It was a very good day

Thanks for all your votes guys. Feels great...

Anyone who knows me, simply knows that I've always had, hmm, should I say, an unhealthy obsession with photography. I just live and breathe it; it interrupts me when I watch kids play, or arrive at a location, or, well just about in every way. I pause and I can feel myself looking around for light and angles and composition and emotion and all that stuff, unnervingly now I see even when I'm not accompanied by a camera. It's almost like arriving on a crime scene and assessing the situation, what was the entry point, the object used, the protagonists. I hasten to add that I'm obsessed with shiny black bodies and their eyes.

Conversations with my conscience.

Me: Eh, spring in my step this morning getting the news.

Conscience: But you don't even like sports.

Me: Correction. I love sports. I'm just rubbish at them, always have been, was always the last to be picked at school for teams. Testament - I sat in the pub every day of the World Cup 06 watching each of the matches. Was there at the World Cup Final in Paris, France v Brazil, flew over for 5 London marathons, adore watching tennis, synch swimming and gymnastics, flew over from the US to the Athens Olympics 2004 (I recall pics of me with a huge 70-300 zooming in for the 100m) and was planning to do the same for China, but Reuben (as you well know) had more than a complicated story after birth. You can't come between me and a TV when the World Cup or Wimbledon are on. Can you remember that feeling when Five Live announced the Olympics were coming to...London! Knock your socks off or what? I was living in Florida and I felt like I was floating.

Conscience: Yeah, ok. But you just don't have, how shall I say, any sporting talent.

Me: And perhaps because I'm so crap I can utterly marvel at how tremendous the skills are for getting to the top of your game. Leaves me gobsmacked.

Conscience: Perhaps then there's some lovely irony in this competition then?

Me: Yep. That Reuben should have been born with what's described as one of the most complicated medical syndromes known (CHARGE) and that we're really supporting the Paralympics with this competition has a bit of a special place in my heart.

Conscience: And what about the fact that you've lugged those cameras on your shoulders for, what? about 20 years? Does that count?

Me: {laughs} I guess I feel most comfortable when I'm behind one, always have done. I'm no more obsessive now than I was back then. Just the medium has changed, you know film became digital.

Conscience: What about the Momentum pic itself?

Me: {smiles} It's sweet. The community beach house pool had just opened up for the summer and it was one of the first times Reuben had ever been in water more than a couple of inches. He'd been cleared medically. It's been our summer of swimming, I'll always remember this year for that. And you know we missed out on swimming because it just wasn't possible with Reuben's trach; I didn't want to do activities with Callum that didn't involve Reuben, but now they have a shared love for the sport. I couldn't believe it when the Aqualillies strolled out to surprise the guests on opening day, so up I jumped with my camera to capture the country's leading sync swimmers. Inspired by Esther Williams, I immediately jumped in my head to the look and I feel I wanted in editing: vintage Hollywood. The boys were rascalling about in the background of the shot so there was a little juggling to be done in my captures.

Conscience: Ah, so that explains all your swim-Blips this summer. And today's Blip?

Me: A really relaxing morning walking along the beach with Callum, decadently drinking coffee in this beachfront hotel with intensive care-made pal Cassandra under a cloud of fog from which soon exploded the most vibrant sun at noon, the vintage carousel, toes in the ocean-wet sand. An utterly delightful day!

Conscience: So are you heading to the London Olympics?

Me: Did you really just ask that question?