A portrait of Alfie, shot at f/1.2, on manual focus. The best pictures are of subjects I have taken multiple times, that plus Alfie usually makes a good picture. I like the twinkle in his eyes from the light through the windows.

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Things are going slow in the job market. Have done a number of applications, even been to one interview, but haven’t heard back on that one, even after emailing the agent. Kind of strange, and sometimes I’m looking for feedback on what I can do to speedup the process, but things never seem to go that way.

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Getting the procrastination out of the way. Sat through the last bits of the photo book for the China trip and I’m just waiting for the order to be printed and shipped. Now I need to move on to the Europe pictures, but only after I get my photo book, so I can have an idea on how I’d like to proceed.

Have also bought some pots and seeds so hopefully by December I will have lots of tomatoes in the garden. Have also put some chives and coriander seeds to grow. Looking to grab a couple pots of basil from Ikea sometime next week to be planted as well. Apparently they complement tomato plants, so that’s probably what’s going to happen when I get my hands on them. Also got a strawberry plant, which is of the variety that grows all year long. If it’s successful, I might grab a couple more just to keep the fruit supply going. Strawberries from the market have probably been sitting there for a long while as they seem to grow mouldy pretty quickly. They aren’t terribly sweet as well (probably not fully ripened when they get picked) so having my own supply would be exciting.

Need some extra plants for the internal courtyard just to spruce it up a bit and give it some greenery. I loved the hanging pots they had in England outside pubs with lush, abundant flowers growing. I’ll have to give that some thought on how I’d like to do it.

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Kind of a strange feeling that it’s already September. Just a year ago, it was a new house, Alfie was still a puppy, and I was trying to familiarise myself with it all. Lots of things have happened this year and I’m not particularly sure if I’m adjusted to it yet. I try to be positive but there are times when the insecurity creeps in. I’d be worried if everything was smooth sailing, but then again, things aren’t exactly how I envisioned them to be either.

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So this month’s goals include getting a website setup with a portfolio of pictures, and maybe asking around friends to look for potential clients. There is idealism (in theory) versus the practicality of getting your name out there. I have a couple of shoots coming up I suppose, and I’ll need to maximise those sessions so I can post them online.

I’ll just need to keep at it.