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Members of a huge flock of Dark-eyed Juncos were Partying-Like-It's 1999 until this gatecrasher arrived.
FOY
If you go down to the woods today, You're sure of a big surprise! Just as the party was getting underway, we had a visitor. Can I join in please?
Photography taken by Inveniet Mia and is sponsored by:
❀ Goddess Karma Backdrop by The Bearded Guy
✿ Gatecrasher -megapack- by ERSCH
For more details of the credits of the sponsors visit my blog findinveniet.blogspot at Post #773 you can find the URL- LINK to my Blog in my flickr page info "ABOUT ME"
zoehpiaggio.blogspot.com/2022/09/883-piaggio.html
BODY:
Skin: [a.b] - Christina @Dollholic
Left Hair: [no.match] - NO DISORDER @Salem
Right Hair: [FAGA] - Pucca Hairstyle @Tres Chic
Nails: [LIVIA] - Shattered Onyx
ACESSORIES:
Earrings: [RAWR!] - Musiq Earrings
Pose: [OMY] - Jessa
APPAREL:
Left Outfit: [ERSCH] - Gatecrasher
Left Boots: [Pure Poison] - Simina Sandals @ACCESS
Right Outfit: [ADD] - Melissa Bodysuit @Kinky
Right Boots: [Essenz] - Minnesota @Salem
At Anthem
- NU EARTH - Butter Board. Prune. Decor
..::THOR::.. Porch Bench
..::THOR::.. Folk Pillow Floral - Bonus
..::THOR::.. Lime Bowl
..::THOR::.. Limeade Board
..::THOR::.. Porch Hanging Plant - bonus
..::THOR::.. Porch Folding Table
dust bunny . potted wisteria . blue
At FaMESHed
[Rezz Room] Highland Calf Animesh (Companion)
At Equal10
BROKEN ARROWS - Buzios Hook Rack V.2
At Kustom9 ~
..::THOR::.. Rolled Blanket
..::THOR::.. Wicker Pouf - bonus
At Access ~
..::THOR::.. Weekend Cooler Bag
..::THOR::.. Food Containers
..::THOR::.. Food Plate
Other items used ~
HISA - Potter's Cottage
HISA - Floral Bouquet Vines - F - Blue
HISA - Floral Bouquet Grass - Blue
BROKEN ARROWS - Tatham - Vase - Light
[Rezz Room] British Shorthair Adult Animesh
Atelier Burgundy . Burgundy Farm Crate Worn I
.spruce. meir portable lantern {cream}
.spruce. aloe vera plant {seafoam}
Elm. Emily Console Decor ~ Book Stack
..::THOR::.. Glazed Jar - sage
..::THOR::.. Glazed Jar - cream
..::THOR::.. Spring Decorative Window
+Half-Deer+ Hydrangea - Blue - Big Tall
+Half-Deer+ Wisteria - Blue - Medium Vine
+Half-Deer+ Wisteria - Blue - Branch (R)
FINCA - Aloe Vera tall spotted
FINCA - Aloe Vera spotted
Mithral * Hoya Lacunosa Laos Speaker (Light Wood)
{vespertine} - market mesh bag w/oranges.
Nutmeg. Country Rug
I wish I could say that including the bee in the frame was planned, but it just gatecrashed the shot.
Ducks have a habit of gatecrashing my river reflection photographs. This one was being pursued by two fervently amorous drakes. It seems, Spring has arrived, at last.
,
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Blog post
Ersch~ Gatecrasher Megapack
Available for shapes Legacy, peaky,Freya,Lara, Petite,kupra & Kups
HUD with various colours and combinations
Available at Mainstore
📍
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lyrics/22/74/33
This one joined us on a picnic bench! Arachtober 21st Have a great weekend ;0) (Maybe best viewed large)
The view from McMahons Point Wharf, Sydney.
One of my "go to" places on the harbour to sit down and chill, taking in the changing sights & sounds of Sydney harbour.
However, sometimes the scene at McMahons Point Wharf can be "gatecrashed" by random party boats with their disco music, etc.
So I drove into the city from the Hills District and managed to get parking along Blues Point Road right outside the 'Delicado' Spanish Restaurant. I then wandered down to the harbour at twilight, as the lights from the city buildings (across the harbour) were starting to reflect on the water near McMahons Point Wharf.
Now to the music!! Well probably disco music is the most apt for this 'Party Boat', but I am thinking 'Green River' by CCR.
BUT here is a very cool cover version of 'Green River' by the amazing American singer, Eileen Jewel. Check it out - it is awesome!!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1oM5bDAlXk
Perfect for listening to on Spotify, via Bluetooth headphones, whilst sitting on McMahons Point Wharf at twilight.
My Canon EOS 5D Mk IV with the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM lens.
Processed in Adobe Lightroom and PhotoPad Pro by NCH software.
I didn't notice it at the time of shooting, but, at bottom left of picture, a sheep is gatecrashing in on a meal of hay probably put out for the two Highland cattle. Zoom in for a better look!
You may from time to time have seen reference to the “Three Happy Snappers” in my stories. That’s me, Dave and Lee. You don't need to know anything about me that I haven't already mentioned, so let me give you a brief introduction to the other two happy snappers. Dave is a web guru (whatever that is) and a fine art graduate. He, his wife and the youngest of their three adult sons are rarely seen in public, preferring to hide in their homely forest cottage that would have the Brothers Grimm reaching for their quills in imagination fuelled fury. Outside his day job, Dave looks after the website of a famous person, but I can’t tell you who it is of course. Client privileges and all that. He’s also my younger brother, which means I’ve known him for approximately five and a half decades. I was confined to my bed with German Measles the day he was being born at home in the next room, and when consulted by village elders on what I thought about my new baby brother, I apparently replied that he was ok, but on balance I’d rather have a new Thomas the Tank Engine train set. Choo choo!
Lee joined our world twelve or thirteen years ago, when he was invited to come and play football one Friday evening and was immediately accepted into the group on a long term basis. He used to sell glasses from a shop in Falmouth, made by the family business in his native West Midlands. Nowadays he works for a local electrician in the village where he lives, running the shop, keeping the appointments book up to date, and advising me on camera gear. His daily commute takes approximately one minute in either direction - on foot. Just occasionally, we lure him away from the village, but he does seem to be growing roots in the few years since he and his wife moved there from Falmouth. Before he came to Cornwall, he also had a famous client. He's not taking on new customers these days, but for us chosen few, he can still rustle up a new pair of varifocals at a price that tells me I shouldn't have gone to a certain optician on the High Street. I’ve never had a famous client by the way - or even any clients at all for that matter. I once bumped into Little Mo from Eastenders at Gatwick Airport. Does that count?
From time to time, the Three Happy Snappers convene at one location or another to take photographs at sunset, have a bit of a catch up with each others’ lives, discuss the football and enjoy a slow pint of hop based infusion before heading for home. And to my amazement we were going out for the second occasion in under a month. This time we’d agreed upon Land’s End in early August. The heather should be looking good around then. It was great at the same time last year. We'd grab some food on the way down, and then spend the second half of the afternoon among the heather. With any luck we’d get some nice light towards the end of day.
But what’s this - a fourth happy snapper gatecrashing the party? Well I remembered a message I’d had from one of you. Step forward artisan cheese maker Lloyd, who was making an extra visit to Cornwall this year. You know Lloyd - king of the super long exposure. I don't know if he has any famous clients, so you'll have to ask him I'm afraid. He usually arrives in quiet November, armed with a camera bag and good intentions, so being told that he was coming here in the middle of summer was a bit of a surprise. It so happened that his brief holiday coincided with our outing to Land’s End, and he was staying at nearby Cape Cornwall too. And yes he’d be delighted to meet us at Land’s End and update the locals on exactly how much it costs to park there if you don’t have a postcode that begins with “TR” or “PL.” It was the fourth time I'd met him here over the last three years. A spleen venting nine pounds and fifty pence this time. Ouch! I get to park here for free.
Half an hour later, after wrestling our way through the hordes, we were sitting in the hotel grounds, supping four frighteningly expensive pints and planning our sunset shoot. Ever the tech tart, Lee was demonstrating the remote shutter contraption he'd recently acquired to operate his phone camera from six paces away as the four of us gurned inanely at the birdie, waiting for the Google Pixel that he'd perched perilously close to the edge of the bench to topple onto the concrete below. Somehow it survived the drop. It might have been the best picture of the day.
What didn't appear to have survived this far into August was the heather. This time last year it was here in abundance, but today much of the growth was already distinctly brown and patchy. Plan A was looking a little bit shaky, so it's a good job that there are plenty of other things to take pictures of at Land's End. Although somehow, the small patch of heather that I did find in the right place made it into the image. It was easier than this last year. Strange when it’s been so colourful elsewhere around here recently.
It's always great fun when the three happy snappers get together. Even more so when an honorary fourth joins the party. Although we did ask him to bring some cheese next time. Who doesn't love cheese?
This Chameleon spent the whole night at my friend's party and before that went to a bar in town with her son. Had a drink (water) and returned to the party. There it ate a few stick insects and other night flying insects. In the morning it was still there so my friend and her son decided it should go back to its own habitat and managed to persuade the Chameleon to climb a tree. Eventually it went off to find another party to Gatecrash.
Costa Tropical, España.
It was long after closing hour and all the other visitors had gone home. The sheep and goats at Tierpark Sababurg were having some sort of a get-together for all their offspring born this year when I spotted this fellow lurking in a ditch. My guess would be that he wasn't really invited to the party. :o)
No disrespect to the American Coot running through the scene, but this is kind of a “Beauty and the Beast” moment when you compare it to the elegant species American Avocet. The avocet on the left doesn’t seem perturbed by the gatecrasher, but the one on the right is reserving judgement. (It stayed put in the end, after the coot wound down from its erratic behaviour and began feeding.) This unusual tableau unfolded at Frank Lake, an excellent birding location near the town of High River in southern Alberta, Canada.
“That looks like him.” Lee summoned up a piercing whistle in the direction of the figure by the shore that reduced my left ear to a bout of whining tinnitus, scattering a nearby group of oystercatchers into the air as he did so. It was helpful that Lloyd was in photographer mode, because it instantly gave him away when all we could really remember from our previous meeting was that he was quite tall, and he didn’t have the trademark beard that we had been expecting to identify him with. We all do photographer mode, and it’s what separates us from everyone else; edging back and forward, from side to side and peering intently at something that nobody else can see as we weigh up our compositions. “Should I stand here, or three inches to the left? Should I go forward a bit, or back ten feet? Should I have the tripod fully extended or belly down on the sand?” You don’t often see the selfie stick brigade taking quite so much care over where they’ve put that rock or whether they’ve lined up their repeating diagonals before they hit the shutter button.
I wasn’t sure I was going to be around for Lloyd’s visit, but the big plans to go far north to the Highlands and Islands had been parked for the time being, meaning a get together at Godrevy was now on the agenda. I’m always ready for a reason to go to Godrevy after all. Lloyd had already been here for some time, and you’ve probably seen the image he took before we arrived. We saw it first on the back of his camera so there. Just saying. It’s definitely his in case you were wondering.
Initially we headed for a spot that not many people make it to, on the rocks below a small cliff near the lighthouse, where it seemed we’d gatecrashed a party of one solitary seal, basking in the sunshine and watching us interestedly. I messaged my friend Katie, who in her spare time is a member of a sea life rescue group. Somehow in her busy life she manages to squeeze rescuing stranded dolphins, whales and seals among other aquatic mammals in distress, as well as photographing the underwater world and finding all sorts of fascinating things I never even knew existed. Who knew there was so much to see below the dark waters off the coast of Penzance? “Yes we’re monitoring it,” came the reply. “We think it’s just enjoying living there at the moment.” I looked again at the seal, which gazed back at me in return, almost smiling. I decided she was probably right. What wasn’t right was the light; we were here too early and retreated back up to the cliff path, watched as we went by a pair of black eyes that still seemed to smile. I never tire of watching the seals here – they usually come and watch me with interest as I pitch my tripod on the rocks just above the water here, no doubt wondering what on earth I’m up to. It always feels like a shared moment.
Back at the clifftop near the bench, Lloyd had a plan for sunset and made himself ready for the killer shot, while Lee eventually wandered away to the west, presumably in search of distant lone figures on the beach to stalk at two hundred millimetres. Meanwhile, I headed back down to the water’s edge where our new friend regarded me once more with those smiling black eyes, and giving it as wide a berth as it could I found my spot on the rocks, just in time for the sun to drop below the bank of cloud and illuminate the receding tide. Sometimes you just know you’ve got a shot that’s going to make you happy. After a while I decided I’d had the best of it, and returned to the top of the cliff, exchanging one last grin with those ever watching eyes as I went.
Lloyd was already at work behind the camera, and I joined him on a wide rocky shelf where we discussed the joys of photography and his plans for the rest of his visit. He was on a family holiday, and we all know that you can only get away with so much roaming around on lonely clifftops with your camera bag when your loved ones are with you. We stayed until dusk, neither of us sure when to give up and put the cameras away. It’s always like that when I’m alone here, and when you’re with someone who works in a similar way, that certainty in when to finish is often further fogged. But it had been a successful visit and we both left that clifftop feeling we’d got a shot or two worth sharing. We said our farewells and looked forward to Lloyd’s next visit when photography would be the central focus for him here. He’s rather good at it too.
I headed back down to those rocks a week later. The seal was gone. Maybe a pair of black smiling eyes were watching me from the water, but I didn’t see them.
UK & International Landscape Photography Workshops & Tours
www.melvinnicholsonphotography.co.uk/photography-workshops
Aurora Hunting (and failed), Derwentwater, Lake District
On Saturday evening (11th Nov 2023), my good buddy Chris Astley and I ventured up north to the Lake District in the hope of having me finally witness the aurora in the UK for the first time and also to capture it on camera. Sadly, no aurora was visible but we still enjoyed our time out in nature in the dark.
So, we firstly rocked up at Castlerigg Stone Circle near Keswick but it was almost as busy as Piccadilly Circus on a Saturday afternoon so after thirty minutes, we drove down to the road to one of my favourite places in the world, Ashness Landing Pier.
I would like to say that it was blissful and peaceful there (as you perhaps would imagine) but alas, there was a family enjoying a picnic in the dark and sat beside the pier (they were lovely and did not mind us gatecrashing their private party).
Once set up on the pier, a few shots were bagged before a group of young ladies arrived from the local hostel completed with glasses of wine in hand. Thanks to their understanding, they patiently waited a few minutes until we were finished before making their way onto the pier to enjoy the 'peace and solitude', lol.
Our final destination for the evening was the landing stages and the boats down at Derwentwater. This shoot took us up to 23:30 after which we made our way back home so I was in my chair enjoying a cup of Tetley's finest and a small fruit dessert in a bowl that I purchased in Takayama, Japan in April.
So here is just one image from my time in the Lakes. I hope you enjoy.
Fancy joining me next autumn in the Lake District? CLICK THE LINK below for details and/or to book.
melvinnicholsonphotography.co.uk/photography-workshops/la...
Nikon Z8
Nikon Z 20mm f/1.8
f/1.8
30"
ISO500
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I've been visiting a local loch after work for a while (with many failures) to capture a nice sunset. As it happens nearly two nights running we had some great sunsets. The light was short lived but the clouds were almost navy blue and the light was extremely vivid and golden lighting up the grasses beautifully. Spot the gatecrashing duck!
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Freddie Notes launched his career on the famous Vera Johns Jamaican talent show and promptly went onto cut his first record for Studio One Records. Immigrating to London in 1964 success soon followed when his band The Rudies recorded for Trojan Records. Hits came thick and fast: “Return from South Vietnam”, “Down on the Farm”, “The Bull” and the global smash hit “Montego Bay” making The Rudies the most in demand reggae band of the day.
In a golden age for the London music scene Freddie started a weekly residency at Soho hotspot The Cue Club run by fellow Jamaican musical pioneer and entrepreneur Count Suckle. Everyone came through there; Otis Redding, Ike & Tina, Small Faces, The Stones, The Beatles and Freddie was at the heart of it. He soon became lauded as Jamaica’s No.1 Entertainer, famed for not only his songs and voice but his electrifying dancing. So much so that he was once asked to leave the stage at Brixton Odeon whilst opening for James Brown, for fear he’d upstage the Godfather of Soul! “Mr. Brown doesn’t like that” a heavy handed security guard remarked at the time.
Little Richard offered Freddie a job as his dancer. Much to soul legend, and new found friend, Ben E King’s disgust Freddie turned the offer down. National tours ensued with The Kinks, The Nice and Arthur Brown. One famed night the founder of be-bop Dizzy Gillespee gatecrashed the stage to play mouth-harp with them. Mick Jagger befriended the band and invited them to perform at his wedding to Bianca. Then, just when it seemed they could do no wrong, The Rudies split. Freddie continued a solo career and went onto have an international success with his hit “Walk A Mile In My Shoes”. Under advice from his Wardour Street booking agent he turned down a role in Jesus Christ Superstar and set sail for the far-east, where he’d repeatedly perform ‘Montego Bay’ for the next few years.
In 1982 Freddie returned to the UK. Disheartened by the state of the country and lack of opportunity for kids to progress in life he set up the Ethelred Estate Community Youth Club in Kennington. Now into it’s 30th year he has seen off attempts by Lambeth City Council to forcibly cease the site to build flats at the High Court. His work has been endorsed by the Metropolitan Police and HRH Prince Phillip, and proudly, unfunded, Freddie still runs the club to this day.
This has actually happened a couple of times in the last year and on both occasions by a sweet little kid who gatecrashed the shot at the last second.A great little runner she is too!
One of the darker, quieter corners of Moraine Lake yields unexpected results.
I'll be posting a couple of videos of recent shoots that I completed at this lake but for now, here is todays video. I think you'll like it :)
Can lightning strike the same place twice? Yes, it bloody well can.
We almost become char grilled Fotoburgers while carrying 5 tripods through a storm of epic proportions. After being beaten by the storm, we resort to every lazy landscape photographers favourite pastime - roadside landscape photography.
The results aren't actually all that bad but will Brent steal my composition yet again? He has no shame.
When Brent tries to gatecrash the camper, Amanda enforces strict social distancing rules. Will Brents Fiju GFX and pano rig even fit inside our humble shelter?
Thanks for reading
Gavin
This arcade off of Piccadilly Circus, Quadrant Arcade, has been boarded off more often than not. But it's open now for the first time in a long time. Stopping to take some photos in passing I didn't notice the people outside it taking photos of this young woman walking around it. So for a few moment I gatecrashed their photoshoot... but she seemed quite happy about it!
This Web was trashed when this Hornet flew into it to steal this lunch! The Artist of the web came down to see off the intruder, took one look at the Hornet and quickly retreated up and out of the way! Once the Hornet had worked it's lunch free it flew off with it. Fascinating to watch. HWW
A shot I got earlier this month, been wanting a decent one of a Magpie for a while, this one gatecrashed the Kingfisher perch at Clara Vale for a couple of minutes.
Well it seems Oink and Moo have got their way into the sheep field here , but I am not sure of what their plans are now they have got into the field !! I have to say , Oink & Moo are not their real names - they are in fact Napoleon and Ermintrude .
Shot taken for Saturday Self Challenge 15/06/2024 - Subject & Context !!
I think I have met the challenge with this shot , there is often a hay bale figure or two here and with these two as a subject it made a scene to meet the Saturday Selff Challenge . Now the theme for the challenge is Subject and Context and with Oink & Moo being the subject and the general scene of the sheep in the field making the context . This is the first sight any visitors see when coming to visit Bocketts Farm Park near Leatherhead .
So for a musical note I have gone with Pink Floyd and my choice being Sheep , could have done pigs or something from Atom Heart Mother or even as chosen by ssomeone who will remain nameless " One Of These Days " !! Totally inappropiate in this case and there is only one line of lyrics in that tracck !!
Anyway " Sheep " -- youtu.be/3GE-sfEbJ7I?si=gQ8d9HH8WlSYmbyF
New post incoming for the amazing ERSCH!
This post features a older release in which can be found at the ERSCH Mainstore. I am wearing the full "ERSCH - Gatecrasher" outfit.
I adore this outfit soo much coming in the form of- Lingerie, Shirt/harness, Garters & Collar pins!
First off I love the garters & collar pins I believe they are alien bunbuns in UFOs! These accessories come with the godlike HUDs that ERSCH is known for. There are color options for the glowing buns & a good group of colorways for the leather of the garters!
The lingerie is fitted beautifully to the body and will be purrfect just on its own for making a tone of other looks. Coming in a great range of sizes including- Legacy, Perky, Lara, Petite, Kupra, Reborn.
This lingerie set comes again with godlike HUD's for the colorways with many options for colors which is great for mix & matching (in the fatpack of course).
The shirt.. Oh my gosh the shirt! I love the combo of half shirt & half harness on the one side. In the fatpack/ megapack the items are copy/mod, therefore I decided to go in and make the shirt part a little more seethrough for this look. The shirt comes in body sizing for- Legacy, Perky, Lara, Petite, Kupra, Reborn!
I highly suggest getting the megapack for this set, not only is it discounted in price but it opens a world of variation options for many different looks!
Taxi to the ERSCH Mainstore:
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lyrics/15/71/33
Taxi to the ERSCH Marketplace:
marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/167799
To see more shots and close ups as well as a list of items used in this post see my main blog here:
monimonimoni-ester.blogspot.com/2022/03/a-half-moon-brigh...
This year the bee hotel has increased its clientele. Last year there were two miner bees visiting. This year there are at least six. There is also an arachnid interloper, a zebra spider, who appears to be entering a completed incubation chamber for predation purposes. As you can see, it has excavated a little of the cement to make a comfortable entrance. We won't know of course whether it will be content with the first chamber only or whether it will systematically excavate right the way through the series of chambers to the very back of the cane.
whilst on my recent waterfall shoot i was scoring around for other shoots. i clocked this rotting tree on the water meadow and thought it looked interesting and then on closer inspection notice the little mushroom community and then even closer, a gatecrasher in the form of this slug chomping away. all in all pretty happy with the find and the little story thats playing out in it
At first it was quiet. There was a large British party at the back of the terrace, and a young couple behind us speaking German, but apart from that, the place was empty. Of course the fact that most of the other tables appeared to be reserved should have given us a hint. We placed our order - one Zakynthian beef special and one Chicken Souvlaki, and filled our glasses. With water unfortunately, but then again I needed to drive back down to Alykanas after the meal. “Yamas!” grinned a charismatic waiter as he arrived with three unordered shots of something laced with cinnamon and cloves. The third was for himself. I smiled, while almost teetotal Ali grimaced at the ingredients as we drained our glasses. Well one tiny one wouldn’t hurt would it?
And then a distractingly beautiful young woman in a purple evening gown appeared and made for one of the tables on our half of the terrace, where she was rapidly joined by two friends in equally colourful and glamorous attire. That was just the start, as within moments a veritable flood of well dressed locals of all ages and sizes appeared, seemingly from nowhere, and quickly filled every table in the taverna. We’d inadvertently gatecrashed a wedding party. So many beautifully presented people, while we’d crawled in shedding sand wherever we went and looking like the bedraggled survivors of some freak accident in the middle of the Namib Desert. “Yamas!” cried our waiter friend as he visited the large British group and toasted them, along with one for himself of course. He was quite clearly enjoying his role. He reminded me a little of a children’s TV entertainer from my own childhood - one of the much loved and happily untainted ones of course. An avuncular amalgam of John Noakes and Johnny Ball, with more than a dash of mischief added to the mix. As the party gathered pace, heavily laden plates were dispatched to tables and a group of ladies found space to commence the dancing, Greek style of course. It was very convivial, even for the pair of us who fear parties above all other forms of human contact. “Yamas!” came another cry. I wondered how many shots he’d manage in the course of his duties this evening. Two starters arrived. Again, we hadn’t requested them, but our hosts were obviously in a benevolent mood. Maybe one of the staff had overdone the food order for the wedding party.
It was another mountains afternoon, we’d decided earlier on as we idled on the beach at Alykes. The cloud forecast was predicting a dramatic sunset hour, and a brief inspection of the map had found the cliffs at Kampi, a clifftop hamlet on the dramatic west coast. Zakynthos is very much an island of two halves. Much of the low lying areas to the east and south serve the tourist industry, while a drive up onto the high ground of the more remote north and west will lead you to a very different island indeed. The roads are delightfully quiet in October as you rise above the plains on twisting tarmac to embrace a world of bright green pines that fill every square inch of mountainside, while all around you lie neat olive groves, no two trees alike, bulging with fruit waiting to be harvested as soon as the holiday season finally comes to an end.
As we climbed to the edge of the hilltop town of Maries, two small children, brother and sister no doubt, waved a welcome to us from their roadside garden. A little further on a man looked up and smiled shyly as he tended his vegetable plot. I wondered how many visitors came this way on their own. Strangely enough, there were a number of tourist boats here, more than seven hundred metres above sea level, towed inland from the coast to be laid up for the winter. Maybe the owners know something the rest of us don’t, although I didn’t see any queues of matching animals waiting to climb aboard the sleeping vessels.
A little further on we crawled along the track through the silent huddle of buildings at Kampi, before finally arriving here at the viewpoint by the taverna where I’d suggested we refresh the calorie loads. With less than an hour until sunset I went into photography panic mode as the mackerel sky I’d been hoping for disappeared entirely, while Ali scoured the Tripadvisor reviews. I’ve learned to live with this, and it was no surprise to be told that we were going somewhere else for dinner. Not that there was anything that specifically troubled her about my choice, but of course hers would be better, and not so expensive. So here we were at the San Leon Taverna, with two enormous main courses. As things invariably go, she piled what she couldn’t manage onto my plate, a few minutes after which I was struggling to move. “Yamas!” went another cry across the crowded taverna. Things were getting lively as the desserts arrived at our table. We hadn’t ordered dessert either, but it was rude to say no. And despite all the extras, we were only charged for what we’d actually ordered. If you happen to visit the San Leon Taverna, my advice would be to fast for a couple of days in advance and make sure your appetite is sufficiently honed for the experience - especially if you get advance notice of any large social gatherings among the locals. The calorie loads had been refreshed rather more comprehensively than we’d intended. Ali's insistence on closely examining the runners and riders in the vicinity had paid off once again.
The waiter was still at the centre of an awful lot of Yamas related frivolity, and the young woman in the purple dress was leading the dancing. It was time to slip away into the night and nurse our bulging stomachs before we were invited to join in. As we drove slowly back towards our resort, we stopped twice on the otherwise empty road for hedgehogs as they sauntered across the asphalt. Maybe they were heading for one of those mountainside boats. Maybe we needed to check the rain forecast.
The slippery eel nearly gave a Cormorant the slip at the Sovereign Harbour Marina, Eastbourne, but after an impressive battle with a irritating Gull that also wanted the Cormorant's lunch, this determined cormorant finally managed to swallow his eel supper.
Here's How Photo Contest #28 - Honourable Mention
Photolife Magazine - April/May 2011 Issue
Gatecrasher Advertising - 2011
Canadian Geographic Pets Photography 2014 - Page 30-31
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The Cake Crashers
Dressed in a sharp suit and an elegant tuxedo, Mr. Hippo and Mr. Crocodile travel all the way from Africa for the LEGO House 10th-anniversary gala. Starving but polite, these two gentlemen try their best to maintain decorum before the party starts.
However, during a lengthy opening speech, the Hippo gentleman simply cannot resist any longer! With lightning speed, he opens his massive jaws, ready to devour the entire LEGO House cake in one single bite. Shocked by this sheer audacity, the Crocodile gentleman's jaw drops in utter shock, frantically gesturing to stop his friend.
But here comes the ultimate plot twist: if you look closely at Mr. Crocodile's hand behind his back, he is secretly gripping a silver fork, fully prepared to sneak a bite himself—he was just a second too late!
The entire gala freezes as all eyes lock onto these two unruly gatecrashers. This chaotic, ironic moment of elegant lawlessness is captured in time.