Around 90 years ago, my grandfather would travel to pre-war Germany “doing business” and on one of his trips he brought back a bear. A very fine bear that as a rather small child I used to admire immensely. As is the way of these things, it eventually came to live with me and has gathered dust for some years on a sideboard where he caught my eye this morning.

I am still learning how to use my new camera and on the lookout for unusual subjects on which to try out cutting edge techniques and complicated settings. So I called forth a couple of members of the family band and asked them to lead the bear out to pose.

Herewith …