Since I was feeling completely fried today (probably from the year finally catching up to me, not the holiday season) and failed to get out for a fresh December 2022 shot today, let's go back to the 2017 collection to fill in some more blanks instead.

It was a sunny Saturday morning in summer. I headed down to Bulli Beach Reserve to take some photos of the sea and whoever and whatever I might find there. I had an early start, first because I like early starts, and second because the wolf had an appointment at the vet at 9:30 that morning for her routine injections. (Don't you love how Google Calendar can let you see what you were doing 6 years before you get around to writing a commentary for your photos?) But let's return to 2017.

I spied something in the distance, and extended the 40 to 150 to its full length. A poignant shot. A heartwarming shot. An older man, sitting on a park bench near a pergola and sharing a quiet moment with his canine best friend. I wonder what he was saying to his dog. Was he sharing reminiscences of his past life? Was he telling his loyal companion how much he meant to him?

I went off to take a few other shots, and found a few that would be worthy of inclusion in this gallery. (For is it not always the case with photography that it's either feast or famine?) However I kept being drawn back to this set.

I loaded the best image into Photoshop and zoomed in on it. I pinched my fingers to the bridge of my nose, and muttered "he's on his bloody mobile phone. He's not talking to the dog at all. Bloody typical."

But in the end, I decided that it didn't really matter. The image can be whatever you want to make it in your own mind, and in any case as I said, it is indeed "bloody typical" in the second decade of the 21st century and beyond. Everyone is on their mobile, pretty much all the time. In that sense at least, it is a near-perfect candid.