Neighbourhood strolling.
Cherry blossom viewing.
Cherry tree hugging.
Double levitation!
Mike’s guest appearance.
Hanging out by the water with the willows.
Have an awesome weekend, everyone!
i will rediscover what inspires me.
Archive for the 'point & shoot' Category
I must say, this is the time of the year that I look forward to the most. It’s not really an official festival, but to me it’s always exciting like a festival :D
The weather is especially gorgeous this year over the few days of peak bloom, which attracted a large and merry gathering of people at High Park even on a Monday night when we went.
My sister brought along Wish Bunny, a rabbit with wings from a Japanese comic called Cardcaptor Sakura, I think. I made Wish Bunny in my high school days, nearly 15 years ago. Still in good shape and fit to climb trees :D
I wore my blooming dress for the occasion…
We packed a picnic of onigiri and imitation crab meat salad.
Then we took a stroll by the lake, and a swan came to join the merry gathering!
And of course we took levitating photos amongst the blooming trees! Will post them in the next few days :D
Happy spring!
When it’s really sunny out even my point and shoot camera works well with the levitation shoots.
Mike and I spent an afternoon in the Distillery. It was a bit cold and rainy so the streets were quite empty, perfect for photo shoots.
When people saw this they commented that it looked like the creature was sucking me into its mouth. But the storyline I had in my mind at the moment involves a tentative encounter with a creature that everyone was afraid of and avoiding, and finding out that there is nothing to be afraid of at all, that the creature really just wants to be understood. Much like an encounter with fear itself.
And for this one I was thinking about Valley of the Wind, involving a character who befriends mutant insects. This creature used to have one giant red eye. Not sure why it doesn’t anymore.
Floating forward and resting by the pond. These were taken with a phone. Not bad huh.
Have a great week, everyone!
This is the most recent levitation shot, there are quite a few before this one, but I can’t wait to show you…
… a new dress I made! :D
It’s from a pattern by Doris Chan and made with Mary Maxim Prism in a colour called Still Waters. It’s for going to a wedding in the fall :D The front closure ended up backwards, I don’t know how that happened… but oh well. I really love the yarn! And I love that the colour is called Still Waters. Was trying to do an interpretive levitation of still waters. It’s unfortunate that I don’t have a better background setup for the photo. Maybe when I go to the wedding I can try again, something to do between ceremony and reception :D
I got mother of pearl buttons from my favourite button shop on Queen Street.
More levitation photos to come! Have a great Friday! :D
Rainy day.
Still so cold…
… but finally some spring sunshine! (took this one with my own point & shoot resting on a cracker tin :D Not bad huh. Usually these pictures are taken with Mike’s fancier camera)
Have been away from the blog for a while taking care of final papers. I made a cardigan a while ago but still haven’t been able to post it! Hope to do that soon.
Have a lovely week, everyone.
I’m really rather proud of this one.
Inspired by this quote:
“Drinking a cup of tea, I stop the war.” — Stephen Levine
Test shot, but I liked how it turned out.
Double levitation! Need more practice, but it was fun :D
In my parents’ backyard, enjoying one of the first warm days of spring.
Saying hi to my neighbours in the building across the street.
Float on! :D
I’ve long been fascinated by Natsumi Hayashi‘s levitation photos. I have recurring dreams about floating around in air, and her photos just reminds me so much of those dreams.
It’s pretty good exercise, I think, jumping repeatedly to get a good photo. Given that I don’t really exercise at all, I try to not to strain myself by taking just one picture a day. You can see my very first attempt in this post. The picture above is a second attempt. Mike joined in the fun too :D
My subsequent attempts over the week. Lounging around on my day off…
Getting some yarn…
My best attempt yet! So proud of this one. Love the little clouds in the corner, and Flash Point on TV!
My most recent attempt. Tea time (please excuse the bag of garbage waiting to go out…).
I got a lot of inspirations from this photographer, a fellow Canadian from Vancouver! :D
Also, check out this interview of Natsumi Hayashi on the New York Times blog! So many people in the comments also said that they have flying dreams. What would Jung say about that…
Hoping to levitate outdoors on the grass when the snow melts!
Have a splendid Sunday, everyone!
Alright don’t worry even if things end up a bit too heavy
We’ll all float on alright.
– Modest Mouse
That was my best shot at levitating so far.
I was actually trying to take photos of a sweater I crocheted (in one piece in a sideways manner, I’m hoping to post the pattern soon). The way I positioned the camera was too low and couldn’t capture the entire skirt, so I decided to take a jumping shot, inspired by Natsumi Hayashi‘s levitating self-portraits.
Having been following Natsumi’s posts for a couple of years, I’ve found that the key to levitation (as opposed to just jumping) in a photo shoot is that one has to jump while relaxing one’s shoulders and arms.
It’s actually quite difficult. A lot of controlled coordination needs to happen in a fraction of a second.
In this photo I certainly still looked like I was jumping, but I like the way my arm and hand look in the light.
***
I’ve been stressed on many fronts lately.
The paradox of jumping — a surge of energy to propel oneself off the ground against gravity — while being relaxed was actually quite enlightening when I thought about my recent encounters with conflict.
What this makes me realize is that, in conflict, I have to learn to sustain a clear and calm state of mind in the face of heightened emotions. Heightened emotions that threatens to derail my thoughts and actions.
It’s actually quite difficult.
***
Realizing that it’s difficult, and fearing that it might be impossible for me to ever do well, I find this poem comforting.
Wild Geese
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
– Mary Oliver
May we all find clarity and compassion today.
We had the most beautiful snow fall today.
And lichens growing so vibrantly alongside the snow.
Have a great evening, everyone!
First, a few interesting sky photos from the past few weeks :D
Definitely a grey stripe that day.
Caught the rainbow right when I was coming out of class that day. It was just fading. And quite a few people were taking photos of it with their phones with a smile on their faces. Joy was in the atmosphere.
Brilliant sunset with a crosshatching pattern.
And an update photo for the sky sweater taken a few days ago. I divided the front and back with the neck opening, so it’s over half way done :D
And now, an idea, inspired by all of you :D
After I wrote the weave party post and read all the encouraging comments I realized how fun it would be if we have a crafting party. It reminded me of a make-along I participated in two years ago and the year before, hosted by the awesome Leethal.
In the make-along’s everyone who participated made something (crafts, cooking, gardening, etc.) within the same 24-hour period, during which people also posted their progress on Twitter and a Facebook page. Afterwards people shared what they’ve made either on their blogs, linked on Leethal’s blog, or in a Flickr pool.
So I thought, why don’t we have a craft-along party? :D
I don’t use Twitter and setting up another Facebook account or Flickr pool seems like a bit too much to handle, but crafting together can be very simple.
My idea is just to set a 24-hour period in which we all make something – maybe a craft that we’ve been wanting to try for a while, maybe starting on some Christmas gifts, maybe crafting something for ourselves, maybe continuing on a project that has been hibernating, maybe just setting aside an hour to be spontaneous and make something unplanned and free-formed, maybe baking a cake for the sake of baking a cake, maybe writing a poem/haiku/song… just spending some time with our creativity :D
And then, within a week, if people can send me a photo or any documentation of what’s been made and, if people wish, a description/statement about it, I can post them right here on the good ol’ blog and it can be a like mini gallery exhibition! :D
(I might even be able to ask Mike to help me install a fancy widget for the gallery viewing!)
Maybe sometimes in the second week of November… (that’s just because I have midterms until then :S)
What do you think about this idea? Would you be interested in joining the craft-along party?
Have a happy weekend!
