photo jojo- pretty things for pretty pictures

Magnetic polaroid frames: a digital AND instant camera!;

chalkboard speech bubble; polaroid postcards

I was, ahem, 'researching' when I came across this website and Oh. My. Lots of swell things.

These are a few of my favourites, but they also have cute camera cases, amazing lens for your iPhone, tripods, instant cameras, and stuff for cool special effects like smoke, filters and colours, and light-developing fabric dye. lots of cool things. Makes me want to go take photos of EVERYTHING.

You can go have a look here.

Call it research.

the girl who loves to levitate

Speaking of superpowers, this girl likes to take photos of herself jumping in the air, and manages to look like she's like she's naturally levitating all over the city in an explicably graceful kind of way. Lovely.

Natsumi Hayashi is a sweet-looking Japanese girl who, one day, decided to take self-portraits..of herself levitating. She can be spotted in and around Tokyo, equipped with her SLR and her self-timer. When she feels the moment strike, she presses the shutter button down and then, quite literally, "jumps" into place.

What I love most about her shots is that they don't feel forced. Natsumi has a way of making us feel as though she naturally levitates throughout life.

"We are all surrounded by social stress as we are bound by the forces of earth's gravity," Natsumi says when asked why she took on the series. "So, I hope that people feel something like an instant release from their stressful days by seeing my levitation photos."

quotes by Alice via mymodernmet

(edit) click here for Natsumi's blog, with daily photos!

bottom of the trees

Love this series of photographs. Reminds me of living in the city, and waving to your neighbours, and community gardens, and unexpected flowers in parking lots.

I have been interested in observing how people transform the public space in front of their houses. In Sapporo, Japan, the main city of Hokkaido, the bottom of the trees are usually decorated with plants and flowers by people living around. Sometimes messy, sometimes unbalanced, sometimes crowded, each tree has a different world, a different mind, and a different personality at the bottom of it.

Bottom of the trees, Sapporo, Japan, August 2005 - June 2006.

via junkculture

DIY photography light box

After all my light-for-photography woes, the Boy built me a light box! He used this tutorial.
Gathering materials; cardboard box, poster board (or in my case, the back of an Ikea Billy bookcase), scissors, tape, measuring tape, baking paper.




Cutting windows in the sides, which were then covered in baking paper, and the poster board cut to size and slid in.

Taa daaa! We lined up lamps to shine in and took some test shots. I need to change the wattage of my bulbs to a) be brighter and b) all have the same brightness, but overall it's a definite improvement, and sure beats waiting for the sun!

I'm looking forward to posting my Flea Market Finds with the help of my handy-dandy new lightbox tomorrow. Yay!

Compulsive Knitting

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Compulsive Knitting by Daniela Edburg.

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For me it began to be a form of occupational therapy, even without knowing what I was doing. I started knitting long strips of fluffy pink material, and after a while I realized it was perfect to put together a brain, and a nice new fluffy brain was exactly what I needed at the moment..

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Whenever I see a person knitting I can’t help being drawn to them—it’s hypnotic. I silently analyze the texture of the yarn, the choice of colors, I imagine the sweater or the scarf already finished, how it feels to the touch, how it will look when its been worn for years. It makes me nostalgic even, reminds me of the passing of time.

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Interesting interview here.

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Thanks Joe!

eating her words

My friend Rachael has a photography blog. And photos in her flickr group. They're ace. Her photography is ace. She's ace too.

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oh, I do so mush

through the park, past the joggers and on the way to the duck pond.

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I love you so mush?

oh gosh

(pictures via I-don't-remember. oops. bad form I know, but too good not to share)

holy dooley I won

the monthly photography competition over at Amelie & Atticus, remember when I mentioned it here? and I get a prize!! Woot!

I'm stoked. When you think you're pretty mediocre at something but someone says your pretty good, actually; it's very darn encouraging!

Thanks to everyone who voted, and if you want to play along, the first theme of this month is 'eyes shut..'

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(edit) I'm all encouraged now and I do love to take photos, so I've just registered for EOS Photo5, an annual creative photography competition which all begins with a brown box. Inside there are 5 items that are separate photographic briefs to be incorporated or inspire your photos. Last year there were; umbrella, bubbles, crayon, tealight and ribbon (click to see last years finalists).

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It sounds like heaps of fun, I'll let you know when it arrives! Can't wait to see what's in it!

photo a day in August (Part 3)

Day 9

Day 12

Day 13


Day 14

Day 15

(for photo a day)

august photos (part 2)

Day 5

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Day 6

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Day 7

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Day 8

(For photo a day in August)

all you knit is love

Taken yesterday by my friend Agnes somewhere in Europe, and sent all this way to make me smile.

edit: This is the all you knit is love shop in Barcelona, check out their awesome store manifest:
-Handknit socks keep your feet warmer.
-Shrimp are a finger food.
-Winding a ball of yarn can turn a bad day around.
-Ideas can come from your hands as well as your head.
-An error is just a new technique.
-We learned all the really important stuff in kindergarten.
-Passion is as necessary as eating and sleeping.
-The path is slow.
-Working with yarn is a pleasure, not an obligation.
-Knitting is a highly sensual activity.

visit the website or you can see the store blog here! Thanks Jennifer for letting me know it was your lovely store!

well hello there Sue

I've got myself a new camera *drum roll here*, she is simple, but lovely. She needs a simple and lovely name. Like Sue. So I just wandered around the house taking random photos of knick knacks and cats. As you do.

I haven't read the instruction manual yet, I'm a fan of 'auto' settings, and this one does them well. To get me in the groove I'm going to join up with Jess from A Life So Peachy and do a Photo a Day in August (started by The Byron Life). I'm a little late, but consider this Day 4.

While I was roaming around blogs being inspired, I ran into Amelie and Atticus, so I'm going to join their photo challenge too!

And I'm still finishing off shots for this art project / exhibition co-op thingy (yes, that is the scientific term..)

When will they get around to inventing cameras for eyes? When I was a kid I would imagine that, and whenever I saw something beautiful or interesting I would blink hard and go 'CLICK!'

I've decided to not post a photo every day, but wait until the end of the week and post 'em all at once

in the post today

A Million Little Pictures is a project run by the art-house co-op, they're looking for people from around the world to take photos of an aspect of their everyday lives.

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In September there'll be an exhibition with over 24,000 photographs of the lives of a thousand artists.

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How fun. You can join here and you'll be sent a camera too!

I'm wondering what I'll take my photos of.. any ideas?

day dreams

Katie Sokoler and Matt Adams taped up thought bubbles and snapped passerbys as they walk by. Sweet.

matchbox treasures

For the International Championship League of Matchbox Stuffers :-), originally uploaded by borealnz

world's best housemates

My lovely housemate has a new blog Kaalinya. I look at it and it amazes me that such simple things around our house are transformed in such beautiful photographs!

Our other housemate left for the Easter Weekend but not before leaving a pile of chocolate Easter eggs for those of us staying at home. Bless!

I feel so lucky to share my life and a home with such lovely and amazing women. They make me laugh, bring me chocolate (and hugs) when I cry, and inspire me everyday. Our home has a lovely energy to it and I love it, even when we're simultaneously cranky there's an understanding in the air. I treasure sharing experiences and talking into the wee hours with them, or just that comfortable we're-doing-our-own-thing-quietly-but-in-good-company saturday afternoons.

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(p.s. thanks for the milk)

weekend

kite in the park

reading agatha christie

looking after the fish

mushroom canisters

new strings for my cello

sleeping cat

magnet on the fridge

dried lavender

duck holding my toothbrush

today I..

Unwrapped beads I ordered last week and wondered what they will become. I particularly like the tiny wings, and tiny fishing squirrel and miss piggy profile. A ring methinks?

Took photos of random things (and turned them into polaroids)

Painted my toe nails black for whatcha wearin wednesday. Makes me feel a bit rebellious. (I know it's not quite wednesday. Let's pretend, m-kay?)

Went for a run. (well, I went for a fast walk slow jog with sporadic running chucked in.) I've been goin every day for over a week now and have discovered muscles in my legs I forgot I had.

I also drank a lot of tea, and started a new stitchin'. Can't wait to show you.

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what did you do today?