A long, long time ago in a cold, cold country up north – during December – I found a ladybird.

It was all the way back in ’07, and let’s just say ladybirds aren’t all that common during winter. More like none-existent. I mean, where would they live when the snow reaches over a grown man’s knees?

Needless to say, I got rather fascinated. Or obsessed. Whatever comes first. I followed the damn thing around with my Nikon D50 for three hours. In my bedroom, up the curtains, over diverse DVDs, around a couple of lamps, down two floors, up one floor. I thought the kitten ate it more than just a few times, as she was also hunting it down. Just with claws, sharp teeth and the kitten-ish playfulness that could be the end of every small animal she came across.

After a long hunt, the ladybird actually managed to get to the living room and into my mother’s hair. At least it stayed there long enough for me to take some (not too good) pictures.

And after that I’m fairly sure the cat ate it.

I just came across some images I can’t help but share!

Chris McVeigh is a multi talent, and I’m incredibly fascinated by his photography style! He’s also an author and illustrator. Wicked talent!

Here are (quite) a few of his pictures;

Amazed yet? I really love that chipmunk.

• Article; The Stunning Work of Chris McVeigh. (The link I found these pictures through.)

• Chris McVeigh’s homepage.

• His Flickr page.

Last Saturday I went TFP-ing in Shanghai.

Now, if you don’t know what a TFP is, it’s short for Trade-For-Portfolio, or Time-For-Print as the Wikipedia says it. It’s when a photographer and a person, doesn’t need to be a (aspiring) model, decides to take pictures for practise. It’s free and both parts get to use the pictures to promote themselves as they please, as long as they agree on which terms between themselves.

^{(Photo; David Li)}

Now, I’m not really trying to build up much of a portfolio, although I think everything with photography is really fun. What I want is to remember what I’ve looked like, so that I can look back when I turn 60 and show the rest of the family how pretty I used to be. So that I can remember my ageing process, from a 10 year old to 50, and not just in bad snapshots and second annually studio taken family photos. I simply want good, maybe even themed photos. Perhaps that’s the real reason why I love photographing. Because it makes it easier to remember the past as it were, and not just in blurry thoughts and half-forgotten phrases. Or maybe it’s because I’m a bit vain. (Who isn’t?)

Anyway. We (the photographer, the wife, their cute kiddo and me) went to take pictures in the 1933 building in the Hongkou district. It’s an old butchery with an extremely impressive architecture. It was very fun and the photographer was very kind (he even explained bits of the Chinese culture for me!). His wife put make-up on me, and I think it was rather interesting to see/feel someone work on my face for around 30-45 minutes. It’s a bit creepy that the worn down building used to be a large butchers place though.

^{(Photo; David Li)}