I went home a little early yesterday afternoon because of the kids, and used the opportunity to take the kids and puppies for a walk in the park.   There was the most amazing light, and even though I didn’t manage to get good photos of the dogs, I couldn’t resist grass and sunset shots!  The dogs were not easy to photograph today, as there was another husky taking a walk… and they just wanted to play… which is not the easiest thing in the world when you’re juggling dog on leash, and camera, and child.

We really do have beautiful sunsets at this time of year.

See the full set of 2010 photo-a-day photos on my Project 365 Flickr Set.

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 went on another photo excursion to Soweto this morning with 3 other photographers.  We left just as early as the last trip, but this time we got to watch the sun rise at Soccer City (the new stadium being built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup) on the way to Soweto from Johannesburg.

I’ll be posting the rest of my trip’s photos using the Soweto tag that I used for the last trip we did a few weeks ago.   I’m stoked with the photos that I managed to take this time… they’re mostly of people and photojournalistic shots that I enjoy so much!  One post will not do them justice, so this is the first of 3 posts that I’ll be writing over the next few days.

I took this photo from the pedestrian bridge just outside the stadium looking towards the Johannesburg CBD.

These photos don’t really do justice to the mammoth size of the stadium.  It’s an INCREDIBLE sight… I really hope that one day I’ll be able to take photos from the inside of it.

We went to the main gate to try and get into the stadium, but they wouldn’t let us in.  I wasn’t too concerned though, as there was a mini-market with cafes and shops that had set themselves up next to the main gate, and that gave us ample photographic inspiration!! What a win! It’s just a pity we were there so early and the patrons weren’t around.  Thankfully, I didn’t see the massive rats that the other guys told me about when we got in the car or else I’m not sure I would have walked between the shacks like I did!

I absolutely love the last photo with the contrast between the shop shacks and the modern stadium.

I hope you come back to my blog to see the rest from my photo morning.

See more Skywatchers around the world on Skyley’s blog, and more Photostory blogs on Mamageek’s blog.

I flew back from Hermanus in the Western Cape this afternoon (I went there for my Grandpa’s memorial service).  On the first evening, we went for a walk on the cliff paths, and my aunt pointed out these dragons heads in the rocks (she says they look like lions, but I think they’re dragons).  Aren’t they stunning?! I’d never noticed them before, and we’ve been there quite a few times… but I must say that you can only see them from a certain angle, and you have to go off the path to actually notice them.

I’ve got so many photos to share with you from the trip, and hopefully some of them will be good enough for the next camera club meet.

Smoke clouds and dragon heads

Back-lit rocks (the same rocks taken from the cliff path)

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I went on a course this week.  The training company’s offices were in Sunninghill and the tea station was on the roof with the most magnificent views of the city.  This photo does not really do the view justice, but I’m going back next week (for another course) and I’m going to try and take a panoramic shot with my wide-angle lens.

In the distance on the horizon on the left is Johannesburg city, and the closer tall buildings on the right are in Sandton.  You can also see the dark rain clouds approaching from the left, there was gorgeous rain later that day.

Check out Skyley’s blog for more Skywatch Friday

I’m going to be scarce for the next few days.  Our lines at home are not working, so I’m internetless!!  Not actually sure how I’m going to cope actually