I’ve had an idea in my mind for some weeks for a new ad campaign for our business, with chess at its heart. I’ve had some fairly radical ideas and have been executing some of them today so I can show my internal client some ‘mock-ups’ when I meet him tomorrow. This shot is an out-take from that session, which didn’t meet my needs for the shoot but I really liked the way it has turned out.

Today my real-world, yesterday so full of hope for today’s big meeting in our personal life, has seen our dreams shattered once again, at least for the foreseeable future. Our meeting didn’t even happen because the person we were meeting with had a change of heart and decided not to go ahead with the deal. He dealt a bitter blow and delivered it in a cruel fashion too.

I feel as though we’re in the midst of a great game of chess, with a formidable opponent so my out-take from today’s work shoot works really well as an analogy for my day. BUT chess is all about strategy. You CAN go on to win the war if you hold your nerve after a blow. Will our strategy ever come good and allow us to win this war….or are we just too weakened from the battles we’re facing each day. I don’t know and I can’t see beyond today’s depressing news, which has filled me with gloom once again.

Still, to win the war, you have to keep your eye on the most important player, the King. That’s what we’re doing and we’re hoping that we will be fresher, wiser and better placed to fight tomorrow’s battle.

I’ve been inspired by the wonderful lensbaby gallery that Ken Smith has in the popular galleries at the moment and I know that this shot isn’t in his league but it’s certainly one of my best attempts with the little devil. As I’ve said before, I find focusing it on my camera’s focusing screen is horribly difficult so I adopt a scattergun approach and take loads of shots, only to discard most of them within a few minutes of uploading, once I’ve seen the awfulness of my attempts! I’m not going to let a little old lensbaby totally defeat me though – I’m nothing if not dogged in my determination to get some good shots out of it!!!

Last year, we were enjoying Erica's leeks and we've enjoyed lots of them this year too - leek and potato soup, yummmmmmmmm.