Away for a few days...

Photographer: AlexBPhotography 

...with only sporadic internet access. I went to see my brother and stayed at the house by the seaside, enjoying the warm Mediterranean weather. Not that it was cold in England: when I left on friday it was around 29 C, unheard of in October!
I needed to be by the beach, I love the seaside and love sprawling myself on a deckchair with a good book.
I took 'my' Minolta with me complete with tripod to try out different exposures - I fell in love with a rock and photographed it at all hours. I said to my bemused relatives I would not take pictures of them, just things - they all have expensive digital cameras, at least the boys do, and thought I was very peculiar  because I had reverted to a plain analogue SLR. I also took pictures of clay pots, playing around with the idea of a still life. Just for the sake of practising - meanwhile I am getting a few male models interested in posing for me, have now received several messages following my casting call.
Then on Saturday I realised that my newly bought light meter was not a light meter but a lux meter. I only vaguely knew what lux stood for. I did not have my laptop and was at the beach, with no WiFi but I borrowed my brother's iPhone and began searching for articles on how to convert lux into EV and work with it. My head was reeling with all the formulas I came across. I finally located some conversion tables, but using them without being able to print was a problem so I gave up. I am now getting another  light meter but I am very intrigued by this lux meter and rather than giving it away I want to keep it - who knows, when I become proficient at taking photographs I will want to use it and do all the calculations in my head, I already have an idea of what one is supposed to do.
Anyway, here I am having to get up again in just a few hours and unable to sleep because of all the coffee I drank before leaving Italy.

Photographer: Caroline Michael Model: Alex B

On the flight back  I read a most interesting piece about the famous dancer/choreographer  Martha Graham who apparently styled herself as "The Goddess" in her later years. Miss Graham was indeed very eccentric though undoubtedly immensely talented. The writer of the piece wondered whether calling herself "The Goddess" was a form of self delusion or an astute way of calling further attention to her public persona.
Claiming to be stalked is also another way of attracting attention, I have written a post about this already. Miss Graham died in the days when stalking was a word only used by hunters. Had stalking meant then what it means now she would no doubt have pointed her finger at one or two stalkers. Unfortunately for us, today, a plethora of  people, not quite as talented as Miss Graham, tends  to make repeated claims of being stalked, by people (male and female) either  copying their work and/or stealing their friends or boyfriends. Stalking is a serious matter ...but not when trivialised this way.