BERTUS BOTHA

iPhone SE

BERTUS WRITES: My wife and I were on holiday in Jeffreys Bay and we decided to visit St Francis Bay for the day. I took this photo near the Seal Point lighthouse. The weather was too grey and misty for nice landscape photos, but I noticed there were pretty pools in the hollows and grooves of the rocks. I bent down and held my cellphone just above the surface of one such pool. This gave me a unique angle and it made the tiny pool look like a lake surrounded by high cliffs.

TOAST SAYS: Use your phone camera correctly – within its means – and you can take excellent photos. But add some imagination and you’ll elevate things to the next level. Every new scene is a challenge: How can you make a great pic out of a seemingly dull subject on a grey day? The symmetry here is crucial. See how it works in all directions? The rocks on the right are roughly a mirror image of those on the left and the water surface reflects both of these so perfectly that you see four rock walls instead of two. The water also reflects the sky, which gives an impression of endless space – almost like an infinity pool at a fancy hotel. I also like the green seaweed. Because there’s nothing in the frame to give you a sense of scale (like a seagull) the seaweed might as well be the forested walls of a Norwegian fjord. The scene toys with your perception. Is this a set for Lord of the Rings? Simple but clever. Good job, Bertus!