What a wonderful writer Zadie Smith is. I enjoyed her first novel ‘White Teeth’ enormously and having purchased a copy of ‘On Beauty’ from the Turunç Cat’s Protection League stall I now fully appreciate why The Novel was short listed for the 2005 Booker Prize. Here is an excerpt: “Mozart’s Requiem begins with you walking [...]
Despite delays, retractions, accusation and counter accusation, it seems as if diplomacy will prevail and the eleven British hostages held against reason will surely be released, if not today, then one day fairly soon. But when they are released, what should Britain’s response be? According to a recent poll nearly 70% of Britons would be [...]
A Great British Belfry Yesterday I was alluding to a statement of the great British bulldog Sir Winston Churchill in my headline: ‘Jaw, Jaw, not War, War.’ In fact what he said was: “It is always better to jaw-jaw than to war-war.” His exact words are not known but his statement is thought to have [...]
H.M.S. Dreadnought (1906 – 1922) It seems at least a week ago that I was predicting that diplomacy would win the day, and that the British service personnel seized in disputed waters in the Persian Gulf would be released. In fact it was just two days ago. Indeed my statement that their release should be [...]
E-400 an eightieth of a second at F 4.0 40-150 Zoom at 100mm ISO 640 Today the Olympus E-400 should arrive in Marmaris after its enforced ‘holiday’ in Portugal. I used the camera for just three weeks before it failed and it has taken nearly six weeks to go through Turkish and Portuguese customs, and [...]
E-400 50mm 125th at F 2.0 100 ISO Do you remember those two poor mannequins I photographed on Istiklal Street, (Istanbul) last month? I found two more closer to home, these are in much healthier condition, and I am pleased to say that M. Lacoste has provided them with shoes. This shot was taken with [...]
A Serious Lens For A Serious Portrait! As soon as I collected the E-400 from Marmaris’ UPS I fixed the 50mm Zuiko Digital lens to it so I could test both the camera, and the lens. The camera, (touch wood), seems fine and the 50mm lens is a joy. At F 2 it’s quite fast [...]
The Unusually Functional There was a feast of Easter Bonnets at Netsel Marina’s Easter Barbecue today. Hats varied from the utilitarian, to the exotic, and of course some of a nautical bent. The Exotic The Obviously Nautical
A 1969 VW Beetle I think most people know that when the Weazleys rescued Harry Potter from Uncle Vernon’s house in Privet Drive they did so in an enchanted Ford Anglia. The Anglia was perhaps a curious choice for J. K. Rowling to suggest as the enchanted vehicle, for aside from the Morris Minor, (designed [...]
Utility Again! By special request I’m showing a few more of the Easter Hats from Sunday’s Barbecue at Netsel Marina, Marmaris. These feature designs from the men’s department. On Friday I will reveal a few more of the women’s creations. The Rustic The Morris Man The Embarrassed
Strange Pink Artifacts On Rio Images I am still a great fan of the Fuji FinePix E-900. It produces wonderful results for a compact camera and the zoom lens is adequate for most applications you might demand of it. Unfortunately my enthusiasm got the better of me so when Hannah embarked on a world tour [...]
Water Ship Up! As promised I end the week by presenting a collection of Easter bonnets from the wonderful women at Netsel Marina Marmaris’ Easter Barbecue. I’m A Saucy Sailor, But My Tiny Herb Has Wilted The Lunch Is Getting Away! My personal favourite
The Steps From The Beach Last month, whilst the E-400 was away for repairs, I spent some time getting to know the Canon 20D and appreciating why the weight, size and handling of the Olympus is superior. None the less during March I made some interesting images with the Canon, mainly with my old 35mm [...]
Sunday Morning Regulars here will recall how my sister-in-law sent me a card featuring a print by Alan Fearnley entitled Sunday Morning. I sent a photograph of the print to an Internet address and after four weeks I received an oil painting from China of the scene, modified to suit some personal whims. Last night [...]
The Amos Restaurant, (circa 2007) During the winter Mehmet has been busy working to improve the look of Amos Restaurant. The place has been re-modelled and now has a timber, (and plastic), texture. It certainly is an improvement on the previous asbestos and iron structure and, (Philip please note), will also have a new American [...]
The Boats Are Working Once More Yesterday I reported on the new look of Amos Restaurant. Slowly the area is openning up for tourists, indeed some tourists are already here. Occasionally one of the tourist boats ventures into Amos Bay but not everyone swims yet. A first dip for Amazon and Irem
You may wonder why your hero hasn’t posted anything in this journal for the past two days? It’s not because he was pootled, although in a sense he might have been. No it’s because I’ve been computer-fuddled in the brain-pan department. I blame my eldest daughter. She wrote to ask if I have put any [...]
Our aviation correspondent sends news from the motherland: I brought tears to the eyes of the happy shoppers in Tesco’s yesterday, I wanted to purchase some software, having unloaded all my worldly goods at the till point, a mere £200′s worth, just enough to get through the weekend. I was told that I would have [...]
Leyla and Heinz have put their house on the market. It’s a fine property the marriage of Turkish artistry and German engineering. I’ve spent the day taking interiors with the E-900 and the WL-FXE01 Wide Conversion Lens: An Ample Kitchen Whatever Direction You Look At It! The Dining Room, (as seen from . . .) [...]
Zeynep İşçen and Ergun Ozek playing a delightful medley of English Country Music Tomorrow is National Children’s Day in Turkey but Netsel Marina arranged some entertainment for young people and Amazon, Irem and I went along to watch. Poor Levent was having kittens. A magician called Mandrake Kemal set up his stage right inside Levent’s [...]
The Atatürk Monument, Turunç Every year children throughout Turkey celebrate their special day. There are also special days for youth and women. On children’s Day the children with their teachers march in procession from the school to the sea-front at Turunç where the statue of Mustafa Kemal keeps watch over the sea, and an ear [...]
Leyla’s and Heinz’s Pad Whilst Amazon and Irem were out last night watching the children from local schools perform at Marmaris Amphitheatre I took the opportunity to take some exterior shots of Leyla’s and Heinz’s house. I will shortly be creating a PDF of information about the house which will be downloadable from pebblesfromparadise.com. The [...]
The vet explains why we should be kind to animals. Turnunç Women’s Group a recently accredited local government organization today presented their first major community initiative. This was an animal welfare awareness raising afternoon at Turunç Primary School. Lee Butt, who created the Turunç Street Cat Neuter Scheme introduced the afternoon and its guest speaker [...]
Polly Moors In Turunç Harbour I had just come from having my haircut when I saw this yacht making its way toward a mooring in Turunç harbour. Fortunately I had the Olympus E-400 with me and was able to catch this shot in the warm evening light. Only when I developed the RAW file did [...]
JJ and Amazon Having Fun Today we all went to Marmaris to buy supplies for Phillip’s forthcoming stay at Amos and also to deliver the Canon 20D to our friend Hakan who has started his own photography business and is based at The Atrium Hotel, Marmaris. Last year, (whilst an employee), he took 90,000 images [...]
Is it Art? I’ve been playing with some new toys today. Yesterday I collected the Panasonic Leica Summilux 25mm prime from UPS in Marmaris. This is a very fast, (and Large), standard lens for the 4/3 system built for use on Panasonic’s LC1 SLR, or its Leica equivalent the DigiLux 3. Of course it also [...]
Panasonic Leica Summilux 25mm at 1.4 Olympus E-400, ISO 100, 1/3200 sec Click Here For A Full Resolution File (a new page will open and you may download the file by hovering your mouse over the image and clicking the appropriate link on that page.) The renowned photographer Alice Springs, born June Browne, aka the [...]
The Orange Garden: A Superior Street Cafe In Netsel Marina It seems to be becoming a Sunday ritual that we find ourselves in ‘The Orange Garden’ at Netsel Marina. Yesterday we went there because Levent had promised that Roast Beef, with Yorkshire Pudding would be on the menu. Unfortunately it wasn’t, although it will be [...]
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Difficilis,querulus, laudator temporis acti.
Sepuero, castigator, cesorque minorum
Stephen Jeremy Maxwell Bray lives with his wife Irem, and daughter Amazon at Amos, Turunc near Marmaris, Turkey..
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