The latest pictures I've added to my website are of the second day of my three day rail fest around the Midlands in August 1983 using a Midland Railtourer ticket.

In August 1983 I had a three day rail fest around the Midlands using a Midland Railtourer ticket. 

As a gricer, this was terrific.  You got seven days of unlimited travel across a wide area of the Midlands for what was very little money.  Sadly, I could only use three of the seven days.

1338 is one of a class of only two engines, unusually employing Kitson-Hawthorn valve gear with the link above the running plate, built for the Cardiff Railway in 1898.

The Cardiff Railway was owned by the Marquis of Bute and was the smallest railway absorbed into the Great Western in 1923.

To us, Pissouri was just a name on a motorway sign as we either headed to or from Limassol. 

We'd often talked about going to see, but for whatever reason we'd never bothered.

Shame.  We'd missed a delightful place.

Driving down from Lysos towards Polis, just outside Peristerona I saw an old friend basking in the roadside sunshine.

It was an Austin 1800 ‘Landcrab’ – a car design dating from the mid 1960s.  I remember well having mixed feelings when a mate turned up in one.  What an ugly, supremely comfortable car.

We were invited to the Atlantida to meet some friends, one of whom was organising a wedding there.

As a subject, weddings leave me cold.  I can't be doing with the posing and making sure you haven't missed Aunt Gertrude (the one with the silly hat) out of the pictures.

I'm reminded of a wedding photographer we knew in London.  On the desktop of his PC were three folders; 'Ugly Brides', 'Fat Brides' and 'Fat, Ugly Brides'.  Hey ho...

Just had an interesting discussion with a mate.  He'd got some great pictures of butterflies.  Technically, they were spot on.  But they didn't move me.

We debated the point, and his view was that what judges wanted, so that's what he'd give them.

Vibration Reduction (VR) is Nikon's solution to reducing camera shake when either using longer focal length lenses or slow shutter speeds. The Canon equivalent is Image Stabilisation (IS). In most situations, VR (or IS) is a very good thing.

The exception to this is when you're shooting with the camera mounted on a tripod.  Then VR should be switched off.

Thanks Jon for sending me Vincent Versace's quote.  I like it!

Film is what occurs on your teeth when you don't brush. - Vincent Versace