Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/1600 sec, ISO200 “Sun Peeking” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは How’s it going?
Today’s photo is of my favorite subject, and an easy one to photograph: clouds. Although I see them almost every day, they are still fascinating to me! Especially because they move so slowly that they appear stationary, but then a minute later, they actually have changed quite a bit. You notice this more if you are taking photos of them. 😃 If you aren’t quick with the camera, the moment that you wanted to capture will be gone… but don’t worry, there will always be more clouds “on the horizon”. 😃 ☁️
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/125 sec, ISO2500 “Instax, NATO, Zulu” Cedar Park, 2017
Continuing with my (so far) inexpensive watch obsession, I put my grey and black NATO band onto an old Casio quartz dive-style watch. I used to really like this style of watch face, but now I don’t like the shiny polished metal looks as much. But, it does match the shiny buckles on the strap, so I think it’s a good complement. If you look at my Seiko and its strap buckles, you can see both have a matte finish so it matches nicely. 😊
I also learned that the strap that has the 5 buckles is not a NATO strap, but a “Zulu” strap. The larger, rounded buckles are the difference here. I think I prefer the Zulu strap.
Anyways, my interest in watches continues, and I have made a little Amazon wishlist in case anyone is feeling incredibly generous! 😍 But seriously, I’m keeping my eye on a Seiko 007 model… One day!
Today I took some photos of bento that our friends’ restaurant will sell. 🍱 The photo above is a closeup of the tofu bento, but I think the photos that will be used are just the basic top-down angle. But, I took several closeups too just in case.
As a bonus for the work I did, I got to take the bento home, and we had it for lunch and dinner. おいしかった！😄
This afternoon I relaxed by watching a lot of TV… first I watched an episode of Yuki!!! On Ice, which is an anime that Emily Yoshida is discussing on her podcast, It’s Cool to Like Anime. I decided to give it a watch, but the first episode didn’t interest me too much. I’ll probably watch a couple more to see if it grows on me.
I also started watching a currently running Japanese dorama, Tokyo Tarareba Musume, which I will blog about in another post… more to come!
This morning I arrived at work while there was a nice sunrise happening. I wanted to see if I could get a decent photo of it so I decided to take the elevator up to the top level of the parking garage to get a better view. I think it turned out pretty good!
Honestly, there have been many days where the sunrise was really cool but I just didn’t have the motivation to put in the extra effort to find a good spot to view it from. It’s silly、 really, since the effort level is minimal – I just had to press a button to take the elevator up 4 levels, then walk 15 seconds to the edge of the garage. Just talking about it now, I feel so stupid.
In the future, I’ll try to make that extra effort. The results just might be worth it!
FYI, the photo is a panorama from two photos that I stitched using Lightroom and Photoshop. There were some telephone poles and power lines near the treeline that I removed. I usually add a little grain to my photos using Lightroom, but I forgot to do that for this one. Oh well. I still am pleased with it! 😆
Photo info: SONY NEX-6, 16mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO1600 ”Instax Printing” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは！How’s it going?
This evening I printed out several photos that I took in December and earlier this month. I love using my Instax printer! Not only does it make the photos cooler, but it makes me examine my photo library in a different way. When I am making my selections, I ask myself why this photo over that photo, and how come this one is good for sharing online, but it’s not good for printing.
Most of the time it’s because the prints are mostly for myself to look at, while online photos are less personal, less sentimental. I don’t think strangers care about holiday photos so much, do they?
I also use the Instax printer to make prints of my favorite actors and movie posters. I use them as bookmarks or just because I like to look at beautiful faces sometimes. It’s a little odd to be printing those kinds of photos out, but whatever. I love my movie/tv poster prints!
We’ve gotten so used to taking photos to share on Instagram or Facebook that it seems odd to create them simply for our own personal joy.
Photo info: Motorola Moto G (4), 3.64mm, f/2, 1/15 sec, ISO3200 “Camera Love” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは！How’s it going? Are you staying warm this winter? The temperatures will drop below freezing here tonight, but we’ll be warm and cozy in our beds!
Today’s photo is of my camera, the Fujifilm X100T which I have blogged about before. I’m still loving it – definitely my favorite camera I’ve ever owned. It’s not the fastest, doesn’t have the highest resolution or specs, but it has a certain charm in its body design and the image quality that the jpeg processing produces. That combination is why so many people love their X100 cameras, and Fujifilm cameras in general.
This camera has changed the way I think about making photos. Having multiple lenses that cover the ultra-wide to the super-telephoto range isn’t that important to me anymore. Simplicity has become much more valued to me now. The single focal length simplifies so much. Decision-making is easier. In fact, a lot of decisions have been eliminated… and I love it! It’s truly liberating.
Of course, I value the knowledge and experience I’ve gained from owning and using many different cameras and lenses, and it still comes into play with the photographic duties I sometimes take on at work, but for my personal photography, the X100T is all I need.
I guess this simplification is part of a trend in my life… getting rid of things I don’t need or use. Do I need all the apps on my phone? No, I only need a few. Having less keeps my phone light and fast.
Do I need to keep all the books I have already read? No. I donate or sell them, and free up physical space and clear the clutter. Seeing books that I’ll probably never read again just gives me a feeling of incompleteness. Get rid of them and close that chapter for good. (I made a pun!) Closure feels nice.
There are so many opportunities to simplify!
Focusing on just a few quality items seems to be a path that makes sense to me now. It gets me excited to think about jettisoning the things I don’t need anymore.
I hope you had a great day!
おやすみなさい！
– B
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My camera & photos
I use a Fujifilm X-series camera for most of the photos on this site and my Instagram. Why not pick one up for yourself?
