He was the very last one up this morning, bless him. The little fella is three years old today and is absolutely loving every single minute of it. We hosted a party with ten toddlers at the house on Saturday, and against all odds, it actually went really well! I can’t take any of the credit for that, though (apart from my masterful play-and-pause skills during ‘pass the parcel’)—my wife orchestrated the entire thing, to be honest. Absolute genius.

We took some much-needed respite in the sun the day after, heading out for a long walk down through the Winter Gardens in Bournemouth and right along the pier.

Can you believe you can’t just order a simple slice of toast on its own at the restaurant down there? I won’t lie, it made my blood boil for a minute. But then I thought, to hell with it, and just decided to enjoy the rest of the afternoon sun. It really was lovely. Finlay enjoyed himself, and I guess at the end of the day, that’s all that really matters. A perfectly relaxing Sunday.

Today, he opened the remainder of his gifts from his grandparents and us, and guess what… he got his very first camera! Oh yes. Not that I’m being a pushy parent or anything, but Daddy knows best, eh? 😉 Expect one or two of his photographic efforts to make an appearance on here very soon.

As for this image, it was simply a fleeting moment in time—a quick glance, a grab, and a click. I just quite liked the honesty of it.

On a slightly different note, I received a message on Twitter that pointed me towards a highly emotive video. It absolutely rang true to me and my whole approach to image-making. Take a look when you have a spare moment, and let me know how you feel after watching it… csj

http://www.zarias.com/?p=284

Produced by Zack Arias and was a guest entry on a Scott Kelby website.

capture date | 08.01.2009
camera | Canon EOS 5D
lens | 17-40mm f/4 L Series
focal length | 17mm
aperture | f/9.5
shutter speed | 1/128
shooting mode | aperture priority
exposure bias  | +0.0
metering mode | pattern
ISO | 100
flash | no
image quality | RAW
RAW converter | CS3 + Photomatix Pro
cropped? | yes (tiny from edge)