The Nearly Day

Sea-King - Tim Irving

It's 9.45am. The postman has just delivered a package I've been eagerly awaiting, containing transparencies and CD's, all the photographs are from last Saturday. A day when I spent several happy hours wading through mud on the Thames estuary. It was a very good day. The beginning of which will be remembered for the bacon and egg rolls with a cup of tea. Midday was seafood heaven, the herrings were outstanding. Finally, before returning home I sampled deep fried cod in beer batter with a glass of local ale. Unfortunately, the day will not be remembered for my photographs. I'm a little deflated in seeing the images some of them nearly make it, but not quite.

You get days like these, where everything is full of promise. Saturday was a lovely day, mild for the time of year, with a light breeze. My timing was spot-on, with the tide out. The low sun produced dramatic shadows. But none of my photos cut the mustard.

I'd be wasting my time dwelling on my failures. The devil is in the detail, it's the small annoying distractions that ruin the composition. I need to concentrate more on the subject, less on the lunch. I accept Saturday was a disaster and move on.

This Friday I'm out again photographing another lovely place. Two nearly days in a row would be a disaster, both financially and to my ego. I'm taking Friday very seriously, I'll let you know how it goes.