Saturday 28 April 2007

On the early bird...

There is no doubt early mornings are the best times for wildlife photography. Even if you don't come back with anything, there is something magical about being out whilst the world is empty and still. It was a slow dawn this morning, and I was up with the lark. The trickle of amber light, gradually emerging from hazy cloud to gild the bracken.

Skylark
Skylark

The skylarks seemed to enjoy it too. I was surprised how close they let me get. Admittedly I was down on my front, crawling slowly, commando style towards them - they seemed more intrigued than bothered by my behaviour. Another pair of trousers well and truly ruined - but I think this pair of photos more than makes up for it!

Skylark
Skylark

Countdown to Falklands trip: 224 days to go

Friday 13 April 2007

On the stupidity of one size fits all...

In trying to arrange travel insurance I ring a well known insurance company. My call is taken by an Indian gentleman. I wonder if it is an off-shore call-centre? He is pleasant and friendly enough but, like most call-centre operators, he is tied to his script. At the point where I tell him that the £1500 baggage cover (with £400 pound maximum single item limit) is not enough he does not know what to do and continues relentlessly with the script. There is no option to talk to anyone else or customise the policy.

One of the problem with the modern world is that there are too many choices which are no choice at all. There are scores of travel insurance companies offering policies with nearly identical limits. As far as I can ascertain no-one offers anything different! I would be happy to pay more for a bespoke policy which covered my actual needs.

So now I'm looking at doing specialist camera insurance and travel insurance as separate entities. Ho hum...

Countdown to Falklands trip: 239 days to go