I do so love sunrises. It is a time of the day that so many people miss, but being an early riser means I get to see plenty of them. This one was taken from my front gate, as the cold front made its appearance.


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Juvenile and adult Common Fiscals surveying the scene


Juvenile pouncing on some unseen prey

Here is an example of the brilliance of the early twentieth century builders. On the 21 June every year, the rising sun is perfectly aligned between the hall at the St Phillips Church, the St Phillips Guesthouse and our front gate. And, to top it all legend has it that if a flock of crows flies over when you are watching the sunrise, you are going to have a really good year. Okay, so I made I up the second part, but no problem that's how legends are born.

I started a project a few months back, to see how many birds I could photograph in the inner city. Though many of the birds live quite happily in the concrete jungle, we are fortunate to have some well treed public open space alongside our neighbourhood, which makes it attractive for the more shy birds, like the Burchell's Coucal.


So far I have managed to photograph 24 birds and am still trying to get some elusive characters such as the Cape Eagle Owl and the Cape White-eyes.

Sunrise over Algoa Bay, with St Phillips Church silhouetted against the sky.


For many wonderful pictures from around the world visit the Skywatch Friday site.

Living in the inner city has its compensations, like being able to pop into one of the many restaurants for a cup of coffee while out on an early morning walk and then while sitting on the veranda to enjoy the sites and sounds of the awakening city.

Sit down and relax and smell the roses............


..........and don't forget the cappuccino...............


......or if you are like me there is nothing quite like a cup of rooibos tea.

One of favourite photographic pastimes is jumping in the car on a stormy night and seeing what  pictures I can create through the windscreen. I was very tradition in my approach to photography but now I don't mind the blurry and indistinct, in its place. If that's what I see through the windscreen, then why not capture it - I am often surprised by the results.

This one was taken in Suffolk Street in Richmond Hill.

I love hitting the streets at night and looking for photo opportunities. More often than not I pump up the ISO and don't use a tripod...and yes not all the shots are succesful, but hey this is the digital era so it doesn't matter.  What I am looking for is atmosphere, like these low clouds catching the glare from the city lights. That combined with the low angle gives the picture an almost rural look, though this is in the inner city. 


This picture was shot at ISO 3200 at F3.5 and 1/2 second.

The view through my cars windscreen at 04h45 this morning, taken while on a neighbourhood watch patrol. I liked the way the street light caught the sheets of falling rain. The effect was enhanced with the water running off the windscreen, giving it a nice abstract effect.

Metal thieves have been stealing the cast iron manhole covers around our city for a while now and we knew it was just a matter of time before they hit Richmond Hill. For the sake of a few rands these thieves have no qualms about putting the lives and property of their hapless victims at risk. And what contributes to the problem is that there is always an unscrupulous scrap metal dealer who is willing to buy these ill-gotten gains.

Whole streets have been left with gaping holes that could cause serious damage to car tyres. Residents have been up in arms because of the slow pace at which this problem was being attended to.

Then in a matter of a few nights Richmond Hill was missing 28 manhole covers and warnings went out via our Facebook neighbourhood watch page to watch out for these new hazards in our roads. All sorts of impractical temporary solutions were suggested, like filling the holes with gravel - "Hello, what happens if there is a fire and you have to connect a hose to one of the fire hydrants?"



This was not problem for a creative soul like Suzie, who comes up with ideas and is prepared to carry them through.

"Let's plant trees in the holes," she suggested, "that will provide a good warning to motorists and get the attention of the municipality." No sooner were the words uttered and she had sourced a good supply of pine saplings and some willing helpers, took my bakkie (truck, ute) the next day and set about her mission with her usual verve.

The result was that by that afternoon every open hole in the streets of Richmond Hill had its own Christmas tree. Not to be out-done the local residents and shop owners captured the vision and started decorating the trees....and the neighbourhood  was looking very festive for a few hours.


By the next morning, much to our indignation, reports started coming in that many of the trees had gone missing,  but on closer inspection we found that the manholes were covered with new plastic covers. Within less than 48 hours there was not an open hole in any of the streets in our neighbourhood.



"How did you get it right so quickly?" residents from neighbouring suburbs wanted to know after passing through Richmond Hill.

"Easy," came the reply from all and sundry, "just plant a tree."

That is the power of a fun and creative protest. One person with a vision and the passion to carry it through and a bureaucrat who does not like the embarrassment of being shown up.

One of the exotic trees that South Africans love is the jacaranda with its magnificent display of mauve flowes and the mauve carpet it puts down.

The few jacarandas of Richmond Hill have just past their peak, but if you want to see a really spectacular display, Pretoria is the place to be.

I was up early one morning to capture an image of the park across the road from us, as it was shrouded in the mist and looked quite eerie. I felt the shots were somewhat bland to start with, until Wallace, our Siamese cat, decided to join me.

Cats are not the easiest of animals to photograph at the best of times, but try it in the dark when they are on the prowl and refuse to cooperate and it is almost impossible. Here he paused long enough to coincide with the shutter speed and give me a nice silhouette.

Amazing how the angle from which a picture is taken can create an illusion. These sisal plants are growing along the crest of a hill in the heart of the city.


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There as a time when I would stroll over to the cliff above Albany Road to enjoy the sunset or to just look at the Bay. Those days are over. This area became a dumping ground for building rubble and garden refuse, it was an escape route for criminals and became a favourite hangout for drunks and druggies......................
The result, rather than tackling the root cause of the problems, the authorities decided to fence off the area and so one of my favourite viewpoints is gone, unless you enjoy looking through the wire.

The jacarandas have been blooming in Richmond Hill for the past few weeks. Their display is for such a short time, but it is really magnificent.


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Take a few window panes in an unpreposseing tower block and what do you get? Reflections from Richmond Hill.

I could not resist the contrast between the red of the flowering gum and the blue on the buildings.

I captured this rainbow by chance the other day during some rainy weather. Fortunately the rain only started coming down on me as I got back to the house.


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The feral pigeon has gained notoriety for their total disregard for statues and they are so common we often overlook them, but they are quite attractive  birds.


Residents of St Phillip's Church.


They are also very opportunistic and can be seen here popping in for food at Richmond Park.

What I like about sunrises is that they are unpredictable and you never know what delights are going to be presented to you, when you set out. The colours also change so quickly that within seconds you can quite easily miss some of the subtle nuances, painted across the sky. I am not sure what brought this on, but the other morning the clouds were blushing. It did not last long, but they were definitely embarrassed.


For many wonderful pictures of the skies from around the world, visit the Skywatch site.