Otter Trail 2012: My favourite pictures

It pains me to write this, but I suspect that some of the readers of this site have not yet paged through all 60 or so of my recent Otter Trail photos. Or if they have, they may have been so numbed by the experience that they were unable to discern one snap from another.  If they are not yet fully numbed, the addition of another 80 shots from my companions on the trail (which I shall do when back in London) will almost certainly achieve the highest levels of photo-pulverisation.

Here then, after having produced some really nice block-mounted prints for our Cape Town place, is my personal selection of the best snaps from the trip. Some of them I am really quite pleased with – in fact the one below, of the rocks at the Lottering sea mouth, is among the best I think I have ever taken. It was a unexpected shot for me, because I thought the scene was entirely monochrome. In fact, there is this amazing, dogged little clump of grass in the foreground, that sets off the rest of this desolate, lunar setting.  As with all the rest of the snaps, click on it to get a floating view of the pics, and in that view, click on ‘full size’ or ‘fit to screen’ as you wish (or click ‘close’ to get back to this page).  All the pics look way better in ‘full size’ btw.

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This next one is of the sea at dawn, from the Andre hut by the Klip river.  I quite like the colours of the rocks here.

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And this is from the same place, at dusk, again  showing a nice gradation of tones.

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In general,I think of photos with family and friends in as snaps, and properly structured compositions without them as photographs.  But here is one  I think works quite well in either category, again showing the extraordinary range of colours and geology on this coastal trail

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The incredible  strand at the Elandsbos river provided us with a wonderful relaxed interlude. This first shot (more of a snap) is in normal perspective and gives a flavour of the scene.

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While this second one is a 120 deg pano of the river as it flows out to sea (this has to be seen in full size, so click on it to get there).

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The scenery really lent itself to black and white views, as in the first shot.  This last shot is taken looking back over the route we had taken, with a fortuitously-placed tree providing a bit of a focal point.

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