Before Selfie Sticks

I do have a couple of selfie sticks but I have never used them to take a selfie! I got them because they were being sold for £1 each and I took the opportunity of getting them while I could. The idea was to use them a bit more creatively than to pamper my ego. I've used them only a few times and then mainly to take a photo of somewhere hard to reach - like the top of a bookcase. I needed to know what was (lurking) up there.

Four years ago, having one would have been very useful. I was aware that some blackbirds had built a nest in a tree in our garden and I was quite sure that it had been vacated. I wanted to look inside but didn't want to make too much disturbance - just in case. A camera on the end of a selfie stick would have been ideal had they been available (for £1!) that summer. In the end I got a number of photos of the inside of the nest but it took a lot of trial and error, stretching at arm's length and hoping the angle was right - it often it wasn't. The photo below is probably the best I got (which says a lot.)