Parsley, Sage, Rosemary - And Time

Tick Talk, Tick Talk, Tick Talk

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Do you have some time on your hands? Yep, I do. Literally. My watch needed a new battery a fortnight ago and so I borrowed my son’s watch. The first day I picked up this new macro lens, I shot some frames in our backyard and I was on my way back into the house when I just fired off this random shot, of the borrowed watch on my wrist. I had my hand on the door frame and I thought the unusual angle and the low light would be a perfect test for the lens.

I didn't shoot this photograph specifically for this week's Photo Hunt theme, which is "Time" - but as I sat down to write this post, I realised the shot was ideal for the theme.

The really interesting thing is that this photograph was taken indoors, late on a cloudy afternoon, with no internal lighting switched on in the house. I reckon the detail in this shot, as well as the depth of field, is not bad at all. Then again, maybe the shot wouldn’t have worked so well outdoors, because there would have been some reflection on the silvery surface.

This shot (above) was taken in Singapore on 14 December. I was walking across a street with my camera around my neck when I noticed a small detail. Apart from the illuminated green figure showing that it is safe to cross, is a time countdown display, showing you exactly how many seconds you have to cross safely.

Here’s the challenge, for a photographer – the display flashes on and off rather quickly. In the first frame (above) I hit the shutter as the display flashed off. D’oh! So, what’s a bloke to do? I stopped dead, in the middle of the crossing, to time the next shot (below) perfectly. Just the sort of thing you’d do too, if you wanted the right shot!

Here's an interesting footnote to the Singapore shots. Look at both frames and you can see that they were taken only four seconds apart. I guess my reaction time ain't too bad!

This shot (above) was taken a couple of days later, on the same whirlwind trip. I was in Dehra Dun, northern India, on 16 December. It was a cold morning, even though the sun was up and sky was a startling blue. I took two or three shots in this sequence, one of which can be seen at Guardian Angles and which the very witty Maggie May said reminded her of Madonna and her famous conical bra in her early days!

Quite honestly, the connection to Madonna didn’t strike me (although it should have) so I went on to shoot this vertical frame of the whitewashed clock tower against the cloudless sky. I was actually standing on the parade ground when I took this shot. So I guess you could forgive me for saying that time, in this case, quite literally marches on.