First match of the season at Polo Escape today and a chance for me to refresh my pony following camera skills.

Ask Google Maps for the route from Japan to China

(click to enlarge)

The last day with my little photo model, and in the absence of electricity we head for Starbucks. A clear “no photography” policy does not deter my wife who has an increasing list of scenarios yet to be captured, one of which is “child in coffee shop”. Bringing my studio lights into Starbucks is clearly not going to happen, neither is using flash, so I give thanks for the F1.7 aperture on the wonderful Panasonic 20mm lens.

Given my advancing years, I prefer to forget my birthday. And so this morning I did, until my mother-in-law presented me with a gift; a bunch of lottery tickets featuring my age. A kind thought, although I doubt the number 47 will be the winning number this week…..

Comments 🔗

2010-10-29 | Paul Garrigan says

Happy birthday Spike, I don’t like to make a fuss about my birthday but I always feel a bit let down when other people don’t remember it.

A birthday at my age is a time to be grateful. Grateful to have my health, grateful to have people to love and who love me, and grateful to still be having fun.

And grateful just to be around to enjoy another sunset; and it was a good one today.

A number of mails from readers asking what I was using to take the shots over the past few days. Not really, none of you lot give a shit how I take my photos; but I am going to tell you anyway because I just love to share things that nobody cares about.

Here is my state of the art photography studio (a.k.a. a corner of the spare bedroom):

Another day of photographing she who must be obeyed’s sister. I had long since run out of ideas, but my wife had a seemingly endless list of subject matter.

This was from the “student on the phone” shoot:

Some more sister shooting this morning, and we go through a batch of shots featuring an iPhone, then an iPad. She who must be obeyed is in charge of make-up and general sister management. She has also being doing some research and has nominated herself as creative director. She duly arrives with a collection of props and a long list of ideas. I am not sure of the market for some of her selections; but this is the “scared by what I see in binoculars while wearing a jacket” look.

Puzzles exist to be solved; so when I discover a new puzzle, I can attend to little else until it is solved. So it is with Trainyard, an iPhone game which plays very nicely at double size on the iPad.

Trains of various colours depart from stations and have to be sent to other locations; but with their numbers increased or decreased and their colours changed. You lay the track to make it happen.