Lightning in the Dark

"Please?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"But Cherie got to do it."

"And she gave it up because she had to get up too early."

"I already get up early."

"The answer is no, Lara. And that's final."

The battle was lost, but the war was far from over. I never did get over the fact that I had been denied the right of all children to learn to ride a horse. What it did mean though was that I started to hold a special place for horses in my heart, a place of awe and reverence. Horses to me were always animals to be respected and, at times, feared. Beautiful creatures that I could look at, but not touch. Until Lightning.

"Can I," I ask Kim without taking my eyes off him. His coat is gleaming in the afternoon sunlight, and all I want to do is reach out and touch it, but not knowing how he will react, I am hesitant.

"Of course!" It is as though I have asked if I can breathe. "They need all the attention they can get," Kim announces as she explains that a number of the horses at Grahamstown's paddocks have owners who are not able to come and ride them nearly as often as they would like. 

"Horses are meant to be ridden," she says matter-of-factly. And I can see it in their legs, the muscles bulging, in the flow of their manes that whispers of a will to be running, to be galloping, to be free. Horses are meant to be ridden, not to be cooped up in pens out of the sunlight.

I reach out a hand slowly towards him, half expecting him to buck or to shake his head as though swatting away a pest. But instead, he continues with his meal of as much grass as he can get, and my hand runs over his velvet coat. It is as soft as it looks, softer in fact, and my fingers tingle under the touch.

The weather is refusing to cooperate with us, the sun hiding behind clouds rather than providing the golden light that I had been hoping for. But the clouds set a peaceful mood which suits our needs as we make our way to one of the paddocks.

"Lightning," Kim warns as she sees him head straight for the grass that lines the fence. She leads him instead to the solitary tree in the middle of the field, and here he stands, awaiting instructions, for all of three seconds before making his way back over to the fence.

"He's still young," Kim offers as an explanation. Like a typical teenager, I think to myself. Learning how the world works and marvelling at its every offering.

"Maybe he will be better in the other field," I offer as a suggestion, and we take him next door where there are no trees and less long grass to offer distraction. Just emptiness, with me on the sidelines trying to capture it. 

"Come on, boy," Kim announces with a clap, trying to get him to run. And run he does, straight towards me. I duck instinctively as he passes, and the camera clicks just a second too late every time, impossible to catch his full frame in a single shot as he races past like his namesake. He reaches one side of the paddock and turns to run in the opposite direction. His eyes are wild with joy and confusion at the freedom.

"He's never been told to run before," Kim explains, as her own eyes fill with concern. "He doesn't know what's happening."

As he reaches the fence, he tries to go further and finds himself blocked in at every corner, the only way out is forward and he tries his best to make his way out, running into the fence before scaring himself.

"It's okay", Kim coos, as I stare wide-eyed, not knowing how to react, not knowing what it is that I have done. Her voice calms him almost instantly, and he stops running and lets himself be comforted by her words, her soft touch.

"Good," she says, resting her head on his chest, running her hand down his back. "Is it okay if we head back now," she asks, and I nod happily, not wanting to frighten him any more than I already have.

As we make our way back to the stables, Lightning returns to his normal self, stopping to eat as much grass as he can manage along the way, his stride slowing as his heart rate lowers. Kim walks him back to his stall, and it is back to the darkness, but suddenly the cool of the stall seems more inviting, the pen offering a soothing familiarity. I take one last shot, and I know that it is not going to be perfect, but I love it anyway. I have captured the Lightning in the dark, and it feels right.

Post-Processing Fun

I came across the most awesome effect in Photoshop about two weeks ago, and I have been going crazy with it ever since. Making polaramas!

Polaramas are images that have been distorted to turn them into little worlds, as in the images above. These two  polaramas were created from the same image, one just slightly more cropped. You can see the huge difference that it makes to the image itself.

Polaramas are images that have been distorted using Photoshop's Polar Coordinates distortion which turns them in on themselves to create a little world out of  your photo. They are really fun to look at and really simple to make.

So what do you need to make a polarama?

1. First, you need Photoshop. I don't work with other photo editing programmes, so I am not sure if they would have the same option to create this or what it would be called.
2. You need to have a photo that is at least twice as long as it is wide. Panoramic images work well with this,  particularly if they have been taken at 360 degrees as it means that the ends of the photos come together well. You will see in some of the examples that are posted here, the sky was bluer on one end compared to the other or one side of the image had rocks when the other didn't. I still like the look of them, but it isn't as cool as when everything comes together perfectly.
3. You may want to choose an image that is fairly simple around the top and around the bottom. The top area is the area that gets distorted the most, so if it very busy, you will have a very busy area around the top and it won't keep much definition. I find that photos with a sky framing them work well.
4. Five minutes to spare.

Open up your Photoshop and either load your image or (if you are using a panoramic image that has yet to be pieced together) put it together. Note: If you are planning on using a panorama, you will often find that the bigger the image, the longer the polarama takes to generate and the more of your CPU space it uses - don't be scared to save the panorama somewhere and then resize it for the polarama. 

These two polaramas were made using the same panorama of my front garden. On the right is the regular polarama, on the left is the inverted one.

Once you have your picture in Photoshop, the next step is to change the dimensions. I use Photoshop CS5, so please bear with me... I only know how to use this and do not know the steps to change the image size in other versions or other programmes, but it really can't be too difficult! Select Image from the top menu and click on Image Size. You will want the height to be adjusted to the same size as the width. So copy the width and paste it into the height area. You will see that you have a big, distorted square.

Now, here you have a choice. You can either have a regular polarama with the sky on the outskirts of the image, or you can have an inverted polarama where everything else is on the outside and you are looking into the sky. I love them both to be honest and can't decide which method I prefer. You will have to decide that for yourself. If you want a regular polarama, be sure  to rotate your image 180 degrees so that it is upside down. If you want an inverted one, you can leave it as is. See the above for examples of each.

Some polaramas from tongyeong island in South Korea. Note the different colours and aspects of the photos joining in the middle where the two sides  of the image meet. Taking a 360 degree panorama will fix that, as in the cases of the panoramas taken in my garden above.

Now your image is ready. Select Filter from the top menu, mouse over Distort and select Polar Coordinates. It may take awhile to load, particularly if the photo in question is a large one. I know that I had trouble with large images that couldn't handle the distortion and it kept coming up saying that I didn't have enough RAM to complete the job. If that  happens to you, just shrink the image and you should be fine. Make sure that Rectangular to Polar is selected and then click OK. And voila! You have  yourself a polarama.

A panorama of Tongyeong and one of Grahamstown.

Have fun with it! I know I have been :)

Not Just For Fun

Participants in the RAVE Run/Walk
Grahamstown

It was the perfect day for a walk. The sun was shining for the first time in a long time and I was actually starting to feel hot in my long sleeved black shirt, hot enough to wish that I had worn something more along the lines of what everyone else was wearing. On this occasion, that happened to be tank tops and shorts, and considering how cold it has been in Grahamstown recently, the fact that I wanted to follow suit says something.



Of course, these people were wearing tank tops and shorts for good reason. They were being sensible, understanding that running or even walking five kilometres in a long sleeved black shirt and jeans was not going to be comfortable. And each and every one of the people surrounding me was intending on walking five kilometres. I could tell from the bright orange cards around their necks, the cards that singled them out as participants in the RAVE Run (or Walk).



The RAVE, or Respect And Value Everyone walk was in aid of the Adinkra Child Mentoring Programme, a programme founded by Danielle Djan which pairs children from disadvantaged background with Rhodes University students in order to benefit them both - the children by providing them with role models and people to look up to, with people to help them through their tough times and show them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel; the students by providing them with a purpose, with someone they can inspire and giving them a reason for being inspirational. It was appropriate then that the orange cards that people were wearing around their necks had a space on them for a photo to be pinned besides which, in bold black letters, were the words: "I'M RUNNING FOR YOU!"



Considering that I had heard nothing about the walk before Mike had phoned me on Sunday morning, I was quite surprised at the large outcome. Over 100 people were there and ready, orange cards around their necks and paint on their faces. Most of them were young - either from the schools in the area or in their early University years, but there were a number of locals as well - families who had come to walk together, mothers and daughters, fathers and sons and members of the Run/Walk For Life organisation, all ready to get running and walking for a cause.



As the marshalls were placed along the path, ready to direct both the runners and any traffic that they might encounter, the participants started stretching their legs and getting ready for the starting sprint. By 3pm, they were off. Some started full speed ahead, others slow and steady, but all had a sense of purpose to their stride - they weren't just walking. They were marching, protesting, supporting and encouraging. They were inspiring. At the end of the day, it didn't really matter who came first, second, third or last. The prizes at the end were not the purpose for anyone participating. It was all about the meaning behind the walk, all about the message that they wanted to spread. And with every car that drove past, every van that was stopped to let a participant through, it was working. People stopped and stared. People questioned, And that was the point.



An hour and a half later, the final woman walked through the gates and the walk came to an end. Sure, there wasn't the turn out that some had imagined. There was less enthusiasm than had been expected. But curiosity had been peaked. I suspect that next year, there are going to be a lot more people walking through the streets of Grahamstown. And whether they run or walk, you'll certainly be noticing them.

Photo shoot: Shaina Ricketts

Shaina Ricketts
25
New York, United States of America

When I was in university, I always aspired to be what was fondly referred to as a woman who spoke out. I wanted to have my own voice, and I wanted to use it. I wanted to be independent, confident, sexy and smart. Today, when I think of the women that I know, there is one who definitely sticks out in my mind as encompassing all of those attributes. From the moment I met Shaina Ricketts, I knew that she was a force to be reckoned with. Loud, confident and not prepared to face anyone's shit, Shai is ready to face anything that life can throw at her.

Shai and I had three shoots together focussing on three different aspects of her life. The first was a shoot in the gym where Shai has spent most of her time over the last few months. Dressed in some colourful, sexy attire, Shai started her workout, even going so far as to run on the treadmill in her black thigh-high stilettos, while I snapped away and tried to capture the energy that emanated from her. It was a tad unfortunate that the gym was not too aesthetically pleasing, but I decided to take what I could get and tried to make the best of it. Thankfully, Shai was more than willing to oblige, and the two of us had fun huffing and puffing to try and get it all done (yes, even me – I was climbing on chairs and getting myself into some awkard positions after all).

Once we were all worked out it was time to take some simplistic shots trying to focus on blacks, greys and whites and just trying to get some good portraits to show the person that Shai is without any props, without any distractions – just Shai being Shai. Laughter rang through the hallways as we chatted away about life and Shai rattled off in her adoring way about Rob, absent-mindedly glancing at the bracelet and necklace that had been presents from him. The way her whole face lit up when she thought of him was something that I was lucky to capture on (digital) film, and these ended up being some of my favourites photos of the day.

We decided to make the last shoot an outdoor one and took full advantage of the afternoon sunlight and brief warmth to take some fun photos in the park. This brought out Shai's playful side perfectly as she hung off bars, slid down slides, climbed jungle gyms and played soccer with the boys just to give me some great, colourful, fun shots to work with. I was glad to catch a glimpse of the fun Shai that I have come to know and love. I took full advantage of that, snapping away as many photos as I could and even sneakily taking a video of her playing soccer.

With her (sometimes brutal) honesty, Shaina always with the best intentions and over my time in Korea, I have come to know her as someone who can be trusted with any secret and who will be there for you in any time of need, usually armed with a positive outlook on the situation and a smile that is so contagious, you will find yourself laughing in minutes no matter what the problem was. It was this contagious smile, this strong, confident, bold woman that I wanted to capture during my photo shoot, and I like to believe that I succeeded. Hopefully the photos will speak for themselves.