We are back!

I told the story and posted the fun pics on the Spring 2004 board, so no sense in repeating myself. What I did not show and tell are my attempts at art, and this I will share here:

Firstly, the very expensive window breaking photo (E pressed the central locking on our car as he closed the door - this on a deserted road in the middle of the karoo. So we broke two windows to get into the car. Yes, two. Because I suggested breaking the small triangular back window first, we could however not get the car open so Phil had to break the large back window as well. Turns out the small window is about 3 times more expensive than the big one - I will never live this down)

I love this photo of the grass seeds, I took this using the manual function on my camera with an extended exposure. When I take photos I love playing with perspective and contrast. In the next photo I tried to tell the onlooker how long, lonely and outstretched this road really is
Phil does not really like this photo, because I held the camera skew when it was taken. I can see his point, as the left angle of the horizon is rather bothersome. Oh well - I was kneeling in the dirt to try and get my face as close to the earth as possible - but will look out for another opportunity and try to not have a seasick horizon.
The next photo is one of my favourites. It is of a 'windpomp' not sure what that might be in the English language and I love Love love it!! I was kneeling inbetween thorns in an open veld when I took this and my aim was to get it to fill the whole lens from corner to corner. To have a sense of it growing out of the ground and on for forever - towards the sun and the clear skies of the karoo.

I tried a couple of other shots on the way to Graaff Reinet but non of them are nice or tell the story I wanted it to tell. So, no sense in the boring details.

In Knysna it self, we stayed right at the edge of the Knysna forest and we went for a walk at Diepkelders, a rather long and strenous walk in the forest which ends in a narrow valley with a river and deep, mountain cold, water pools.
In the forest it self I took this photo of what I named the Faerie glen. It was also taken on manual with an extended exposure. The forest is quite dark and smells of mulch and water and ancient life.

Down in the valley I tried to take a photo of the water flowing over the stones with the intention of capturing the movement. This is the first time I have ever attempted to do something like that and with a little bit of advice from Phil, this was the result. I am very proud of my effort.
And on our second last day we went to the Elephant Sanctuary were we had the opportunity to touch and feed these magnificent animals. It was one of those truly larger than life experiences.
We had a lovely time and even if every day was just too short, we managed to rest and have fun together as a family. We also managed to have a deep soul discussion and I think that the way forward for us as a family will be exciting.

Now unfortunately, I have a mountain of work to do and no motivation for it whatsover!!