it's all my mum's fault

Tonight on the way home I bought a cokin filter and the adapter widget for fitting it to my cameras. It's a "soft" graduated two-stop neutral-density filter, suitable for landscapes when you want to even out the brightness of the sky and land. Which I rather frequently do, especially with the digital SLR.

We're going to Miyazaki tomorrow, and I hope that my new tripod and filter will find some use. There's all that shoreline, for instance!

Today is my aunt's birthday, so I gave her a ring as a surprise. (I use the Skype service "Skype Out" which keeps the costs reasonable, and recommend it to anyone on the far side of the planet from their loved ones).