Tag: photography

Photography-related posts. I talk about inspiration, settings, gear, other photographers, etc.

At home and Instax

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Hi everyone! How are you this evening, morning, or afternoon? I’m doing well, although my back hurts a little bit. Luckily it is not serious, and not one of those inner muscles. So I think a good night’s rest will set things back in order. 😊

"Kasumi Arimura Instax" USA. Texas. Cedar Park. 2016.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5, 1/125 sec, ISO3200
 “Kasumi Arimura Instax” USA. Texas. Cedar Park. 2016.

I’ve been going a little crazy printing out from the Instax SP-1 lately. I’ve gone through my Flickr photos a bit and selected a bunch to print out – I have 22 photos in the queue! It’s so fun to fill up the album. I don’t have one specific subject to print out… I print all kinds. From family photos, pet photos, landscapes, black & white, you name it! I also print out photos of my favorite celebrities such as the one above of Kasumi Arimura. I watched the movie “Flying Colors” and enjoyed it quite a bit, and also thought she was great in “Amachan”. So, why not make an Instax print? The photo is now a bookmark for one of the many books I am currently reading (and never seem to finish).

My Instax album can hold 108 photos and I think I have printed about 50 so far, giving away 10 or so. It’s funny that this little printer and the photos it produces has been so fun. I am still trying to figure out exactly what the appeal is and how it fits in with my photography hobby. Maybe I shouldn’t think about it too hard and just enjoy the experience?

Well, I hope your Wednesday was enjoyable!

おやすみなさい！

バロン

Daily Photos

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Hi! I hope you had a nice start to the new year! We had a very relaxing one, just eating osechi (Japanese new years food) and watching movies.

Lately I have been reading about photography projects, and the one that caught my attention is something like a “personal documentary”. I guess it is sort of like a recording of my own daily life… just normal things that we take for granted, but if we give them attention, they can become important things. Or another way to look at it is that in 50 years, these things might be of interest. I don’t know if this is true, but I really enjoy viewing these types of photos.

So, I think 2016 will be the start of mine. I am not sure if I will take a photo every day, but I’ll try. I’ve done 365 photo projects in the past so I am confident I can keep it going! I’ve started a new category in the blog named “Personal Documentary” if you’d like to sort by these photos.

This first photo is about as everyday as I can get… it’s the pen holder on my desk at home. I’ve actually had this beer can for over 20 years. I think I cut the top off of it when I was at university and have used it to hold pens ever since.

"On the Desk" USA. Texas. Cedar Park. 2016.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/90 sec, ISO6400
 “On the Desk” USA. Texas. Cedar Park. 2016.

This project seems like a New Year’s Resolution, doesn’t it? Well, I rarely make resolutions, so I don’t think I can call it that but it is something I’d like to make a habit.

I hope you all have a wonderful year and give it your all!

-B

Back Home

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Hi all! How are you today/tonight?

Well, we are back home in Texas now. Today we flew on our normal route from Long Beach to Austin on JetBlue airlines. We really like flying out of Long Beach because it is a small airport and hardly any traffic or lines. Especially compared to the craziness that is LAX! But this morning’s flight was delayed by 2 hours, so we arrived in Austin at 5pm… not really too big of a deal, and waiting at the airport was ok since we had sandwiches that my mom had made for us. Also, I had time to finish The Martian! What a great book! 👍

USA. California. Long Beach. 2015.
USA. California. Long Beach. 2015.

The flight itself was pretty good, and I spent the time reading and also reviewing and deleting photos from my camera. I like to pare down the photos I keep. In the past, I would just keep every single photo, even if they were similar. I might have 8 photos that are almost exactly the same just because it didn’t cost me anything to keep more than one. But now, I really enjoy minimizing down to just the essentials. That means keeping only the best photo of a series. (I might cheat and keep two sometimes!) It’s so liberating to jettison all the extra photos right away after taking them. I feel like the longer you hold onto all those extra files, the longer they stay in your mind and clutter up your thoughts. Just choose one or two and be happy with those!

USA. 2015.
USA. 2015.

So, we made it home, but Austin is cold! Tonight will drop into the 30s again… ❄ Please take care to stay warm!

-B

Relaxing Saturday

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Hi all! Saturday was a time to rest and take it easy. I did a little shopping while the kids were at Japanese school, and then we had a big pizza for lunch. It was delicious, especially since I have been craving pizza for a couple days.

On Tuesday we will watch the new Star Wars movie. We have been watching all the older movies, starting at Episode I and moving through them to get ready for Episode VII. Today we watched Episode V, and it was of course fantastic. Bay laughed a few times at the “primitive” special effects, like the stop-motion animation Taun-tauns and AT-ATs, but overall, he said it was way better than all the other ones. 😃

Early today, I bought a small photo album to keep my Instax prints in. A friend told me that the Fujifilm albums were on sale at the local camera shop, so I picked up a white album that holds 108 photos. It’s pretty good! I’ve been going a little nuts, printing out a bunch today – 13 prints in all. But it is so fun and I have really enjoyed going through my old digital photos on the computer to pick out ones to print. Some people say that 80 cents per photo is pretty expensive. But for myself, I’ve gotten a lot of joy looking at these. And when I am at the end of my life, which would I be happier about: A) Printing, sharing and enjoying memorable images from my life, or B) that I saved 80 cents?

"Instax Printing" USA. Texas. Cedar Park. 2015.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO400
 “Instax Printing” USA. Texas. Cedar Park. 2015.

The weather is supposed to warm up in the next few days, so I am happy about that. ☀ But still, be careful with your health as we head into the holidays, especially if you are traveling!

おやすみなさい！😴

-B

Early Present

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Hello! How’s it going? It’s Friday so I am sure it’s going well! Today I worked from home because I had a couple of things I needed to take care of at the house. It was nice to be able to stay at home because the weather has turned pretty chilly! I think this morning it was in the mid-30s. But I was nice and warm in the house. :)

One of my Christmas gifts I received early is something that I’ve wanted for a long time now – a Fujifilm Instax Printer! It’s so fun and cool! I’ve always wished I had an Instax camera, but when the Instax printer was announced a couple of years ago, I knew I had to have one. And finally, it happened!

"Instax Print" USA. Texas. Cedar Park. 2015.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/125 sec, ISO1250
 “Instax Print” USA. Texas. Cedar Park. 2015.

What I love about it is that it fits in nicely to a simpler lifestyle. This little printer doesn’t require any cables or ink. It runs on two batteries and you just pop in a pack of film, then you print wirelessly from a smartphone or from a Fujifilm camera. The prints that it creates are really cool and distinct. I prefer it to the ZINK printer I have, and I’ll write more about that later. But for now, I am just going to enjoy the Instax! I love it! ❤

"Instax Printer" USA. Texas. Cedar Park. 2015.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/50 sec, ISO6400
 “Instax Printer” USA. Texas. Cedar Park. 2015.

おやすみなさい！

-B