Just wanted to share some recent photos of the flowers in our garden. I am in love with this season!
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Remember I said I didn't like the strap that came with the Sony NEX 6? A parcel came today with these really cool camera straps that I ordered from www.imostrap.com last week! They came unbelievably fast (they said shipping would take 10-14 workdays) and they were nicely packed in these cute plastic zipper envelopes. I ordered two, because they were relatively inexpensive: $22 for the Little Heart and $26 for the Green Tone (total order was $54 incl shipping). The Little Heart has no neoprene covering and is suitable for small cameras (i.e., mirrorless or smaller) as the binding is a little narrower than that of the Green Tone, which has a neoprene lining and quick release. The latter is also suitable for (heavier) DSLRs. The quality is good and I like how it looks on the camera (and on me:)). Most importantly they feel very soft and sturdy when I put them on. The straps are a bit long, but easily adjustable. Also a few minor remarks: I don't like the ends of the nylon binding which look like they're burnt with a cigarette lighter (but these can be tucked away) and the stripes of the Green Tone are not straight at a few places, I think because of stretching the fabric. Ah well. I just love them!
I went to Venice for a couple of days with my mum, and it was lovely! We spent a day at the Biennale and got totally oversaturated with art, and the other days we enjoyed ourselves wandering through the Castello, Cannaregio, San Polo and Santa Croce neighborhoods. We also made a trip to Murano and Burano, two little islands known for their glass and lace crafts. I loved being in Italy again, the food, the weather, and Venice is just so jawdroppingly beautiful... Of course I had my Sony NEX 6 with me and I am super happy with it! It is so light, I sometimes even forgot I had it with me. My mum also has a new mirrorless camera (an Olympus EL-5) and we played a lot with our cameras. Here is a glimpse of the result :) Quite recently I made a dramatic decision that will change my life a lot: I bought a mirrorless camera, which will very probably replace my dear old DSLR (a Canon 30D). The decision was hard, as I can only know for sure that I like this new kind of camera by buying one and start playing with it. My new baby is a Sony NEX 6 and I just got
to know him/her! These are the reasons (or a combination of them) I made the switch: The moments I will use the Sony (and I don’t use my Canon now) My husband and I spend 3-4 weeks a year backpacking in countries all over the world. I only bring my camera on these trips. Because that’s the only time I bring a bag that is large enough to fit it. I, so to speak, ‘organize’ everything around the camera. Because, for the type of photography I want, you need good lenses, that have a lot of glass in them, and I would never forgive myself standing in a beautiful spot in country X and I left them at home (there’s always my husband carrying his 5D Mark II, but sadly that doesn’t count). So that was a choice: good photography = a bigger bag that I normally would not dare showing myself with in daily life (ugly bulky trekker backpack) = only this kind of photography when I travel. But when I travel, I also do my best to bring the lightest of the lightest (small toothpaste tubes, tiny bottles of shampoo that always run out after two weeks etc). This seems a little contradictory right? True: you don’t need a heavy toothpaste tube for anything. But still. With a little Sony NEX and lenses that I can fit into the pocket of my wind stopper, or slides easily into a normal sized (more feminine) backpack OR handbag, I would definitely bring my camera on more occasions. To anything: a party, dinner, on the way to work, doing groceries. And the best camera is the camera you have with you, or so I heard. The Pleasure of (Photographing while) Traveling Another important moment was the three days in Ankor Wat, Cambodia with 1.5 kgs of camera hanging around my neck (I am a small woman), taking a million pictures (what else is there to do) and finally using only 3-4 of them in my book. Was it really worth it carrying all this weight? Did it maybe even make the visit less enjoyable? Do I travel for photography only? You wouldn’t believe the number of people that we passed during the 10-day Annapurna Sanctuary trek in Nepal sporting small mirrorless cameras. They laughed at us and said “Why on earth are you both carrying such a heavy camera!” We shaked our heads at that time because mirrorless cameras weren’t that good yet. But they are starting to get better and better… The quality Nowadays the possibilities of the lighter, nifty mirrorless cams have been enhanced so much, that I started to be interested. I needed a new camera anyway, my 30D getting a little old. The reviews are still not as convincing as in saying ‘Mirrorless can replace DSLR’, but I think that what I want to do with a camera is possible, i.e. portraits, taking sharp pictures in low light settings, street photography, bokeh. Especially with a couple of nice primes, such as the 35mm f1.8 (that I still need to save up for) I doubt my Canon 30d can beat what I can do with this one. First experience My Sony NEX 6 just came and it’s so cool and small and nifty, but still so serious-looking! I started it up pretty fast and shooting and operating it is quite easy. I will need to get used to a few things: - Zooming in at the pictures while you are viewing them: you have to push the OK button and then the scrolling wheel around it will allow you to zoom in and out. But you start fully zoomed in. Why? And why can’t you switch between photos while zoomed in? - One thing I would immediately like to replace is the neck strap. What a stupid, scratchy plastic thingy. Guys, I paid almost 1000 euros, could the strap please be a little softer? - Of course, the electronic viewfinder. This is very, very different from a DSLR. It makes me use the LCD screen a lot. But wait till have used it more. To be continued (in my next blog entry which will be about Venice)! I just came up with this idea, to post pictures of some of our trips, but in a way related to colours, fabrics and sewing. And even in line with the late 'ethnic' trend. Here you can see the dresses the Flower H'mong women in the North of Vietnam wear. The fabric they use are such a beautiful, colourful mix of embroidery and sewn on ribbons. I think the skirts that are now mainly of a printed fabric were embroidered in the old days, too. I was lucky enough to visit the Coc Ly market, which is a relatively tourist free area, and purchase one of the authentic purses the women wear. By the way, it's not that I'm only interested in the women, it's just that the men wear western, less interesting clothes :). In another village I saw blankets with this pattern, made by the Black H'mong. I wanted to print a photo of it on fabric so I could make cushions for the couch, but eventually made this design on Spoonflower.com. I am not too happy with the way it turned out on a test swatch (too faded), so I am still on the lookout for a way to print photos on fabric, if anyone knows a way please tell!
I just discovered a nice iPhone app, named Room for thought, which tells you to take a picture a day at random moments. The result so far in my case (at least in dark days like these) is blurry pics of the christmas tree, breakfast, and candle lights. You can also watch an overview of other peoples posts, and it is quite funny to see that they come up with more or less the same thing..:)
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