CAR ENGINE STEAM CLEANING

It never fails to amaze me how a seemingly minor event can change the outcome of one's best laid plans and expectations so dramatically. The second night after arriving in Cornwall I took Jay and myself over to the cliffs and lighthouse at Godrevy in the hope of capturing my first sunset. It was only when I came to use my filters that I found out that although I had my filters with me I'd left my filter holder and adaptor rings at home...dohhhhhhhhhhhh! After 5 mins of dark mutterings and fighting the desire to throw myself into the crashing waves, which seemed to be giggling in a mocking way as they hissed across the rocks, I adapted and tried to make best use of the light without filters. That's not to say I gave up easily, I did try holding the filters in front of the lens, which is ok when you're doing short exposures but a real arm burner when doing LE's. Unfortunately, tho, and of great relief to my arm muscles, it's impossible to hold the filter steady enough and, most importantly, perpendicular to the film/sensor plane resulting in soft focus/blur because of the light being refracted at an angle through the wobbly filter...a couple of shots were acceptable as far as sharpness was concerned but not as far as the comp was. Bugger! As it turned out my act of forgetfulness meant that photography took a back seat during the holiday allowing Jay and myself to just enjoy ourselves and the beautiful landscape we were in. I still carried my camera gear with me wherever I went but I concentrated more on people and the mini-me landscapes. At times tho, I was beside myself with frustration and recrimination when I saw stunning vistas and scenes that I couldn't shoot without the use of grads and ND's...grrr, arrgghh!

As I said, tho, with photography taking a back seat, and with the weather this time around being brilliant unlike in June, Jay and I were able to do more things than we otherwise would have done, 2 days of bodyboarding being one of them (sheer child-like fun and joy!), going for long, ambling coastal walks being another (sheer ooohhhing and ahhhing!), and coming home with a list as long as my arm of future locations. So, sometimes a holiday should just be a holiday and not a photographic expedition as I so often make them into, it was wonderful for once to become involved within the landscape, to relax into the surroundings, to be the passionate subject rather than the cool observer, to no longer be aloof like some Canon Terminator with its all-seeing red eyes weighing up everything it sees for it's potential threat value...erm, potential use in compositions!

Jay said to me recently that one of the things about photography she's discovered and enjoys with a passion is just how much more aware she is of what's going on around her, how much more there is to see in the world that she didn't notice before without a camera and a photographer's eye....welcome to the wonderful world of photography, Jay, just don't forget your filter kit like I did, eh!

As usual after a holiday, I'll be doing my utmost to catch up with all your amazing images asap, I hope you're well, happy and making real your vision of life.

I would just like to add a huge thank you to the many photographers I met in Cornwall, some flickrites, others not, who had tales to tell, sound advice to give, laughs to share and were just all round damn fine people! May your lenses be clean and your shutters never stick! See you all next year when I come down to Cornwall solo. :-)

How do you clean a fish? By disemboweling it with a large sword/ knife of course.

Just like how you were taught out on the lake.