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While doing some web surfing yesterday at big-boys.com
I came upon a neat little video that shows just how
crowded the subways can get in Tokyo.
The video shows subway station workers squashing passengers
into the car so the doors can close. This is as close
to commuting hell as you can get and is exactly what
a lot of people have to deal with here in Japan.
See
the video - (650 kb .wmv file)
Man, am I glad I get to drive to work.
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My prints sale went pretty well today. The weather
was pretty bad, cold rain trying to turn into snow all
day, and that kept a lot of people from coming out to
shop, but I did OK. Tomorrow I am hoping for more of
the same.
Usually i don't do any shopping of my own at these
sales but this time i saw something I had to have.
It is an etching of a traditional Japanese country
side scene. When I saw it I absolutely fell in love
with it, and even though it was $250 I knew I would
kick myself later if I didn't buy it.
I'll be hanging it on my wall tomorrow evening and
I'll take a picture to post in my next update to show
you all what it looks like.
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Last week I received my
lensbaby in the mail.
At this point you may be asking, "What the heck
is a lensbaby?"
Basically, it is a $100 solution to enable one to take
a $4,500 digital SLR and replicate the effects of a
$15 HOLGA
camera.
A lensbaby looks like a piece of plumbing and uncoated
single element 50mm prime were thrown into a particle
accelerator and after the two pieces both achieved velocities
approaching that of the speed of light "1,547.6
and a half raised to the power of 12" m.p.h. they
smashed together and the result was a lensbaby.
Two parts Plumbing, one part Optics, and 4 parts Ugly.
A truly goofy contraption to be sure, but from the few
shots I have taken with it so far I think I am going
to really like it. (If not love it)
No, it didn't really make sense to me at first either,
but as of late I have started to feel like I have been
in a rut, photographically speaking.
I have no problem going out and getting tack sharp
images with good solid composition, but the challenge
is not what it used to be. I don't feel like i am learning
very much anymore. And my images lately seem to have
lost some of their snap. (At least to me)
In short, I am getting a little bored with shooting
photos the same way over and over again and the lensbaby
looked like a great solution to help me photograph "outside
the box" a little more.
In truth, I hope the experiences I have with the lensbaby
will help me once again firmly understand that when
it comes to photography (or any other form of art) one
must not just be outside the box, but rather
one must come to the realization that there is
no box.
So expect some strange looking photos to start trickling
in over the next couple of weeks (depending on how much
time I have to go out shooting)
In the traditional sense these new photos will be a
couple of steps backward in the quality department,
but creativity-wise they should be leaps and bounds
ahead.
I think this is exactly what I need in order to pop
myself out of this rut so I can continue to "develop"
(pun slightly intended, I do shoot digitally
after all..) as a photographer.
Comment 21
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