The Art of It

Last weekend we took a trip to Hermanus to do some whale spotting and hopefully get a few photographs. On our previous trip we used a very basic Fuji digital camera with a 3 times optical zoom. This time we hoped to get more interesting pictures using the Canon S3IS with 12 times optical zoom. The weather was sunny but with a cold blustery southeast wind and the sea was quite rough. The whales were out in force in the bay but were not all that cooperative as models. We took a few pictures from the cliffs near the old fishing harbour before dropping in to one of our favourite seafood restaurants, Bientang's Cave, for lunch. While enjoying a delicious meal with a well-chilled bottle of Boschendal Sauvignon Blanc we were able to continue watching these magnificent creatures frolicking in the waves below. The photographs were a little disappointing as the whales seemed determined to display little but dancing tails but, what better way is there to spend a Sunday aftern...

This post is a little different in that the photographs are “wildlife” pictures taken in the small seaside town of Hermanus about an hour and a half’s drive from Cape Town. The first picture was taken quite some time ago using our pretty basic Fuji film Finepix 2 mega-pixel camera with its rather limited 3 X optical zoom. If we had had the newer Cannon S3IS camera with us on that visit we would have been able to do a lot better but the pictures we did get show just what a wonderful place Hermanus is for whale watching. The picture of a Southern Right Whale posted here was taken from the cliffs near the old fishing harbour. This is no longer functioning as a working harbour but has been preserved as a monument and tourist attraction. Close by is a rather unique restaurant, Bientang's Cave Seafood Restaurant, which has been built into centuries old cave in what is probably the best land-based whale watching area in the world. Imagine being able to watch these wonderful creatures fro...