I tried hard to take a picture this morning. The day was glorious … one of those Canberra winter days where the air is still, there's not a cloud in the sky and the warmth of the sun balances the chill in the air. I love days like these. I wanted to take a photo (it does happen sometimes!) and so I packed my light camera bag with a couple of lenses and headed out on into the late morning on my bicycle. I'd heard there was a car concourse over on the lawns of Old Parliament House to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Leyland P-76 … not that I'ver ever owned one or even aspired to … my first car was an automatic Triumph 2000 MkII and being manufactured largely by Leyland replete with apalling quality control and ridiculously dodgy wiring I always felt a kind of sympathy for these … they were known as lemons and I recall a house in my suburb when I was growing up that had six of these cars in various states of decay on the front lawn. My Triumph or 'Tilley' as I called her was my first venture into the world of seventies British automotive engineering … I ended up trading her for beaten up but gorgeous brass body Canon New F-1 camera and a couple of lenses (did I ever mention I have a lens habit?) … I miss that car, it's smell and the way it lurched underpowered into corners but I think I got the better deal … after all I still have that camera and it still works as well as the day I received it.

There are some times I'm simply not interested in taking photos and wandering around the concourse this morning was one of those times. There were many gorgeous colours … repetition of theme … curly cables … eccentric characters but it was all Meh! I had a bag of excellent photographic gear and I watched other people taking snapshots and with various cameras and mine stayed in my bag and I just lugged it around for the fun of it. It was funny I thought … I'd come here with the express notion of taking some photos … and now I'm here I find none of it inspiring … at all … so I simply sniffed the engines, remember my Tilley and get back on my bike and ride toward home. On the way I pass a bit of decay … the old Police & Citizens Youth Club … closed for years now … and see a little something … it's a busted fan set into a brick wall but it appeals to me … the first thing today. Not enough to be arsed taking my camera out mind you but enough to snap it hastily with my phone to remind me to go back and take it properly… I continued on my searching way…

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So I keep on riding toward home and I come through Haig Park in Turner … a long avenue of trees … I used to live in a house (now long redeveloped) directly opposite the western end of the park … and I see the light. Here's where I'm supposed to be … there's the photo I'm looking for … I roll my eyes … at least I got some exercise riding across the lake first up πŸ™‚

I had my oculus with me and it captured the scene perfectly … it's spherical fashion refracting the vista into it's tidy and tiny world.

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And … just because I like you lots I took a picture of the setup … I found a small fallen branch and stuck it into the soil to create something to rest the oculus upon … that's bushcraft that is  … lol πŸ™‚

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And how about you? Do you ever grab your gear and go for a walk and leave the camera in your bag … or take absolutely nothing except exercise? 

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