A big 'have' from Havant

Nice to see Rowans Hospice in Waterlooville gaining from the generosity of Tesco at Havant yesterday when they opened their new superstore. The Hospice does wonderful work caring for the terminally ill, and I am sure that the £1,000 donation from Tesco will help them carry on their much-needed work. I was there to record the happy opening, and captured this image. As the Tesco slogan says "Every Little Helps!"

Pudsey @ Calshot

Well, it is over but what a fun 24 hours was had. I can, of course, safely say that because I was not madly cycling around Calshot velodrome raising money for Children in Need, I was merely a photographer trying to capture the event. Pudsey was there of course (he would not have missed it for the world) and a lot of money was raised for the wonderful charity. Thanks to all those who took part, and to those who have downloaded my photos from my website to add to the Children in Need coffers. The photos will be there for 2 weeks so you still have plenty of time to contribute.

Catch me at Calshot

In case you hadn't noticed this weekend is Children in Need weekend and I am pleased to say that I will be doing my bit for the very worthwhile cause at Calshot Activity Centre in the very south of Hampshire. I will be there photographing the 24-hour Cycle Marathon and on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. you will have the opportunity to be photographed with Pudsey Bear totally free of charge (OK, you will have to pay to download the image from my web site but with all profits going back to Pudsey I am sure you won't mind that!) Come along, say 'Hello' and have a cup of tea with the family - it will be a great day!

Screen Icon & Secret Crush

More years ago than I care to remember, or confess to, I fell in love (or was it lust!) with that wonderful French actress with the soft seductive accent, Leslie Caron. She made hearts flutter, mine included, in 'American in Paris', 'Gigi', and more recently 'Chocolat'. As far as female screen icons go she is up there with the best. Well, at the Cheltenham Literary Festival this year, I had the greatest of pleasure to snatch a few quick images of her as she rushed to get ready to promote her autobiography. I was there as an accredited photographer and was promised time to meet her, but unfortunately she arrived far too late due to travel problems and had to rush into her dressing room. The pics I took were more snatched than I wanted, but she was a star to the end and ensured I got what I wanted. One of the greatest of pleasures of what I do is meeting people I have long admired, and I was not disappointed!

BLATANT RIP-OFF?

I have been looking at noise reduction software, and basically there are two products on the market, namely Noise Ninja and Dfine from Nik Software. I opted for Dfine because it is slightly easier to use, and I use other Nik Software products BUT HERE IS THE CATCH. If I could buy the download in the USA it would cost me $79.00 which is just below £50.00. Because I live in Europe I have to buy from Germany, and it is €119 which is around £107.00. We are talking about exactly the same product which is downloaded from the same place - I am not talking about hard copy, but a computer download. I have contacted the company by telephone, but they can offer no explanation at all to me, and I they refused to take a message for the sales manager to call me back. I think this is a blatant rip-off - I don't know about you!