Here is another one of the long exposures I took while down at Shell Beach last week. I love how a long exposure gives a photo life and really brings a cool dynamic into a photo if used correctly. I hung around on the beach for quite some time to find the right spot and wait for the light to be just right, it always pays off to be patient.
The downtown area of Kimberley is quite small, no tall sky scrapers or anything like that. It does have something in common with most large downtown areas such as that of Johannesburg and Cape Town, Street Kids. They walk the streets at night looking for a fix, whatever drugs they can find to help them through their lives. No parents and no home to go to, they sleep pretty much where ever they can. We came acoss this kid that asked the security guard at the Post Office is he could sleep right there on the stairs. She said she felt sorry for him so she gave him a piece of bread which you can see in the photos. I have no idea how old this kid is but he had Tattoos on his leg and another guard told us that this kid had been into some of the heaviest drugs the night before… Apparently he ran away from home and then ran away from the ‘safe haven’ as well, left to lurk the streets of Kimberley, steeling stuff to sell for drugs. Quite a sad story.
I just got back to Johannesburg after spending a fun long weekend in the town of Kimberley, South Africa. It’s a strange little town with a very diverse population, including 1 lone American… “Mike”, or as most people would call him, “Chinner”. Mike has been living out there since early last year and runs the Maloof Money Cup skate park while seeking shade from that African sun. If you ever get the time to head out there, you’ll find Mike at the Maloof Skate Plaza, towering over all the kids, and their parents for that matter! If he’s not busy with some contest or hanging out with the kids, he’s probably on his board, his uber wide board, perfect for the 7 foot tall man. Here are some photos I shot with Chinner enjoying his board.
Being a photographer at the Maloof Money Cup is definitely a great experience, watching the pros skate and getting to shoot photos with them is such a pleasure! I spent more time this year hanging out with the guys and gettin to know them a little better. It seriously helps for the photography side of things and you are no longer just some random guy shooting photos. I took Braydon and Garrett to see the Lions at a sanctuary just outside of Kimberley… All the animals on this farm were pretty much rescued from being hunted. There are many ‘canned’ Lion Hunting farms around Kimberley, it’s absolutely disgusting on every level. I was really stoked to take these guys to this farm and see that there are still people trying to do some kind of good out there. Braydon was definitely not too sure about being in the cage with the Lions, as you can see… Garrett didn’t mind it too much! Braydon did teach a small Bat Eared Fox about Ozzy Osbourne though…
It was definitely a privelage to meet and hang out with Braydon at the recent Maloof Money Cup here in South Africa. Nice to see a pro-skater that get’s involved with everything that’s goin on with the locals. I think my favorite memory was walking across from our hotel to the campsite late one night to see what was goin on. There were kids everywhere, just goin crazy! We walked to the back of the campsite where some locals had formed a huge cirlce around some burning tyres! The scene was insaen and I’m sorry now that I never took my camera with me. Kids were standing around the tyres as the smoke bellowed into the skies above and some other brave dudes started jumping over the tyres, through the flames! Once the locals realised that Braydon was there, they went comepletely nuts! Once again, so cool to see a famous guy just hangin out and getting the locals stoked! Braydon even joined the craziness and jumped through the towering flames and thick black smoke which got the locals goin even more! Here are a couple portraits I shot with Braydon during some “free time” away from the skating and all the craziness.
I recently shot photos for the Maloof Money Cup which was held in Kimberley, South Africa. It’s a huge event with skateboarders from all over the wolrd. These are a few of the shots I took while up on the Mini Mega Ramp which, trust me, is not mini at all! Witnessing the guys flying through the air blows my mind, no matter how many times I see it!
Shoting photos of live bands always proves to be quite a challenge for me! I can never decide which lens I wanna use and/or if I wanna use flash or not. At a recent Zebra & Giraffe show I decided to try something totally different. My 70-200mm lens! I realy wasn’t sure how it would work out but I’m glad I tried it as the images came out pretty clear and it was really cool to shoot the band from a distance and not have to battle with the people up front for a spot! I really had to up my ISO setting quite a bit so I decided to shoot mostly in Black & White.
I heard on the radio a couple nights ago that there was a Blue Moon and that it wouldn’t be seen again for quite a long time! Something like 15 years or something like that, I can’t quite remember now. I grabbed my camera and ran outside to get a shot of this elusive ‘Blue Moon’. The Moon itself wasn’t quite blue but, the sky all around was definitely reflecting a blueness. This is my shot of the not so Blue Moon.
This is just a photo I took of my Brother in Law, Alan Shenton… On the day he received his beautiful Royal Enfield Classic 500 motorcycle. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him quite as happy! Wishing you many years of enjoyment riding that bike Alan, you deserve it!
I actually hadn’t planned on goin to this event on Saturday as I was scheduled to shoot photos with Maanda Mulaudzi for some article. We had made plans to meet at Stoneridge Skatepark where this was goin on when I arrived. It was difficult to get some shots amongst the chaos but I did manage to capture Adam Woolf doing a monster kickflip and Tian Van Rensburg doing a huge blunt to fakie on the over-vert wall.
