We Had a Nice Day

We’re in the country, we had a nice day. You had an ice cream, I bought a postcard But never sent it. Smile for me with those smiley eyes. Let me warm my hands by the heat Of all that redness clothing your body. Let’s hold hands. Let‘s be lovers again today, If only for a day. I’ll send that postcard tomorrow. Maybe. Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF) on a Nikon D50.

Nikon D300s + Tokina AT-X Pro DX 50 - 135mm f2.8 lens at 135mm (equivalent to 200mm on full frame). ISO 400; f/7.1; 1/200th. Cropped.

You and I have memories Longer than the road that stretches out ahead

Red is rarely an accident. Rebecca A. T. Stevens has been the Consulting Curator for Contemporary Textiles at The Textile Museum for over three decades. "A textile is not dyed red by chance," Rebecca Stevens says. “No, you use red for a specific reason whether it's for love, for fertility, for happiness — you made it red on purpose."

A photograph taken by the Pier Photo Company, 68 Regent Street, Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset, on the Summer Bank Holiday of 1909. The Summer Bank Holiday in that time fell on the first Monday in the month, and so this can be accurately dated to Monday, 2nd August, 1909. The summer bank holiday was introduced in the Bank Holidays Act, 1871, and first observed in that year. It was originally intended to give bank employees the opportunity to participate in, and attend, cricket matches. One hundred years later, the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 moved this bank holiday to the last Monday in August for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This followed a trial period from 1965 to 1970 of the new date. The couple in the photograph went on to marry. She was 29, he was 23 when they went to Weston for the day.

Nikon D700 + Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens.

Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire. Nikon D700. Nikkor 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF lens at 210mm and f/5.6 (i.e. wide open).

I visited Avebury in August after the heatwave had ended. It was a bright day, but not unbearably hot. As I rounded the Devil's Chair en route to the beech clump by the Marlborough Road junction, I chanced upon this couple and impulsively asked if I could take their picture. I'm still getting used to using the 35mm fixed focal length, and my first shot was too much stone, too little people. The second was better, but not much. This was my third and final photograph; the couple remained good humoured throughout and I hurried off lest my intrusion became boring. I can never assess at the time I make a picture if it is going to be good. So many technical things can be wrong; I sometimes find features which I did not notice in the viewfinder; and with people, their eyes can be closed or I accidentally catch a funny expression. I was glad, therefore, that I cheekily persisted for this third shot