CONGRATULATIONS to my sister and Nick who finally got engaged this weekend. I am so happy and excited for them!

Secondly - we had very stormy weather in the Western Cape last week which resulted in my ADSL line being down for the entire week, hence the long absence.

And so finally, here is the second installment of Zurich pics. Are you bored yet?

Zurich: Part One

2009-10-25T11:04:00.005+02:00

Rennette and I spent hours just walking through the streets of Zurich with our cameras. In my younger days I used to devour the guide books on the places I visited and then was sure to visit all the recommended monuments, churches and museums. This time around I didn't even open a guide book and far more enjoyed walking through the streets, soaking up the atmosphere and culture, while studying everything, from big buildings to small keyholes. Here are a few images, trying to capture the "big picture".

Swiss countryside

2009-10-24T17:53:00.005+02:00

So I'm back :) It was a wonderful trip and exceeded all my expectations. It was incredibly hard to leave my family behind and during the entire journey I felt lost and bewildered. But once I saw my wonderful sister waiting for me on the other side, I put on my big girl panties and approached the adventure with the enthusiasm it deserved. It was fantastic to be in Europe again after all these years! I also enjoyed having adult conversations for a full 10 days without interruption and I will never forget the time my sister and I spent together. It was also fantastic to have someone with me who is just as fanatic about photography than I am! We spent hours walking around with our cameras, looking for new and interesting things to capture and the best part was looking at the results at the end of each day. It's still amazing to me how two people can walk in each other's footsteps and seem to aim their cameras in the same direction, but still end up with totally different images.
I'm so glad I went on this trip - it has enriched, energised, enlightened and entertained me. It was a privilege and I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity.
Obviously, I took an obscene amount of photos and I'll try not to bore you with too many repetitive images.
We took a trip from Zurich to St Gallen and surrounds and I fell in love with the Swiss countryside. Unfortunately, it rained the whole day, but I was not about to neglect my camera because of a few drops of water!

Off I Go

2009-10-07T22:13:00.004+02:00

I'm off to Zurich tomorrow to visit my wonderful sister. This is the first time that I am leaving the house without either husband or kids. If I can manage to push through the anxiety of leaving them and traveling on my own for the first time in 11 years, I know I'm in for a fabulous time! I plan to take loads of pictures and will surely have lots to show you when I get back in two weeks. I'm hoping that this will give me a fresh perspective on life and teach me some new things about myself. Deep breath....and off I go!

Sea views

2009-10-04T16:00:00.001+02:00

Flying high

2009-10-02T11:58:00.004+02:00

I've been a bit bored with my work lately and have started to experiment more on the editing side of things. It's actually quite amazing what you can create with just a standard digital image. It's a great creative outlet and even though I have started out as a purist (take the picture as you want it to be, with minimal editing afterwards) I've started to appreciate more drastic techniques in changing my images. I'm considering printing this one on canvas to hang in Joubert's room. It looks more like a painting than a photo this way and even though I know it's him in the picture, it could be any boy, anywhere.
Anyway. It might not be your cup of tea, but I quite like it :-)