The highlight of my evening last night (it was a quiet one) was taking photos of the moon!
I’d read in the newspaper earlier in the day, that it was a Blue Moon and that there was a partial eclipse expected around 8:30pm. And then I promptly forgot about it!
Then, I took Bradley outside last night to see if we could see the fireworks that were going beserk in the area… but all we saw was this beautiful moon. So of course I had to rush inside, get my camera and tripod and see if I could capture it!
For those that don’t know, a Blue moon is a full moon, when there’s already been a full moon during that month. The next time it’ll occur is in August 2012. It’s extremely rare for it to occur on New Years Eve, and even more rare for a lunar eclipse on the same night!
Edited to add the link to the Atronomy photo of the day from that date… now that’s how to take a photo of the moon!
I signed up for Blog Action Day this year as soon as I got wind of the site being online. This is the third annual Blog Action Day I’ve taken part in, and it really is a challenge considering this is a photoblog… especially because the theme this year is not very conducive to photos that I can take at home… or so I thought, until I read an article about how even the succulents are being affected by the change in climates around the world.
For some reason, I assumed that because succulents thrive in hot and dry areas in South Africa, that the prevalence of these plants would be increasing because of the change in climates.
Turns out I was wrong… I seriously didn’t realise how much water is required to farm aloes and to grow other succulents.
For example, an Aloe Vera plant required 150l of water a month to live. Aloe Vera plants that survive drought conditions end up with bitter and strong smelling gel which renders them useless for farming because the gel cannot be used. As a result, the aloe farms in Australia for example, have mostly shut down. It’s not only in Australia, populations of Aloe dichotoma are declining the northern areas in South Africa as I type.
In fact, according to the one article I found this evening, the entire Karoo succulent population is under threat!!
And in response… there’s a website that seems to be aimed at the people that live in the Karoo area that deals primarily with the climate change issues in the area!
This has been quite an interesting topic to blog about actually, and I’ve enjoyed reading through other bloggers’ interpretations of the theme, and I’ve learnt quite a bit today. Do yourself a favour, and visit the Blog Action Day site, watch this video explaining more about this event and learn about how our world is changing…. and then blog about it too!
I am learning really interesting things from this. Beautiful picture J!
Huckdoll (27 comments.) -October 16, 2009 - 1:08 am
Awesome! I’m proud of you for doing this and also for opening my eyes to something a little different in respect to climate. I’ve read quite a few BAD09 posts today but none from my blogging friends so this was good to see!
Not only was today Election day in South Africa, but it’s also Earth Day, and as I mentioned a few days ago, there’s a little project on the go called Earthmosaic. I just had to play along, and take some photos today to submit to the mosaic.
I took the first one at home in my garden. It’s an indigenous flower called a Osteopermum.
Then after lunch (my mom and sister came over for a braai/barbeque), my mom and I hopped in the car to Honeydew to find a spot to take some photos. A guy who owns a plot next to the strip of veld where we were taking photos, chatted to us and said we should wait for the sunsets… but we’ll have to go back for those shots another day… we needed to get to the polling station to cast our vote!
I just love the light in the photos… these are basically SOOC just with a little contrast added.
[...] Lainy’s life in jozi… my life as a working girl in Joburg « New to the blogosphere… Earth Mosaic…finally up! May 7, 2009 A few weeks ago, my photo mad family went out and took photos to contribute to the earth mosaic photostream. My mom went out with my sister one afternoon and took some amazing photos of the scenery around Mulderdrift… You can have a look at my moms photos here, and Jeanettes photos here [...]
Next week is Earth Day… on the 22nd to be precise… which happens to be the same day as the South African elections. So you SA guys have no excuse, it’s a public holiday… you can take photos!
It’s a VERY exciting project that I’m DEFINITELY going to be a part of next week, and so should you all! They’re looking for everyone in the WORLD that has a camera (not pro’s or anything) to take photos from across the world on Earth Day.
The photos need to be loaded onto the Earthmosaic website before the end of April, and they’ll be creating a mosaic linked to. The image will be placed on a map showing where it was taken (from what I understand on the site).
Join in, by joining the Flickr group or the Facebook group and then loading your photos It’s as easy as that. We must try get people from across the world to join in… including Sarah in Uganda… would be great to have more African photos (not just from SA)!!
And as for the rest of my worldly blog readers… I hope you’re going to join in too!! Let me know in the comments, and I’ll be sure to visit your blog or facebook page or Flickr page and look at your photos you’re submitting.
hey Jenty thanks for blogging up earth mosaic. your ‘where in the world are you from?’ thread on flickr is great – we have people from all over signing up.
Hi Jeanette, I have really enjoyed your pictures. The western Cape is calling.
Hope you and your family have a really great Christmas and a wonderfuul New Year. Thanks for all the visits and comments.
Jientje (2 comments.) -December 22, 2008 - 12:52 am
A paradise I had never heard of before, where is it? I love the sparkles in the water, the grassy dunes, the wildflowers, the mall, hell, I love them all!! Even the ice cream ones at the bottom!! Have a nice week Jeanette!
Jientje (2 comments.) -December 22, 2008 - 12:50 am
You manage to amaze me week after week with such gorgeous pictures!! Hermanus looks like paradise, a
Fiona -December 21, 2008 - 11:18 pm
Oooh I love the mall shot Jeanette..it has such ambience ~ it’s probably one of my all time favourites. The grass dunes and kite surfer pics are also very cool. I think you can at least get 2 of your 3 photo’s for camera club in Jan out of this lot. They are stunning!
Karin (116 comments.) -December 21, 2008 - 10:34 pm
Ag nee, I can’t pick a favourite! I love the clouds and composition of the first one, I love the dung beetle, the sand dunes are awesome and the last one is fantastic. And all the rest are also great! You really had a great photography week!
Beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing.. may I ask please what camera you use? I am looking to buy a new one after the holidays and am trying to find one that I like as much as my Sony, but better quality.
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