A 21 year old Cat

Welcome.

A very short update.

Today, May 12th,  is the twenty first anniversary of the birth of my youngest child.

When she was about three years of age I overheard a chat between her mother and a friend. They were watching Catriona and me and the friend commented how much I adored my daughter.

Her mother responded "Yes, Catriona has him wrapped around her little finger in a way that nobody else ever will".

She was right. Of course, things change over the years, but there is probably a small element of that remaining. I don't mind.

This first photo was taken when Cat (as she is generally known) was only seven weeks old. The image was made by her mother.

The second image was made by me on a recent trip to Scotland.

Every parent who reads this knows of the joys, sadnesses, laughter and tears of raising kids. You don't need me to remind you.

All I can say is that it is an amazing journey.

So, thank you Cat. Thanks too to your older brothers Will and Stew. To Lynda - thank you for giving me such wonderful children.

More than ever do I mean it when I say, with love -

Stay safe.

Scanning the memory bank

Welcome.

It has been a while since the last post.  You know how life sort of creeps up and steals your time.

Of course, since the last time I was here I have been incredibly busy. After all, walking on the beach, drinking coffee, seeing friends and acquaintances, interstate travel and playing with the cat can keep a fellow occupied for an eternity.

Naturally I have been out and about with a camera too.

One thing I have done since last time was acquire a decent scanner.  So among all the other things that have occupied my time, this week I have been experimenting with said scanner to figure out the best way of preserving images that were captured on film.

I have to say that I reckon this will be an interesting challenge.  It is also exiting to look at images from years ago and recall the circumstances that surrounded their creation. Some of the memories still make me smile.  

Some of the folk that I photographed are no longer with us.  Others are no longer in close contact.  Yet others are still friends. 

People change.  The world changes too.  So does how we view faces and places from the past.

Sometimes it is good to revisit them by means of an image, rather than a memory. 

I guess I have a bit of work ahead of me to digitize my 'pre-digital' photography.  It will be good to finally get it done and have some sort of backup of all the old stuff.

Problem is - I think that I will be too easily distracted when I come across some image that transports me to another place or to another face.

So it may be that I will post the occasional shot from the 'archives' here.  

Here are a couple of characters recorded on film and now captured on the scanner. 

                                                               Alaska Railroad - 1994

                                                                              Vanuatu - 1992

Old woman - 1980

This image was made with the first SLR camera I ever owned - a Ricoh Singlex TLS - ancient design even when it was new. FIlm was Ektachrome 64 (had a famous cool colour cast).  She was someone I met as I was walking down the street. Loved the lines on her face and hands.

Derani - 1995

Me - 1976, aged 17

It will be interesting for me to 'revisit' some of these images.  I have always thought that one of the underlying reasons that I have such a passion for photography is the desire to try to capture life as it passes - to 'stop' it if you will.  The only way I could ever think of doing that was to record a split second on a piece of film or now in a digital medium.

I am glad that I had that desire.

On a slightly sadder note - Carole, a dear acquaintance of mine lost a friend this week.  Her friend had lived with her and her family for almost a year as an exchange student here in Australia before returning home to Canada. Carole went to her friend's wedding last year.  Her friend was in an accident last week and was killed. So now Carole is back in Canada for the funeral.  Her friend was 25.

Why write this?

Simple.  You see, I have signed off every blog post with the same two words.  I started using those words as a kind of nod of respect to Carole.  She always used to say them when signing off from a phone call or when anyone she knew was starting a journey.  She meant them sincerely.

I spoke to her the day before she and her husband left for the funeral.  Even though she was in obvious pain, she still said them again.  

So Carole, for your journey, and to all others who may read this - 

Stay safe.