Author: Hannelie de Klerk

About Hannelie de Klerk

I am a Clinical Psychologist with an avid love of nature. I take photographs to remind myself to get out of my head and into the world. I run a Private Practice at 18 Versfeld Str in Yzerfontein. I can be contacted on +27828554874. View all posts by Hannelie de Klerk →

Cloud build-up over the Highveld

August 10, 2016ViewsClouds, Gauteng, Highveld, Landscape Photography, Suikerbosrand Nature ReserveHannelie de Klerk One comment

I am never entirely sure which of my photographs will stand the test of time: the ones that I am always pleased to see again, no matter how often they have passed in front of my eyes via the screensaver on my laptop. This particular shot was taken 11 years ago at Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve in Gauteng, and at the time I thought little of the fact that I experienced it as pleasing. Now it puzzles me that I have grown to love it. I wonder what it is about this relatively simple composition that I find so enticing. Is it idiosyncratic, or would others find joy in it too? I often have huge skies in my photographs, because of an internal need for expansion, and this shot leaves me with a sense that I can stand next to that dark little bush on the edge and that the world will fall away and I will be able to see forever.

Fury

August 9, 2016Flowers, Wild, WingsBird Photography, Cape Weaver, Flower Season, Nature Photography, Nesting Bird, West Coast National ParkHannelie de Klerk One comment

Cape Weavers are known for their fierceness during breeding season and this male was telling me in no uncertain terms to leave his nest alone. All of this against the backdrop of millions of flowers strewn like a carpet across the landscape. Strange to think that in a few weeks this individual will return to a calm and dull olive-brown colour, while the furious yellow of his piercing eyes will become dark. Around him the fields of flowers will return to dusty strandveld, leaving only the seeds to carry the potential of a next year’s splendour.