Shyheels

Australians are generally pretty tall. I did not see a single pair of open-toed boots. I can never understand why anyone would want open-toed boots. They make no sense... Not to me, anyway...

A surprising amount of tall and heeled boots - again, odd given the temperatures even if the calendar did read 'autumn'. Over the knee boots were not uncommon in the business districts of both cities.

I was going to mention, back on the topic of PVC and wet look jeans/leggngs, I was surprised to see so many wonen wearing them diwn in Australia where I gave been these past few weeks. And while it was coming into autumn down there, it was a very, very warm autumn with temperatures well over 30C nearly every day and on a few occasions over 40C. But in the cosmopolitan streets of Sydney and Melbourne it was not unusual to see shiny trousers/leggings.

Ah, nostalgia. It ain't what it used to be. In terms of street photography the best advice I ever heard came from Arthur Fellig - 'Weegee' - who worked the mean streets of New York City back in the bad old mobster days of the 30s and 40s. His advice: f/8 and be there. Ansel Adams shot his most famous image Moonrise Over Hernandez in great haste, seeing the composition out of his car window as he was driving through rural New Mexico one fine evening. Screeched over to the side of the road and hastened to set up the 8x10. Photographers have their own styles. Henri Cartier-Bresson pretty much used just three prime lenses on his Leicas - a 35mm, a 50mm and a 90mm. The overwhelming number of his images were taken with the 50mm. And he never cropped. Some friends of my wife did the cheap gift camera routine and it worked rather well for them. Between that and guests using their mobile phones you can get pretty good coverage. Better still if you've a friend with a silent DSLR who can get the shots in (usually dim) church of the vows. That is the part where it really would help to have somebody who knows what they are doing and with equipment that can function well and silently in such situations. Theoretically that should be The Pro, but he/she often hasn't a clue, especially with white balance.

I have heard of this kind of thing before with weddng photographers. I suspect they don't want the competition or to be shown up. It is controlling and strokes their ego too. They like to be 'the pro'. I suppose since weddngs are private, and guests can be informed in advance of the ground rules, this sort if stricture is reasonably enforceable. I would never agree to such a thing were it my wedding. But then I woukd not be hiring a photographer either, but would ask friends to shoot.

You are quite correct - a picture can indeed be worth a thousand words, or indeed many thousands, in its ability to tell a story. Your use of props for the photo of the school boy is telling. You saw a story, where school photos see only something that might resemble a target silhouette or mug shot. I am afraid that a lot of people shooting these days do not possess that visual story telling gift (and fair enough, I suppose, it is rather rare) but they go off and bill themselves as photographers because, I think, they see it as easier than working for a living. Yet shooting to tell a story is damn hard work, and requires plenty of commitment and often much stress. If you are doing it well it is as stressful and demanding as any other job.

Some of those photographers do end up in small claims court, but the majority slip by on the strength of a reluctance by their clients to follow through and do something about their dissatisfaction. Most grimace and bear it. My wife attended a wedding last August at which the professional photographer forbade anyone else present to have a camera or even use their mobile phones. He was to have exclusive photographic rights as 'the pro'. I saw some of his stuff later - my wife showed me some images her friend had shared. At best, at the very best, you coukd say the compositions were idiosyncratic, but there was no excuse for the poor lightng, exposure and white balance. God knows what the guy charged, and would gave been paid. Sometimes I think I am in the wrong field of photography, although I know I would hate shooting weddings...

Yes, the cover shot of me was very much without heels. In those days - 15 years ago - my interest in wearing heels was very much in the distant, almost subconscious background, and indeed I was never really interested in heels as such but in tall, elegant boots, knee or otk height. I liked them and thought it was unfair that women could wear them and guys could not. It was not an obsession or anything, just a bit of seasonal wistfulness that would come over me when the autumn fashions would come out, tall boots would once again hit the shelves, and the footpaths, and I would once again wish I could wear such boots too. Heels to me were just sort of an accent to the look. I liked them on some tall boot styles, preferred flats on others. It has only been in the past two years that I at last acted on this vague wistfulness and now have four pair - all suede, two with heels, two without. Anyway, at the time the cover shot of me was taken there were no heels in the picture...literally or metaphorically. Your story of the kid's photo rings true. People are just like that - and weird that the photographer himself was so inept that he could provide, or apparently see the need to provide, better props and backdrops, and that he couldn't have done a decent job himself. There are an awful lot of hacks out there. I was flown someplace exotic not long ago, and paid a decent sum of money, to shoot some stuff that was really dead easy to do. It pleased me to get such a commission but I was surprised the people couldn't get someone nearer, and cheaper to do such a simple commission. But then I saw the stuff the others had taken...yipes! There are some very ordinary photographers out there... I suspect weddings and school photography is really where you find these guys (and gals) in large numbers.

My mug, complete with cheesy grin, was once on the cover of a large circulation international magazine. It was really weird for a while being recognised by strangers.

Maybe you've become someone's pin-up!

Alas, I am always behind the camera, never in front of it.... As a photo-journalist I have a great face for radio and the perfect voice for print...

Oh, and I meant to thank you again for the consise and thoughtful discourse on the differences between PU and PVC which you laid out earlier. It was really helpful. My second pair of 'PVCs' were more like the softer, more modern, leathery and form-fitting PU you described and I have to say they are much nicer. I like them a lot. Yet I would not have bought them had I not had the benefit of your advice. So thanks!

You've got the right idea! I am back from quite a while overseas and am rather appalled by the pot-holed state of the roads. Not so keen to ride as I was expecting to be. Certainly not going out before dawn, as I usually do, even with my top-shelf headlamp. still, the rewards of shedding a bit off the waistline will be worth it!

Saw and bought a second pair of PVCs! Really busting loose here They are more like the shiny PU faux stretch leather mentioned further up the thread than genuine hard and glossy classic PVC, but still.... Need to lose a few pounds to wear them, as they are quite tight at the moment but that will provide a good motive for shedding weight after the past three months of nearly constant travelling and eating too much on planes...

I don't think it is just eBay! we live in an opportunistic world!

The seller sounds very opportunistic...

Size 47s here... I like overknee boots too

Perhaps the thinking is that someone who has not seen the boots earlier will make a 'cheeky' offer of 30% off the asking price and think they are getting a deal

How frustrating - things booked out so far in advance. Can you postpone your adventure a ew months, start scouting upcoming gigs further out, and nab seats for then? I am seldom bothered by seasickness, fortunately. I say seldom because nobody is immune - highly experienced sailors and yachtsmen can get it right out of the blue. The last time I suffered from it was about fifteen years ago on a research ship in very heavy seas off Cape Horn. I was on the bow with some seabird researchers and was unwise enough to borrow a pair of binoculars and scan the heaving waves, trying to follow a petrel. The effect was instantaneous.

Weird that you can't get two tickets unless you literally were trying to book the very last seats and there was but ine left. Pity, as the Cirque du Soleil is fantastic. I have gone to only one of their shows but was blown away by the theatricality, storytelling and the seemingly impossible acrobatics. my big adventure for the day will be on the ferry between north and south islands of New Zealand. The wind is up and it looks to be a very bouncy ride...

The Cirque de Soleil is brilliant. I saw them last year in Melbourne. Unforgettable.

How about the musical Kinky Boots? It is supposed to be excellent. You could pretty well wear what you like and be simply playing along.

Not sure I'd be the best person to ask ... Or to listen to!

It is a little known fact, but JFK actually did wear a tophat to his inauguration - it was expected and although his disliked hats, he respected convention on such a state occasion. He did become emblematic of a 'rebellion' by young men against the wearing of hats - hats had been absolutely de rigueur for men for ages. He didn't begin it but by being a handsome, young popular president with a great haircut, he became a figurehead. But the shift away from hats had begun some years earlier, by lesser men who risked serious scorn. It is certainly true that no politician in the US who has even the slightest hope for success will stray one tiny bit from the norm - Obama got loads of derisory comment when ge dared to wear a (otherwise conservative) briwn suit rather than dark blue, black or charcoal grey. America is watching.

You bet. Got the standard form letter - we're sorry you were disappointed in the service you received; we try hard to make everyone happy; we look forward to seeing you again in our flights real soon... Etc. i have avoided flying with them since then, but was obliged to fly them to Nairobi not long ago. In general I try to fly one of the other partner airlines whose attitudes and service really is exemplary