Photo A Day -- 2006

03-02 Fly

2006-03-07T18:08:00.000+06:00

I hate flies. And in Australia, they grow them big. Huge bush blow flies, buzz about inside our house. They're stupid for coming in. They try to get out. But they can't, and just die on the window sill.
This one I lightly swatted, and shot while it was dazed. Afterward, I gently pushed it on top of a piece of paper and dumped outside the house. It flew back into the house through the open door.
I swatted it dead.

03-01 Gazza

2006-03-02T10:14:00.000+06:00

02-28 Nikki, Ali and Ruby

2006-03-02T06:23:00.000+06:00

02-27 80kms/hour

2006-03-02T05:42:00.000+06:00

02-26 One Apostle ...

2006-03-02T04:56:00.000+06:00

02-25 Koala

2006-03-02T04:46:00.000+06:00

02-24 Comfort -- The toes know...

2006-03-02T04:45:00.000+06:00

02-23 Flower and Ant

2006-03-02T04:44:00.000+06:00

02-22 Flower

2006-03-02T04:43:00.000+06:00

02-21 TV shot

2006-03-01T18:21:00.000+06:00

02-20 Nikki, week 37

2006-03-01T18:15:00.000+06:00

02-19 Me?

2006-03-01T18:11:00.000+06:00

02-18 Sam

2006-03-01T18:04:00.000+06:00

02-17 Paraglide

2006-03-01T18:03:00.000+06:00

02-16 Mia

2006-03-01T18:02:00.000+06:00

02-15 Us

2006-03-01T17:32:00.000+06:00

02-14 Ruby

2006-03-01T17:31:00.000+06:00

02-13 Airey's Inlet

2006-03-01T17:30:00.000+06:00

02-12 CC and KD

2006-03-01T17:29:00.000+06:00

02-11 At the pier

2006-03-01T17:27:00.000+06:00

02-10 Ruby Grace

2006-02-22T17:30:00.000+06:00

02-09 Mia, itchy chin after ice cream

2006-02-22T17:27:00.000+06:00

02-08 Nikki, after a swim

2006-02-22T17:18:00.000+06:00

02-07 Lighthouse at Airey's Inlet

2006-02-22T17:16:00.000+06:00

The view (left) from our beach spot.

02-06

2006-02-08T04:33:00.000+06:00

02-05 Jodie and Mia

2006-02-08T04:26:00.000+06:00

02-04 Mia

2006-02-08T04:22:00.000+06:00

02-03 Nikki, Ali and Ruby

2006-02-08T04:17:00.000+06:00

02-02 With Ali

2006-02-07T15:21:00.000+06:00

Nikki and her sister Ali, who just had a baby a few months ago. A few hours after our arrival on Feb 2 evening. Lots of excitement :)

02-01 So long...

2006-02-01T18:59:00.000+06:00

OK...we're off. This is Nikki during the flight. We had a good one, actually.

01-31 Yeah, you...

2006-01-31T18:54:00.000+06:00

01-30 AK and OK

2006-01-31T18:52:00.000+06:00

I messed up and didn't post anything yesterday...so...

01-29 Leaf

2006-01-29T21:13:00.000+06:00

01-28 Josephine

2006-01-28T22:37:00.000+06:00

01-27 Me

2006-01-27T16:51:00.000+06:00

And Goodman had to mess with her new acid filter...

01-26 Jojo 2

2006-01-26T18:08:00.000+06:00

01-25 Prints

2006-01-25T23:11:00.000+06:00

01-24 Two of us

2006-01-24T23:04:00.000+06:00

01-23 Girl with a kite

2006-01-23T23:15:00.000+06:00

01-22 Mess

2006-01-22T22:42:00.000+06:00

My study, circa 22:30 hours on Sunday night, Jan 22. We started packing and rearranging the house in preparation for our four months away. It's always surprising to learn how much crap we end up accumulating over the course of our ordinary lives. The Liverpool-Man U game is on right now, and I do hope those shite Manchester player duff up and give Liverpool a win.
Canon 20D
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5
1/13 sec at f/4.5, ISO-400

01-21 Oskar 2

2006-01-21T22:51:00.000+06:00

He visited and we hung out.

01-20 Mia

2006-01-20T18:39:00.000+06:00

After Artyste did one, I had to do one as well. This is Mia, our niece. The shots are not from today, and they're not even recent. But I've been thinking about triptyching Mia for a while.
Shot in black and white mode (these are three out of about 30 similar images). Mia was in a really good mood that day and I think her general excitement comes through. You'll see more of her in the next few months as I'm sure to abuse her services as a model during the four months that we'll spend in Australia.
Oh yeah, another week to go and we're off.
Canon 20D
Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L
1/1000, 1/1250 and 1/1000 at f/4, ISO-1600

01-19 White beard

2006-01-19T22:21:00.000+06:00

Man spends ten minutes each day combing his beard.
Canon 20D
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS
1/6400 at f/2.8, ISO-100

01-18 The sisters

2006-01-18T18:11:00.000+06:00

I think something rather unpleasant just happened to her, and she was still trying to figure out what it was.
Canon 20D
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS
1/800 at f/2.8, ISO-100

01-17 Pink

2006-01-17T19:48:00.000+06:00

Galle Face Walk, again. Father and son enjoying the afternoon sun.
Canon 20D
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS
1/800 at f/2.8, ISO-100

01-16 Two out of three

2006-01-16T20:03:00.000+06:00

I want you...I need you...
But there ain't no way I'm ever gonna love you
Now don't be sad...'Cause two out of three ain't bad
Don't be sad...'Cause two out of three ain't bad
Baby we can talk all night...
But that ain't getting us nowhere
--Meatloaf
Canon 20D
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS
1/1000 at f/2.8, ISO-100

01-15 Shrimp vendor

2006-01-15T22:59:00.000+06:00

Guess what I was shooting for :). Spent most of the afternoon at the Galle Face Walk, a landmark spot in Colombo. It's right in front of the grand Galle Face Hotel, and on most afternoons, thousands of people throng to this spot and enjoy the ocean views.
This man sells shrimp cakes out of a cart, an American dime a piece.
Canon 20D
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS
1/200 at f/2.8, ISO-100

01-14 SET

2006-01-14T22:43:00.000+06:00

Just a few meters from our house is a SET -- Sampathi Electronic Teller. Yes, it's an ATM machine. I found it hard to focus on a shot today, and this is it.
Canon 20D
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5
30 sec at f/29, ISO-200

01-13 Jojo 1

2006-01-13T20:11:00.000+06:00

Jojo was digging his nose in the dirt. Whatever it was, he was excited about it. When he came into the house, I told him to sit still, and like a dog he obeyed. Grabbed the camera, and shot a few frames. Then he got up and walked off, giving me a look that could have said: "If you wanted a stupid dog, why didn't you just get one? Now leave me alone, please."
Shot with 1600 ISO for some "noise," and then went through wb adjustments and bw conversions.
Canon 20D
Sigma 105 f/2.8 EX DG Macro
1/30 at f/2.8, ISO-1600

01-12 Goldtiger

2006-01-12T19:36:00.000+06:00

Goldtiger brand locks come in all sizes. This, the third from the smallest size Goldtiger, is also the third flimsiest. It's still two weeks away before we get to fly to Oz, but the anal side of me has kicked in. I've worked out in my head what items I'd pack, sorted out the different locks for the luggage (ergo the Goldtiger), worked out how many packets of cat food we'd need to pre-purchase so that the cats will have food during the four months that we'd be away, etc., etc. I guess I'm just excited.
Canon 20D
Sigma 105 f/2.8 EX DG Macro
1/4 at f/4.5, ISO-200

01-11 Right shoe

2006-01-11T20:43:00.000+06:00

My right shoe. I've had this and its complementary pair for at least two years now, and have worn them almost everyday since then. They're slightly beat up and scuffed around. But they're comfortable and make me feel good. I hope I'll get to wear them for a few more years, until they fall apart from withstanding my weight day in and day out.
Canon 20D
Canon EF 50 f/1.8
1/15 at f/1.8, ISO-400

01-10 Copper

2006-01-10T22:51:00.000+06:00

He was just standing there, next to the "silencer" sign, which sounds nasty and ominous but in fact refers to a shop that does muffler service. Certainly cheaper than Meineke, or whatever that shop in the US is called.
Taken from inside a moving vehicle, and I had to bump up the sharpening quite a bit to get the face in reasonable order. The coloring...well, chalk it up to Colombo. I've got this theory that left standing outdoors long enough, anything of any color will turn this charming brown-green tinge. The exhaust from Colombo's never-before-gone-through-emissions-testing thousands of buses alone would be enough to turn everything grimey.
Canon 20D
Canon EF 50 f/1.8
1/100 at f/1.8, ISO-100

01-09 Colombo Street 1

2006-01-09T20:34:00.000+06:00

After work, during a stroll on Galle Road. The afternoon light this time of the year is nice. I was passing these guys with the cam on servo, tracking them from about 25 meters away. And then snapped when they came near enough. Got a smile out of them.
Sometimes I wonder if I'd smile if I realize that someone I don't know was snapping a shot of me as I walk by them.
Canon 20D
Canon EF 50 f/1.8
1/640 at f/2.2, ISO-400

01-08 Ants

2006-01-08T15:01:00.000+06:00

A colony of these ants have taken over the backyard and our second-floor patio. Our cats hate them and sometimes try to "hunt" the ants. I think it's a losing battle.
Canon 20D
Sigma 105 f/2.8 EX DG Macro
1/320 at f/4, ISO-400

01-07 Oskar

2006-01-07T22:12:00.000+06:00

Meet Oskar Knox, aka OK. He kicks a ball really well, and today he demonstrated how sometimes when he's happy, he could run around in circles and not get dizzy at all. He's damn strong, and is already a strict vegetarian. I have no doubt, given what I know of his dad Alex, that Oskar one day would develop a refined musical taste with a bent for thumping electronica. He is shown here with residual pizza sauce on his face, and I do believe he had a good time this afternoon at our place.
I've known Oskar for just over a year now. Each time I meet and hang out with him, not only do I see various changes in him, but I also realize how perhaps he might be changing little bits of me, as well as bits of all the other folks who have been lucky enough to have had the privilege of sharing time with him.
Canon 20D
Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L
1/50 at f/2.8, ISO-400

01-06 Nikki 3

2006-01-06T19:49:00.000+06:00

If you're not guessing it yet, I'll confirm it. Yes, Nikki is going to figure prominently in these PAD filings. This was right before we had a drink with HeMarli, our landlady. Marli, as we call her, lives in Norway. She visits Sri Lanka from time to time, to spend time with her father Dr Jayasekara, or Dr J, as we called him.

This current trip for Marli has been the saddest of them all, as Dr J passed away yesterday morning. He was a sweet man whose mind remained swift and cutting until almost the last day. He decided to give up, we think, a few months ago. And he expressed that by refusing to eat, and insisting to be left alone. He was 85 when he died. Told that the New Year had arrived a few days ago, he said: "So what???"

One other detail about Dr J (and yes, I'm sorry I'm taking the time to attach a long text here NOT about Nikki, but about someone else, but I hope you'd understand why and forgive me for it) is that for decades, he has sat on the porch outside of his bedroom in the early evening hours, as each day passed into the evening and then night, and counted the flying foxes passing overhead. The area in which we live is a passage area for flying foxes, and each dusk, they flew directly above the house from their sleeping grounds during the day to their feeding spots at night. He reckoned that as more modernity and development happened over the years, fewer and fewer flying foxes flew by. (I'm thinking that maybe for tomorrow's shot, I'll try for a silhouette of a bat group, or something like that. We'll see).

Oh yeah, his favorite song is "Beautiful Dreamer," which was originally done by Stephen Foster and then turned into a lullaby later on. If you're interested, I can send an ITunes file for this, just so you can hear what I'm talking about.

Back to Nikki. She's had a good day today, and the bub, again, has been kicking like mad. We think it's due to the bit of wasabi she had during lunch, to go with the avocado sushi. We finalized our flight today, and are now looking into car rental for four months in Australia. If you're in the Melbourne area, please keep in mind that we're looking for a rental between February and June, a reasonable and safe car, one in which we could dump a baby seat in the back and a stroller in the boot (that's "the trunk" for Americans). Let me know if you see a good prospect for this.

PS Nikki is with Jojo :)
Canon 20D
Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L
1/50 at f/4, ISO-400

01-05 Nikki 2

2006-01-05T21:32:00.000+06:00

When my body is mine
In three months' time,
When my body is (again) mine
And I can eat what I please
I'll consume pate and tripe
Drink white wine and Red Stripe
And eat mounds of soft cheese.
--Taken off the web, somewhere.

Rough day. Spent 2 hours with my jaw open at the dentist, and took a shot of him after he was done mucking about with the damaged molar. I was going to load that up for today's filing. But when I sat down to process it, I just ran out of gas and didn't want to continue. Maybe it was the residual memory of his stainless steel pick digging through the hole in my mouth, maybe it was the fact that there was no anesthetic used...whatever.

So set up the tripod and took this shot of Nikki. She's now on week 30, and the bub is kicking up a storm. A soccer player in the making, perhaps. Nikki is a dreamer who rarely realizes that she's such a dream herself.

This is a more aggressive processing job than I usually prefer. But maybe the gentleness of the subject matter(s) could make up for the angst.
Canon 20D
Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L
2 sec at f/10, ISO-400

01-04 Sena

2006-01-04T21:06:00.000+06:00

Sena Edirisooriya is the chairman of the Sena Gem Trading House (Pvt) Ltd. If he looks a bit on the tired side, there's a very good reason for it: He and his staff have been at it non-stop for the last two months -- polishing, cutting, setting, resetting, peering at, scrutinizing and selling gems and precious metals -- making sure that Colombo's finest citizens and tourists can show how much they love each other during the festive season with the finest bling bling that rupees could buy. Sena swears that his gems are top quality, and his prices rock bottom. He does have nice stuff, and the shop completes commission orders quite speedily. If you're ever in Colombo, and want the services of a good gem guy, Sena is your man.
26, De Vos Avenue (off Duplication Road), Colombo 4
+94 11 2599740, senagem@sltnet.lk
(Sena, if you see this plug, do give me a discount on those rings I was looking at on Wednesday, hrm?)
Canon 20D
Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L
1/40 at f/2.8, ISO-400

01-03 Handspun

2006-01-03T18:17:00.000+06:00

Balled up, knotty, rough, almost fraying apart, near unravelling. Squeeze it hard enough, it hurts you, and might even cut you. Soak it in water, the deepest strand will never fully dry, as an old, dying man hangs on, retaining a thread of memory.
Canon 20D
Sigma 105 f/2.8 EX DG Macro
1/100 at f/2.8, ISO-1600

01-02 Anthony

2006-01-02T18:51:00.000+06:00

Father of three, holder of four jobs, specializes in serving drinks and cleaning up at parties thrown by expatriates and the well-heeled in Colombo. Since the recent escalation of violence in Sri Lanka, life has become more difficult for him. Anthony is a Tamil Christian living in a context where ethnic divisions are emphasized, and the poor have few political, social and economic rights. A few days ago, during a day when the police in Colombo rounded up 900 Tamils for suspicion of affiliation to the LTTE rebels, Anthony, his family and neighbors were under scrutiny. He wasn't detained, but went through several tough hours of questioning and waiting.
Canon 20D
Sigma 105 f/2.8 EX DG Macro
1/40 at f/2.8, ISO-400

01-01 Nikki

2006-01-01T18:45:00.000+06:00

During a light lunch at the Gallery Cafe. She had broccoli salad, soda water and the delish lemon-meringue pie. I opted for spaghetti bolognaise, iced tea and the mocha pot.

Nikki's on week 29 of the pregnancy. We're both looking forward to going to Melbourne at the end of the month.
Canon 20D
Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L
1/30 at f/5, ISO-400

New Year...

2006-01-01T18:44:00.000+06:00

New project. The idea is to file a photo a day. See you when I do...

-R