The Fancy Daisy!

Monday 4th August (trying to get back up to date!)

After my LONG walk on the Saturday and long lens wielding Spitfire chasing Sunday, Monday was a quiet day.

I caught up with Blip and then arranged to go and see my good friend Jonny.

As I had planned to get some shots for the lights-out centenary of the start of WWI in town after, I took my fast Nikkor 50mm f1.4, on the old FX D700. For some reason, I also took my circular fisheye, which can only be used (to its full potential) on this camera.

I hadn't seen Jonny for many months. He had been having their large detached family house converted to accommodate this wife's elderly parents. The best side of the house, I hasten to add. The next best front room became a storage room for all their "stuff". Jonny and his wife now occupy only the kitchen, and the upstairs. Their four children have all grown up and living/working across the UK.

It was supposed to be food, then a DVD. And a big catch up.

He had promised to see some neighbours, one of which had had a recent stroke. Half an hour, he said. He put the dinner in the oven, timed at 30 minutes.

I offered to keep an eye out on the in-laws, who had known me and seen me a number of times. The elderly lady had fallen when I had phoned Jonny earlier in the week, so this seemed like a good idea.

The oven's beep went off and it got dark. I went inside from the garden, as it was getting cold and, er dark! I also took all our crockery in.

I then saw the old lady standing looking rather uneasy. I asked if all was OK. As you do. She rose herself to her full five feet, her bottom lip quivering. She threatened to call the police. She called the Police. She also called Jonny, who had to (apparently) call back the Police to reassure them that they were indeed not needed.

I then quickly departed back out into the back garden, where I had been before. There is no other way out other than through the house! And I still had to keep an eye out for them, in case she fell over. Her husband just looked at the TV.

So, waiting for Jonny, I messed about with the fisheye. What else was there to do??

These tiny daisies are in the crack of steps leading down to the lawn and lower level. I'm in so close, at closest focus, 20cm, that the daisy was almost touching the front element. Keeping bits of my body out of the frame was an exhausting acrobatic exercise. Took a few, at different apertures. A fisheye is synonymous with huge depth of field, even at max aperture and so my favourite is this, where I do indeed manage 'bokeh' with a circular fisheye!

LARGE daisy

You do also get the whole of the house in, too. But that's what makes the lens unique and a bit special.

So, it's official. What with my father, HIS sister and now Jonny's mother-in-law, I've had enough of old folkies! Well, for a bit, at least!

I wonder if Les Dawson would have had a mother-in-law joke to fit this situation??

It was dark when we finally ate the fast-cooling food. He took two (long) phone calls from two of his children. He then had to get the in-laws ready for bed and for medication. He hadn't seen the news at all that day, so I didn't dare interrupt him through the 10pm news. Then his wife called.

No DVD. No photos in town. So you have a fancy fisheyed daisy instead.

Lens is Sigma 8mm f3.5 circular fisheye