Portraits of Africa 2012 on Google

Time again to monitor and check the performance of our new WP based Semiomantics XO 2012 Script on search engines.

Here’s a screenshot of yesterday’s post “Portraits of Africa 2012″ on Google – have a look! Positions 1, 2, 3 and 6 ahead of 10,800,000 search returns – YEBO GOGO!

Portraits of Africa 2012 on Google

When looking up “Portraits of Africa 2012″ on Google, I also checked how the images in my article were ranked – here’s the detail of the screenshot showing the Image of a “Young African Girl” on position one, followed by the Image of a “Young African Boy” on position 4… and a small ad I created ages ago peeking at us on position 2. All of them ahead of our South African presidents… just too funny! The young generation is on the move!

Portrait of Africa Images

It becomes even more intrigueing when we look up “Portrait of Africa Images” on Google and find these young faces of Africa featuring amongst some really classy photography! And again… the random positioning is just too weird… for those who read this and understand what I mean! Welcome to the future :)

Fact is, that with the increasing importance of images and media on the Internet – and with this for our website development – … and people preferring to look at something for quick grasping of the contents rather than reading long time-consuming – and even worse: thought-provoking -  texts… that the correct tagging and classification of photos and images becomes more important. Here as with any post what counts is to be found on Google – Google Top 10 that is. Noone else looks further…

Congratulations to our young friends who’ve made it to the top ranks and find themselves in interesting and attractive company! There will be more….

Portraits of Africa

Young African Girl from my series “Portraits of Africa 2012″.

Portraits of Africa 2012

Portraits of Africa 2012 – untouched… straight from my simple NIKON Coolpix P90 … just the magic of a Young African Girl.

Although the black & white version adds a specific note, I preferred to show the soft gold tones of the skin.

Portraits of Africa

Within my photo series “Portraits of Africa” here is the image of a young African boy.

Portraits of Africa

I just love Black & White Photography and how it adds depth to a picture, especially portraits and expressive faces.

“Portraits of Africa” are shot on a simple NIKON Coolpix P90 with a minimum of post-editing, ideally nothing at all.

Noordhoek Christmas Gift Fair 2011

Exciting and brand-new in the larger Cape Town area – namely the South Peninsular – is the Noordhoek Christmas Gift Fair 2011 that awaits visitors at Monkey Valley Beach Nature Resort – just 30 km out of the Mother City on the slopes of Chapman’s Peak. Just follow the signs to Noordhoek Beach… you can also check it under MAP on the menu on the new WEBSITE that I am handing over on Monday – that is tomorrow – as the Website Development has been completed!

Christmas Fair 2011 Photos

These are a few Christmas Fair 2011 Photos of day two (Saturday) … a glorious day… very well organized and with many smiling people. Especially children had a ball in the vast playgrounds while their parents enjoyed the beautifully presented shopping items or a drink on the deck at Thorfynn’s Restaurant with LIVE Music and the most stunning golden sunset.

CLICK HERE or on the Christmas Gift Fair 2011 Photo above to see a few impressions.

Noordhoek Christmas Gift Fair 2011

The Noordhoek Christmas Gift Fair 2011 in Monkey Valley Resort invites you and your family and friends to visit us on Sunday (last day).

Everybody are doing their best to provide you with a beautiful shopping experience in the true spirit of Christmas… be it directly under the old milkwood forest… in the ravine which is Cape Town’s secret tip as a Wedding Venue… in our famous Conferencing Center “TreeTops” or the “Lapa” area – both inside and outside… you will just love it!

Enjoy a relaxed and joyful day in our romantic venue under old milkwood trees with a private access to Noordhoek Beach… everything is being cared for to make YOU feel good in true Christmas Spirit!

Donovan Copley Photo

I love Black & White Portrait Photography and especially this photo I captured of Donovan Copley at the Book Launch of “Brave Green Kids” at the “Crowned Eagle” of Monkey Valley Resort, Noordhoek, South Africa. Click on it to see a larger version.

Donovan Copley Photo

Here’s another Photo of Donovan Copley and Leon Visser in black & white at the same occasion. I published the colour picture shortly after the book launch to let some time pass and see this in a different light… and shadow.

Singer-songwriter, guitarrist and multi-instrumentalist Donovan Copley leads HOT WATER, a young and energetic South African band with a distinctive African sound – check it out and attend one of their concerts! Being there and experiencing the Energy makes all the difference!

Experimenting with Photoshop Filters

While there’s nothing better than a good picture or photo to start out with, we should regularly be experimenting with Photoshop Filters and Tools to know what they do and to see the effects we can achieve. It’s just like playing the piano every day… so here’s my original lavender and acacia photo with just a little reflecting frame added as I like to do :)

Experimenting with Photoshop Filters

When experimenting with Photoshop Filters and observing sometimes astonishing results, we do this for the following objectives:

1. To understand what these filters can do.

2. To know which effects can be achieved how, meaning to learn Experimenting with Photoshop Filters.

3. To be able to apply the desired effects if and when we need them.

4. To possibly find a style we like and build our visual reputation and recognition value on.

We can either change a picture very clearly and openly into something different, abstract and possibly more interesting than what we started off with – or we apply a certain effect in a very reduced and subtle way to enhance our photo, giving it a touch that just makes it different and stand out from the rest.

A number of these effects remind me of some big Masters in Art History… it’s sometimes what they built their whole oeuvre on: a specific effect. What was unique and hard labour at the time, can now be achieved with our brilliant tools in Photoshop and/or other programs, some of them developed for imitating certain masters, think of Pissaro with all those little ‘dots’ or Andy Warhol – to name a more modern one.

Lavender and Acacia Photo

For today’s exercise, I selected a lavender and acacia photo I shot a few weeks ago when both were in full flower in my garden in Noordhoek, South Africa. As I was born in Namibia, I love acacias… and I love to combine them with palms, which always reminds me of ‘home’. The fragrance of lavender and acacia combined is incredible… no wonder all the bees of the area hang out in my garden and have a feast!

And here a very reduced and delicate one… one of my favorites…

About the Social Community

When looking at the amount of Social Networks sprouting everywhere – Empire Avenue, Facebook, Twitter to start with – it all seems to be about the Social Community and its interaction, so-called ‘conversation’ and communication. We are talking strictly online here.

The question is: how social is a ‘Like’, how social is a ‘blurb’…. how social is all this on the surface forced and in most cases minimal and totally superficial exchange for some virtual benefit in one way or another really?

And then we have to ask ourselves what we actually understand by ‘social’? Sure, we all seem to know what it means, but what’s the definition?

About the Social Community

Before going into the more scientific approach, I found a quote by Rudolf Steiner that encompasses within just one sentence what I think says it all – and I am monitoring in my own activities on especially Empire Avenue whether or not we actually – virtually speaking – live it… whether it’s at all possible… :

“A healthy social life is found only, when in the mirror of each soul the whole community finds its reflection, and when in the whole community the virtue of each one is living.”

The photo of a flamingo looking at his own reflection in the water I shot a few months back in Hout Bay, South Africa illustrates the thought and leaves room for meditation. Imagine the whole flamingo community around… which it was, just not captured on this photo, but on many others. He was part of it, totally… sort of floating on their distinctive ‘blabla’ while certainly more interested in anything eatable he could grab in the muddy waters under his stamping feet…

Social Meaning

So now let’s look into the social meaning via Wikipedia – I quote their definition:

“The term Social refers to a characteristic of living organisms (humans in particular, though biologists also apply the term to populations of other animals). It always refers to the interaction of organisms with other organisms and to their collective co-existence, irrespective of whether they are aware of it or not, and irrespective of whether the interaction is voluntary or involuntary.”
What I find interesting is the statement: “… irrespective of whether they are aware of it or not, and irrespective of whether the interaction is voluntary or involuntary”.

I continue:

“In the absence of agreement about its meaning, the term ‘social’ is used in many different senses and regarded as a fuzzy concept, referring among other things to:

Attitudes, orientations, or behaviors which take the interests, intentions, or needs of other people into account (in contrast to anti-social behaviour) has played some role in defining the idea or the principle. For instance terms like social realism, social justice, social constructivism, social psychology and social capital imply that there is some social process involved or considered, a process that is not there in regular, “non-social” realism, justice, constructivism, psychology, or capital.

The adjective ‘social’ is also used often in political discourse, although its meaning in a context depends heavily on who is using it. In left-wing circles it is often used to imply a positive characteristic, while in right-wing circles it is generally used to imply a negative characteristic. It should also be noted that, overall, this adjective is used much more often by those on the political left than by those on the political right. For these reasons, those seeking to avoid association with the left-right political debates often seek to label their work with phrases that do not include the word ‘social’. An example is quasi-empiricism in mathematics which is sometimes labelled social constructivism by those who see it as an unwarranted intrusion of social considerations in mathematical practice.

In contemporary society, ‘social’ often refers to the redistributive policies of the government which aim to apply resources in the public interest, for example, social security. Policy concerns then include the problems of social exclusion and social cohesion. Here, ‘social’ contrasts with ‘private’ and to the distinction between the public and the private (or privatised) spheres, where ownership relations define access to resources and attention. [...]”

We often take expressions and terms for granted without questioning them or going into more depth; I think here’s lots of room for thought as concerns ‘Social Networks’ on the Internet… the online soclial community so to speak… and its influence on Social Network Publishing.

Your thoughts are welcome…

Noordhoek Sunset Photo

In general, people like nice photos and – from what I see on Social Networks – they like good quotes. It may be thoughts they agree to and that they can easily endorse – LIKE -, something funny or witty that might make them laugh, something uplifting for the soul … ergo: something that appeals and they just want to share it with their friends.

To ‘share’ in the virtual world means to “Like” – and as “likes” bring advantages in one way or another, especially on Facebook – it’s all about collecting “likes”. So I hope you like my Noordhoek Sunset Photo with an unknown quote I came across this morning and that I personally like as I believe it’s something we should live by.

Noordhoek Sunset Photo

In today’s fast moving digital media world, people don’t like to read as they are already swamped with information from all sides – it’s simply impossible. Mass triumphs over quality… and often simply squashes it! How can we find what’s original and precious amongst the many heaps of re-tweets, re-publishes, re-I-dunno-what and all of this… re-gurgitated stuff?

Most definitely we have to learn to reduce and compress what we wish to express into something that’s easily understood, has the key elements and the message and most importantly: it’s absorbed in a snap!

Like a simple element – like my Noordhoek Sunset Photo -  with a thought added to it. It’s simple, human and it may just resonnate more with those who look at it – creating a reaction, a like, so-called conversation.
But that’s just a first step within the process of understanding basic human behavior in the digital era.

Time for Infographics

It’s time for Infographics.

While it’s really not new and we used to call it ‘illustrations’ … and I’m sure that’s what they are still called in the traditional advertising and publishing environment (you will book an illustrator for a job… as simple as that) – what’s new however, is the quality we can produce today on the Internet in terms of digital media design!

It’s smashing!

Amazing too as to how fast this is being accomplished by those with the knowledge and the skill… and with comparatively simple means.

This was impossible a few years ago and it is indeed wildly exciting in terms of future developments we can expect… and the oeuvre produced by some of the major illustrators out there…

Basically, it’s about a picture that’s meant to tell a 1000 stories. It is in most cases composed of an array of pictures, stats, graphs, text, headlines, images both simple and/or complex – all this arranged on a minimum of space to bring a message over fast and furiously.

First of all and most importantly however : it all starts with an idea we want to express… followed by the creative process of converting the abstract into something visual and making it understandable in a reduced and often – but not always – simplified way – always in excellent quality – that catches our attention in a snap!

When I see this work I just can’t help thinking: “WOO! Quality does count… again!” – only talking of the Internet now of course. And this I really … LIKE!

An interesting topic for the future that will definitely have an effect on Social Network Publishing – I will be back with more…

Brave Green Kids Book Launch

Parenting today… and how to bring up children to face the challenges of a rapidly changing world – this is the topic of  “Brave Green Kids”, the first book written by Judy Sole and presented at yesterday’s Book Launch at the “Crowned Eagle” of Monkey Valley Resort. A golden sunset marked the event and the leader of the Green Party of South Africa asked for moments of silence to mentally embrace the world with one’s wish for peace and compassion while the sun dipped into the Atlantic Ocean and… disappeared.

Brave Green Kids Book Launch

While the “Brave Green Kids” Book Launch was directed at environmentally conscious people and especially parents… the only kid around was the young girl you see on my photo here.

She sat all by herself looking at the distant horizon, her gaze swimming above the adult buzz around her. The pure and yet knowing expression on her face that I have seen in so many children today, and her sweet smile when our eyes briefly met, seemed to represent each child today that’s facing an undefined future. And yet – besides this being the challenge of the young generation… couldn’t it just be the promise as well…? A future to which only the younger generations hold the key – and this with the help of the Universe?

Time to trust that any change can happen if we are ready to embrace it.

Website Development

The website development for Monkey Valley Resort is constantly advancing. I added a category “Photos” where we can add photos following specific events, where guests and visitors can see what’s up at Monkey Valley Resort; I invite you to go there and have a look at some photo impressions I took at the event yesterday. Unfortunately there was almost no light during the talk itself, so no ways to capture it with my digital camera.

I designed all photos to fit into a 800×600 px format, but have a little coding problem to solve – therefore the pictures are currently visible in a smaller size (6o%). Yet – here they are, straight after the event and inviting you to visit Monkey Valley Resort. By the way: kids are most welcome and you can watch over them while they have ample room to play, swim and run!

Visit Thorfynn’s Restaurant

Why not visit Thorfynn’s Restaurant for a delicious Sunday roast with Life music?

Good  Morning from Noordhoek

Good Morning from Noordhoek is an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa.

Good  Morning from Noordhoek

It’s amazing to see one’s life evolving within a bigger context – when documented in a simple way as my “Good Morning from Noordhoek” greeting that I created for you over the past month, day after day… sometimes reaching into the evenings when the days were too wet, too gloomy or I just couldn’t get off the hook to do a photo!

On 9th October 2011, we saw the birth of a little sunbird baby on the right side of our terrace, in the huge strelitzia nicolai leaning against my studio wall, sheltered from the winter storms. It was so well hidden that it wasn’t easy to follow developments up in the air! This changed once the little one was out and I followed its first wobbly and wondrous round outside in the big wide world… and its first ‘own’ nibblings while still demanding food from his poor parents like there was no tomorrow! Surely a male :) Meanwhile, he has grown into a beautiful emerald sunbird that greets me every day the moment I open the Studio door!

Now it’s already warmer and another couple of emerald sunbirds have chosen the other side – the sunny side of the terrace… with a view of Chapman’s Peak and the Atlantic Ocean… However, the entrance of the nest facing our atrium so we can basically watch the secret life of birds as they can watch ours, and of course, I have a much better view for the camera.

Again, I am documenting as much as time allows – but the greatest is to enjoy the presence and the trust of these beautiful ethereal beings… they even fly right into my studio at times, sit on the Bali banana trees, look at me with their bright inquisitive pinpoint eyes and a hearty chirp – and out they are again!

May today’s greeting bring you happy moments like this!

Good Morning from Noordhoek

Good Morning from Noordhoek is an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa!

Good Morning from Noordhoek

Good Morning from Noordhoek started with heavy rain showers… and I had to go out for most of the day. While being in the area, I noticed the most incredible cloud formations above Chapman’s Peak and Silvermine Nature Reserve as well as above the Atlantic Ocean… I stopped many times to do some quick shots… it was absolutely astonishing! While I missed a beautiful rainbow as I was told, the sun came out in a blast and everything was shining like in a new light.

King Protea Photo

That’s when I took the above photo of a stunning King Protea right here along the path up to my home on the mountain… with bees and beetles having a late breakfast and a warm bath in the  sun.

End of Mayan Calendar

Here’s wishing you a blessed Friday – just the right swing to start into the weekend!

I’m sure there will be a stunning sunset today – which is a special day as it marks the end of the Mayan Calendar and the beginning of the era of Co-Creation and Unity. I hope that’s why we’ve come here in the first place…

Good Morning from Noordhoek

Good Morning from Noordhoek is an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa!

Good Morning from Noordhoek

My “Good Morning from Noordhoek” greeting to you features one of the new plants – a variegated Sunset Safari (leucadendron family) – that I just planted in my garden… a new hybrid form, but just splendid! What fire! The “Safari Sunset” family really sets the bushveld on fire in the evenings, when the red tops seem to be burning – just to beautiful! Fingers crossed this baby grows nicely… it will sure be nurtured well!

Wishing you all a splendid day – nurturing and being nurtured.

Noordhoek Noordhoek

Yes! Despite the title “Noordhoek Noordhoek”, this is my daily “Good Morning from Noordhoek” – an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa. I am just doing some optimization tests for web development reasons… after all, I am working on a WP based Semiomantics XO script!

Noordhoek Noordhoek

This beautiful pink flower that truly makes one’s heart expand – a gladiolus carneus – is probably the last that will come wildly out of the ground in my garden this spring. While I have made many photos of this fascinating wild species already, I never featured them in my “Good Morning from Noordhoek” greetings to you; so let it be today – the last chance for… Noordhoek Noordhoek!

Good Morning from Noordhoek

Good Morning from Noordhoek is an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa!

Good Morning from Noordhoek

It’s a beautiful yet windy Sunday morning and my daily greeting to you: “Good morning from Noordhoek” was no easy choice!

However, as I finally succeeded in capturing this hectic little chap hovering just for milliseconds on a magenta geranium before flip-flapping on… the first butterfly appearing down here in spring – it made it to the top of my priority list! May this white butterfly photo be a reminder of how everything in life is about transformation… one cycle gently transcending into the next… with definitively nothing to fear if we open up to the wonder of the Unknown. I love butterflies… their lightness of Being – something worth striving for.

Noordhoek Noordhoek

You may notice that I will be playing a little with titles and headlines to monitor the performance of my Daily Greetings from Noordhoek Noordhoek on Google Top 10!

Good Morning from Noordhoek

Good Morning from Noordhoek is an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa.

Good Morning from Noordhoek

Today, I really caught the first rays of the early morning sun as it touched the tip of Chapman’s Peak and swept down the mountain towards Noordhoek valley. The sky was of a bright blue color with white puffs of clouds scattered around Chapman’s Peak… but a very dark and daunting front coming in rapidly from the seaside – as you can clearly see on today’s photo “Good Morning from Noordhoek” shot basically from my window.

The sky closed up in darkness almost instantly and it started raining…

One way of giving back is by cultivating one’s own garden – not only as Albert Camus said in his ‘Candide’… but also literally. Each and every plant and tree you see on this picture – excluding the mountain slopes of course – was planted over 14 years by 4 hands… of which 2 were mine! I love to put something small and mostly fragile into the soil and nurture it carefully until it grows into something tall, independant and beautiful claiming its place on this absolutely beautiful planet! Sounds almost like a child – and it is! And it answers… and it certainly gives back abundantly…

Noordhoek Sunset Photo

I cannot resist to add this Noordhoek Sunset Photo that I shot last night – basically the same view in the evening, just before the sun would sink into the Atlantic Ocean… Breathtaking… Eternity within a moment!

Wishing you happy and centered moments that last…

PS:

I am also thinking of our American friends and wish a happy “Halloween”… something we do not celebrate here, but we like pumpkins…  pumpkin seeds especially :)

Good Morning from Noordhoek

Good Morning from Noordhoek is an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa.

Good Morning from Noordhoek

As you see on the photo above, the day started off a little grey and without real light… however, my little feathered friend lured me out into my garden and here’s “Good Morning from Noordhoek” with an emerald sunbird snatching some honey from a red grevillea that I grew myself from seeds I had collected from a wild plant a couple of years ago! They are rare, simply spectacular and very decorative… and I love the arrangement of flowers mixed with young green as well as bursting golden velvety pods richly filled with seeds on one strong stem – a real feast !

Wishing YOU to take the time to have a great feast today – joy and gratitude make even simple matters great!

Red Grevillea Photo

When researching the latin name of the red grevillea on my photo above, and knowing very well that this plant came originally from Australia, I came across the interesting “Australian Bush Flower Essences” where the red grevillea is supposed to “… help people who feel stuck, have trouble moving on, and are often too reliant on others”.

I have a keen interest in flower essences and am always amazed by the many answers we find in Nature! Well… it’s like looking at oneself as being part of it all :)

Good Evening from Noordhoek

Good Evening from Noordhoek is an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa.

Good Evening from Noordhoek

It has been a rather dark and rainy day with sudden gusts of sunshine inbetween – but not at times where I could just dash out and capture them! Therefore, I am sending you a “Good Evening from Noordhoek” today with my NIKON Coolpix P90 fully zoomed out towards the distant horizon above the Atlantic Ocean, where a huge cargo ship ploughed away through calm waters glittering in the evening sun towards the safe harbour of the Mother City Cape Town.

I just came back from town driving down Silvermine Road as the incredible colours struck me: the exact dark greys and a little yellow you see here.

Seeing these ships pass around the Cape of Good Hope and parading past Noordhoek is very typical and a comforting and peaceful picture I grew up with as a child… and that’s what I wish you: a peaceful and relaxed evening wherever you are!

Noordhoek Greeting New York

I couldn’t resist this one when shooting today’s photo for “Good morning from Noordhoek” – it’s dedicated to Joe Cettina… Noordhoek greeting New York!

Noordhoek Greeting New York

Noordhoek certainly has its secret life – that’s how we’ll keep it … even if you think nothing is private anymore!

We know Joe understands the full depth of “Noordhoek greeting New York” – the rest is in the eye of the beer holder – CHEERS!

Good Morning from Noordhoek

Good Morning from Noordhoek is an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa!

Good Morning from Noordhoek

My chances of taking a sexy “Good Morning from Noordhoek” Photo didn’t look that promising today as the sky was dark and dripping. However, as I had to go out anyway, I grabbed my digital camera… and came across the most amazing – and amusing – items right down the road at the Noordhoek Farmhouse Village! So here’s today’s Go Green Greeting for you – and you understand why I’m always sending you flowers: it seems endemic to our region!

As you may notice, I slightly changed the branded pagecurl as the distorsion on the car just didn’t look good, however, here’s a good compromise I think!

Noordhoek is always full of surprises and as I am looking into renewable energies right now for a totally different project,  this rare find just made my day! I will be on the lookout for the solar panelled RR or a Harley on wind turbines – whatever our multi-talented rainbow people may come up with! For sure worth a chuckle and a smile!

Have a brilliant day!

Good Morning from Noordhoek

Good Morning from Noordhoek is an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa!

Good Morning from Noordhoek

Today’s “Good Morning from Noordhoek” shows the first morning rays gently touching a blossoming quince, with the green fruit forming underneath the calice. My quince tree provides me with ample fruit twice a year… however, as I do not spray it with any pesticides, the question is always: who is faster? The hungry little buggers that dig themselves right in through the flower and eat the fruit from inside while it ripens and, when mature, either gets picked or blown down by the summer storms… which I can only see once I cut it open for preparing that delicious golden quince jelly or jam! As these fruits are hard as a rock, it’s hard work… however, I believe we should all grow something eatable in our gardens… even a little balcony has space for that as I remember from my years overseas where space was very limited! It’s so rewarding… and keeps you in contact with Nature and the cycle of Life!

Here’s for YOUR smile today to keep anything negative – or let’s say destructive – away! Have a great week!