Haven’t picked up the camera much of late, and this is one from the archives. I get pretty decent scenery on occasion when I bring Alfie out on his walks by the river. When I do have my camera with me and have a hand free, I’ll take the occasional snapshot.

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Alfie’s pretty much recovered now, and needs only another trip to the vet to remove his stitches. Heh, I don’t think the surgery has affected him very much as he’s still his same old self. Initially his appetite wasn’t too great but he’s got back into it.

He’s been chewing up stuff again of late, maybe because we haven’t brought him out as much so he has all that pent up energy. This morning as we left for work he followed us into the garage and hopped into the front seat of the car. Heh, we used to have to lift him into the car but he got used to the idea and now voluntarily hops in when you open the door for him. He enjoys the car rides and walks these days as he gets a chance to get out and explore the world. You can tell when you see his giant, bushy tail perking up when he’s out and about.

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Been practicing the guitar, and you never lose the skills you acquired to begin with. I probably haven’t learned much new to play different songs, but the finger techniques I’ve been practising has helped me to beat some songs on Guitar Hero. Heh, a stronger pinky helps with anchoring your finger positions and you can move around the fretboard much more effortlessly.

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Dug out my tripod and light stand last night, stuck the reflective umbrella on and took a couple of self portraits (due to the lack of a proper subject). I got the light stand and umbrella while I was in the US (yes, I lugged it all back), and I was never comfortable with flash photography until recently. Like the guitar, it has taken a while but I realise these days that nothing is hard enough that you can’t overcome it, you just need to keep practicing until you get it right. Our mind works in mysterious ways and eventhough I don’t get the concept immediately, I can come back to it a few days later and suddenly it all makes sense.

I will need to dabble with manual flash settings soon and I’ve always avoided having to figure out guide numbers for the flash units. My wireless remotes only work with triggering the flash and not sending the TTL data through to it, so learning manual settings is a must.

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You realise over the years that you have been crap at something for the longest time and suddenly you get it. So these days I’m of the opinion that even if I can’t do it now, but if I’m interested enough to learn how and keep at it, I will be able to do it sooner or later.