Happy Birthday Simon

Once upon a time birthdays were filled with wonderment, sleepless nights in the lead up, cakes shaped like cats and cricket pitches (pretty sure Mum baked both of these in my younger years - is that right Mum?), fairly bread, parties and PRESENTS. Presents from parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, brothers, friends, you name it.

When you turn 31 and have your first trip home in 14 months less than a week after your birthday it's easy to all but forget you're another year older, what with all the excitement of a 24 hour long haul flight on the horizon. And so it was that when I finally got around to organising a party on the night of my birthday at Bloomsbury Bowl I was far too late to actually book a bowling lane or a karaoke booth. Not to worry, the night turned out to be loads of fun, some good friends, some eats in the 50's style diner, some excellent drinks and some very average games of pool (miraculously I managed to have a 6-1 win loss record despite my best attempts of sabotaging my team mate.) One of the highlights of the night was receiving my first (and only) present, an awesome paint by numbers set of a knight riding a horse from Pam and Jay (thanks guys), it looks pretty hard but apparently is suitable for ages 8+ so I'll see what I can do, looking forward to nailing it over the Easter long weekend.

In order to keep this post vaguely photo related (although maybe this blog needs to transcend the photo pigeon hole it's currently in?) I thought I'd put together a birthday wishlist in case anyone out there has deep pockets and is feeling particularly generous:

Canon 5d II - I think 21mp is a bit of overkill but the full frame sensor would be real nice.

Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8 L MKII USM Lens - A perfect compliment to the 5D II, this puppy would be amazing for shooting a wedding.

Canon EF 85mm f1.2 L II USM Lens - The results I get on my cheap prime lens are lovely, I can only imagine the sort of image quality and low light capabilities this thing would bring to the table.

Pocket Wizard and a few more flashguns - After last weeks lighting course I'm keen to try a ton of new effects, the Pocket Wizard attaches to your camera and transmits a signal to a bunch of remote flash guns. Would be a plenty to learn but it would be awesome. For the record anyone interested in off camera flash lighting should head over to Strobist to get some inspiration and tips, some incredible stuff there.

I think these things would make me happy. Well, until something newer and better and faster and shinyer comes along. Truth be told though I'm pretty chuffed with all the kit I've already got, and at the end of the day the person behind the lens is a lot more important than what they're using.

Here's hoping the next 12 months are as good as the last.