Yesterday here in Australia it was father's day. Like always, I’d left my gift shopping til the day before and suffered the consequences. The shopping centre was totally over-crowded and what would have taken ten minutes any regular time, ended up taking nearly four hours. I’m not a fan of busy, crowded places at the best of times and well, shopping, is never the best of times. Needless to say, by the time I departed, I was surprised I hadn’t left a trail of bodies in my wake.

So Sunday came and the gifts were given. I got him a book voucher, a DVD of an old eighties English TV show called “Allo Allo” and the obligatory bars of chocolate. It was at this time I realized that I’m clearly not ready to be a dad yet as I still haven’t acquired the taste for Rum & Raisin chocolate, something that seems to be a pre-requisite for fatherhood.

After I cooked breakfast for us, I was quite amazed that my dad had decided to spend the day relaxing in front of the tv. Usually he’d be trying to find something that needed doing in the garden. It’s often a fight just to get him to chill out by this stage of the day. So he sat in the lounge with my Mum and watched tv for a few hours.

After lunch I had an idea and suggested that we take a drive up to Cardinia Lake, grab some hot jam doughnuts from a caravan that’s usually on the side of the road and spend some time in the park watching the Kangaroos. My Dad looked outside, which appeared to be nice and too my surprise he said yes.

So we all got in my car, dog and all and headed off. The lake isn’t far from us, about a fifteen minutes drive. Of course, I was more excited about the doughnuts and if I’m being totally honest, the idea to go to the lake was purely because I fancied some and I knew you had to go past a road-side caravan to get there.

As we approached the area where the doughnut caravan was I swear I could smell them. Problem was, when we turned the corner, the damn caravan wasn’t there. They must’ve taken the day off as the weather forecast had been lousy. What a let down.

We made our way to the lake just in time for the Sun to disappear and the rain to begin pouring. This was turning into a good idea all round. I drove on and parked overlooking the lake and the massive damn wall built of crushed rocks. My Dad got out and dashed for an information board which also had a roof shelter built over it. I followed, while my Mum stayed in the car to keep the dog company.

It was under this shelter, while trying to stay warm, that I snapped this photo. I’ve never been good at taking photos of people. I’m not sure why but my shots usually turn out bad which is why I generally stick to landscape photography. However, at the time I clicked, I had a feeling that this was going to be a good shot. Of course, you never really know until you get the files open on a computer screen.

After a while, we gave up trying to brave the weather and headed home. My folks went back to watching tv and I downloaded the shots to the computer. I was genuinely surprised to find the shot I thought was going to be good, actually was. I set about processing it and an hour later it was done. The first person shot that I’ve ever been happy with. I wish my Dad thought the same.

When I showed him, he was disturbed by how old he looked. And to be honest, the processing I’d done did make him look older by accentuating the lines and wrinkles. I’ve always loved seeing older people that have so much more character on their faces than those flawless models on magazine covers.

I’ll never understand the plastic surgery, Botox mentality of our world today. Wrinkles and lines are good. I remember the day I discovered the first permanent line in my forehead. I was so happy. I was one step closer to having one of those cool “western movie” faces. Would Lee Marvin, Sam Elliott or Charles Bronson been as cool as they were if the had smooth flawless skin? I think not.

Anyway, my Dad wasn’t buying it. Although he did accept that it was a good shot, for when he turns eighty, in fifteen years. He then commented on how I always had to do nasty things to his photos. The last shot I took of him, I turned into a zombie... I had no response.

Regardless of how he feels about it, I think it’s a good shot and I’m sure he would too if it wasn’t of him. I would love to hear your feedback. Is this a good shot or am I unnecessarily tormenting my dad?