Portfolio
The best sides of Cape Town from resident photographer David Rogers
FORGET THE WIND-BLOWN SUMMERS AND BLUE SKY, FOR PHOTOGRAPHING THE MOTHER CITY’S SURROUNDS, WINTER IS BEST. NOT ONLY IS SUNRISE AT A REASONABLE HOUR, THE LANDSCAPE IS GREEN, THE FYNBOS IS FLOWERING, THE FOLDS IN THE MOUNTAINS ARE CRISP AND WHALES ARE IN THE BAY. WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT?
WHERE TO START
Along the wave-splashed walkway from Muizenberg to St James, youʼll often find me at dawn with students, cameras on tripods capturing the awakening skies. My go-to spot is a rock – it resembles a giant dice – and forms a frame for rocks, waves, clouds and the distant Hottentots Holland Mountains. If all goes to plan, and the dice rolls my way, the predawn scene explodes with light and colour.
The ʻMuzeʼ is a special place. With its Herbert Baker-designed railway station, lazy lines of surf, flocks of gulls and characters as interesting and weatherworn as the colourful bathing boxes that line the strip, itʼs a place to fill cards, quickly.
As much as I love the Muze, the bathing boxes at St James reflected in the tidal pools, or the wide sweep of Fish Hoek beach could just as easily provide inspiration for a morning shoot.
CAPE POINT
The coastline from Boulders towards Smitswinkel and Cape Point National Park has to be among the most dramatic in the world with cliffs that drop away into the sea. The great views start well before the entrance to the park.
Inside the reserve, keep your long lenses handy for bontebok, eland as well as baboons, and make your way to one of the sheltered spots like Buffels Bay where you can find ostriches pecking away at the vegetation and flocks of gulls and terns rising and falling against the blue water.
If you want to capture the form of the point, you need to go up to the path near the lighthouse – or consider a boat, or a helicopter to get the true expanse. Itʼs not for nothing that shark expert Chris Fallows calls False Bay the Serengeti of the Sea. His company, Apex Tours, offers boat-based photography trips from Simonʼs Town, which allow you to capture the beauty of this coastline from the water. Watch out for lob-tailing whales in August and September and the rush of white water as schools of dolphins, hundreds strong, chase down bait balls.
In a place with such grand sea and mountain views, donʼt forget the smaller stuff. As winter progresses, proteas, ericas, leucadendrons and innumerable other species cloak the landscape in flowers and the pollinators they attract – be they insects, reptiles, birds or animals – can be wonderful subjects. Stay close to flowers, I say, and you will find things to photograph.
The Shipwreck Trail leads to the wreck of the Thomas Tucker which makes for a great photo opportunity thatʼll have you reaching for your ND filter and tripod, wishing you could stay the night. SANParks does have huts in the reserve, so consider it.
TABLE MOUNTAIN
Walking alone with camera gear on the mountain is not advised but there is safety in numbers at the top of Signal Hill on a full moon evening or sunset. Itʼs also great at sunrise if you want to photograph the mountain at first light, especially when mist blankets the city.
For the more distant views of Table Mountain, Belloy Street, Bloubergstrand is hard to beat. Here, right next to the road, are rocks where you fill your frame with pools, open seas and the finest view of the iconic flat-topped mountain. Itʼs best at sunset and a little after if there are high-level clouds.
In winter, you will often find me with a set of lenses, a tripod, a flask of coffee, waiting for sunbirds and sugarbirds in the fynbos garden of Kirstenbosch. Itʼs the best place in Cape Town for capturing flowers, birds and great views with colourful flora. There are owls, guinea fowls and once, in the late evening, I spotted a Cape fox. After rain, the gushing waterfalls coming down Skeleton Gorge and Nursery Ravine can make for great long exposures.
THE ATLANTIC COAST
The road from Misty Cliffs is spectacular and the scenes are as mystical and interesting as the name suggests. As you drive further to Kommetjie, Noordhoek and Chapmanʼs Peak, there are more glorious folded yellow sandstone cliffs and wild, ice blue seas.
Take your pick of great spots to photograph including the lighthouse at Kommetjie. The corner of Noordhoek Beach nearest Chapmanʼs is popular for wedding and family shoots and in the early mornings you might find racehorses dashing through the sand and surf. There are innumerable vantage points along Chapmanʼs Peak.
Closer to Cape Town, you could also set up for sunset at Maidenʼs Cove looking back over Camps Bay towards the 12 Apostles. All along this coast you will find lots more granite cliffs – part of the same vein of intrusive rock, which makes such impressive backgrounds.
WINELANDS AND BEYOND
Iʼve spent many afternoons standing on the back of a bakkie photographing the lines of vineyards and mountains beyond. What I would have done for a bit of help from a drone – higher than a ladder and well below a helicopter. For sweeping views, with elevation, I can really recommend a 4×4 ride at Jordan Wine Estate where you can look down over vineyards, fynbos and a patchwork of farms to the Hottentots Holland Mountains. Delheim and Vergelegen estattes are also set right against the mountain and offer great views.
Drive from Strand to Kleinmond on a clear day. The road follows the white beaches, with mountain and blue seas stretching all the way to Hangklip, the hanging rock that punctuates the end of the False Bay. And lording above the majestic scene is the Kogelberg, which contains one of the richest treasure chests of botanical gems in the world. Take some wide shots before the turnoff to Kogel Bay Resort and then take off your shoes and walk down the beach. If you use a wide-angle lens and an exposure of a second or more, the grit of rock and swirls of water are magnificent foregrounds to the scene. Shoot well into the dusk and beyond when the phosphorescence lights up the waves and stars twinkle in the skies.