Saturday, September 19, 2009

View of the Green Point Common, the new 2010 Green Point Soccer Stadium, the Atlantic Ocean, Robben Island and far beyond


Click image to en-large

Believe it or not but I drove up Signal Hill in the rain, it was a dreary day but as I arrived the sun broke through... Have a great weekend !

Friday, September 18, 2009

This is what the R4.3bn new 2010 Green Point Stadium looks like by night on September 16

To see the details, click on image
Now that the cranes are gone, bar one, its allot darker at night and they keep the left side of the stadium where the first strips of mesh membrane are attached in darkness, either by design or because they cant work there at night

What started as a R1.2bn stadium project in February 2006, has now quadrupled to a R4.4bn budget-balancing exercise and the city could need an extra R660m for the rest of the project.
And if the city does not get this additional income from external funding sources, the money will have to come from council coffers and ratepayers' pockets.
Read on here

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Sunset colours the mesh membrane of the World Cup Green Point Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa, but is it beautiful ?

Peek a boo ?
Its maybe early days to judge yet, but I am holding my breath ..
this is how it looks when the sunset "colours" the PVC cloth at 18,30 PM.Sept 16

Click Image to see large
Today during the day with little or no sun the fibre glass infused PTFE fabric mesh cloth has the exact colour of the walls of the old stadium's foundation: Grey


It seems to be  only the first strip which caused problems, the second strip looks tight and smooth 

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

I hope the Green Point Stadium will not look like a grey blob on the horizon

Two more cranes came down today
This was at 19.00 PM this evening
At 18.00 PM a little bit of blue sky after a grey cool day
I fervently hope and pray that this is not it.... that they are going to attach another PVC mesh on the outside of the frame because I think these grey sheets look like dirty washing, it will look awful
SLR Canon EOS 450D and EFS 17-85 mm lens (the only one I own)

  Took this at around 17.30 PM I drove past the stadium to see if they had sorted the wrinkles yet
but there is obviously a problem.. now there is a gap held together by ropes...
Unfortunately and upsettingly I knocked over my tripod with my Canon PS 5S IS, which was my baby, it could do everything except cook, unfortunately they dont sell it anymore and so I am now on the waiting list (Arrives beginning october in Cape Town)
Canon Powershot SX20 IS Super Zoom
it also has a good video
It is the closest to my broken only 1 year old Canon 5S IS
its cheaper to buy the SX20 camera for close ups then buying a new lens for my SLR Cam

BTW THE photoshop here in Cape Town is called  ORMS

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

View from Big Bay of Table Mountain and a tiny Green Point Stadium in Cape Town

Click on images to see large
I gave this image the Orton treatment I hope you like it
Orton Effect technique is named after a Vancouver Island’s photographer Michael Orton. He took one very sharp photo, deliberately blurred another identical one, overexposed both of them and merged them together to get this dreamy, impressionistic image. He used traditional film but we can do the same thing in
editing program
When I took these shots last weekend it was hazy again and soon after, the clouds rolled in and by the time I arrived home it was drizzling
From left to right Devils Peak, Table Mountain, Signal Hill, Lions Head, Twelve Apostles and as far as I know the last ones on the right are the Hottentot Holland Mountain range
I remember seeing a similar shot 2 years ago with a mock up of the stadium , which was about half the size of Signal Hill, allot of people seeing those kind of images were very concerned that it would ruin this beautiful view of the Cape Town and Table Mountain skyline
Well as you can see it was scaremongering, its hard to find the stadium in these photos

Monday, September 14, 2009

The mesh membrane on the 2010 Soccer World Cup Green Point Stadium isn't looking good

Click images to see large NW side of stadium
On 9/09/2009 the first strip of the PVC mesh membrane was installed,
 since then they have been working on it. Today 13/09/2009 I expected the strip to be stretched and properly attached, so I drove past this evening to take a closer look 
Well this is what it looks like now:
To my dismay its wrinkled !
So far I am not impressed although I am trying to be patient, you would think they would have sorted it by now but maybe its a design fault ? Whatever it is I guess its going to give someone somewhere allot of  headaches ...
I also have a few questions  ...
How easy will it be to keep it clean and how likely would it be that it tears ?
When you look at it here, I wonder if this is some sort of lining, maybe another fabric will be covering the outside ? I have no answers as yet and can't find anything on the web but time will tell...

Sunday, September 13, 2009

A trip to Saldanha Bay and the beautiful Langebaan Lagoon

The road into the Postberg Nature Reserve
Today was the perfect day for a 1 hour drive away trip to the West Coast National Park Its where the Postberg Nature Reserve opens its gates in August and September so you can see the fields of wild Spring  flowers and I brought  a picnic along which I had on the beach of the Lagoon 
The Reserve is located within West Coast National Park, skirting the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by hills. In full bloom in August and September, this collection of wild plants and flowers is internationally renowned for its beauty.

Langebaan lagoon 
Click Images to see large
The village Langebaan
Langebaan from the "Lookout" in the Postberg Reserve
Road into  the Postberg Reserve with  view to Saldanha Bay
This is where I had my picnic on the shore of the azure blue water of the Langebaan Lagoon

Wild Flowers in the Postberg Nature Reserve
Unfortunately the photos have the wrong sequence ..Blogger has updated the ;"editor" and now the photos are posted in a different order