New York City
by
laura tj
- 6/12/2017
Here's New York City behind my lens in less than 2 minutes, mini documentation from my trip last year. Music is OffOffOff by Autolaser.
#VantagePoint
by
laura tj
- 4/30/2017
Let's talk about photography.
My photography journey has gone through different phases. There was a phase where I got really into it and I bought a beginner level of DSLR, took up a photography course, organised photoshoots with friends and stuff. I carried my DSLR around with me almost all the time.
But then slowly I got lazy to carry such heavy bulky camera, I wasn't really happy with how my photos turned up and I moved my photography interest into lomography - little plastic film cameras that come in different funky colourful shapes. There was excitement getting my films developed, not knowing what I would get. There were good photos and there were meh, there were failures on a whole roll of film or two. It was the real analogue Instagram filters effect on the photos developed that made it all exciting.
And then... here comes the smartphones phase. All the convenience and instant shoot and post within just a few finger taps. I swapped all of my old cameras to one small simple Sony compact camera. It's enough and does the job, I only used it mostly when I travel.
I have to admit, when it comes to pursuing hobbies I am one that gets bored quite easily. For me personally though, regardless what cameras I used (I seem to downgrade throughout the time, whether it was a DSLR, a lomo, a smartphone, a simple compact point and shoot), photography has always been around me at all times. I'm a visual person and I love capturing moments and memories in this form.
Let me close my rambling by sharing with you a personal favourite shot as a part of #VantagePoint, a project by Light, which by the way a new light weight small camera of the size of a phone with new technology that would give you SLR quality shots. Sounds like a little gem that I need to keep an eye on when they release the product later this year.
Taken with: Sony DSC-RX100 ~ ISO: 125 ~ Apperture: 5.6 ~ Shutter speed: 1/400
Location: Yosemite National Park
I mean, this place is so beautiful that I think any photos taken would just turn up great. But put photography techniques and all that aside, this one in particular is my favourite because I love the composition and the colours and I'm really happy with how this turned up. The river and the reflection give some depth and make the picture more dramatic, it also emphasises the colour the sky, the rocks and the colour changing trees at the start of autumn a bit more too. I found this image calming and soothing, it brings me back the memories of when I was travelling to Yosemite, quiet and peaceful. It gives me zen when I look at it. When a picture gives a certain feeling or triggers a memory, then I think (I hope) I did a good job. And it's not very often that I said I love my own photos ha, this one though remains a favourite that it has been staying on my iPhone lock screen since 2 years ago when I took this photo.
What about your stories? What photos are you taking? What cameras do you take photos with (if not your smartphone) and do you carry your camera with you all the time? For other amazing #VantagePoint shots, check out their Pinterest board.
Japan in Spring 2016
by
laura tj
- 3/05/2017
It has been almost a year since my trip and I finally put up my snippets from Japan trip last year, it's a combination of all my trip in Tokyo, Hakone and Kyoto in the last 3 posts.
PS I have also updated my blog layout and rebranded it to my usual internet handle lauratj, which is a short of my last name - while I'm proud of my name, I am aware of it just being too long and too difficult to spell for most people. Read a refresher about my blog here. Cheerio!
Japan part 3: Kyoto
by
laura tj
- 1/28/2017
Oh what can I say about Kyoto. Being a first timer to visit Japan, for me Kyoto was the most beautiful place I've seen the whole trip. All the scenery, the shrines and temples, the bamboo forest and cherry blossom trees were all so overwhelmingly pretty. I only did all the touristy activities of course, and there were just too many tourists everywhere - a little too crowded for my liking, but Kyoto was a wonderful place regardless and it was all very zen and beyond what I expected it to be.
Just highlighting places I've visited, not in any particular order: Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, Tenryu-Ji, Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kinkaku-Ji or the Golden Pavilion, Gion. Argh. Everything was just so pretty.
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| Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, was in my bucket list for so long! |
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| Arashiyama Bamboo Forest |
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| Tenryu Ji, the closest temple near the bamboo forest |
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| The garden at Tenryu Ji with all the different types of cherry blossom trees |
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| Tenryu Ji |
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| Tenryu Ji |
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| Tenryu Ji |
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| Tenryu Ji |
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| Tenryu Ji, oh gosh I took so many photos here, couldn't help myself the whole complex is so pretty |
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| Tenryu Ji, where every ordinary corner is just pretty and full of cherry blossoms during spring |
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| Tenryu Ji, last snap before we were heading off |
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| Kinkaku Ji, another beautiful temple but we didn't arrive early enough to enjoy the zen without too many tourists |
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| Kinkaku Ji, not sure if you could see in the background, there were literally tourists everywhere |
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| Kinkaku Ji, in between the hills |
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| Wishing plagues at Kinkaku Ji |
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| Fully bloomed at one random corner of the streets of Kyoto. I'm losing it. |
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| I didn't really take many pictures of the food because I was too busy eating. But this is one of the delicious food I had at Gion, where we stayed during our visit. Oh, we also spotted a real geisha *we think* who ran off and walked super quickly and disappeared in one corner before we even had a chance to take a photo of her. |
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| Fushimi Inari, another of my bucket list ticked off |
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| Fushimi Inari, again we didn't arrive early enough to avoid tourists.. but taking snaps from the outer side of the gates is pretty okay too. |
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| Wooden wishing plagues at Fushimi Inari |
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| So many of these mochis were sold, I'm pretty sure I took this photo at Fushimi Inari as well |
Japan part 2: Tokyo
by
laura tj
- 1/15/2017
Japan post part 2 is from Tokyo and our main mission was hunting for cherry blossom trees. To be honest I really didn't feel like I have had spent enough time in Tokyo since I also had to work.. So Tokyo, wait for me. I will make a come back.
Here are some highlights from Tokyo snapped with my camera:
1 - 4: Learning how to hanami like the locals at Yoyogi Park.
5: Dessert stop at Harajuku. I forgot the name of the shop but this super soft shaved ice with toppings on top was super delicious.
6 - 12: Tsukiji Market, where we ate like there was no other day and everything was just yummy.
13: Romantic scene at Chidorigafuchi.
14 - 15: View from our Airbnb at Shibuya.
16 - 18: The park at Imperial Palace, Chiyoda with the one most lushest cherry blossom tree.
Just a few things that I found super helpful during my stay in Tokyo:
Pocket wi-fi review at Candid Cuisine - very helpful!
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| 1 - Yoyogi Park |
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| 2 - Yoyogi Park |
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| 3 - Yoyogi Park |
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| 4 - Yoyogi Park |
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| 5 - Harajuku |
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| 6 - Tsukiji Market |
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| 7 - Tsukiji Market |
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| 8 - Tsukiji Market |
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| 9 - Tsukiji Market |
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| 10 - Tsukiji Market |
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| 11 - Tsukiji Market |
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| 12 - Tsukiji Market |
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| 13 - Chidorigafuchi |
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| 14 - Shibuya |
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| 15 - Shibuya |
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| 16 - Imperial Palace, Chiyoda |
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| 17 - Imperial Palace, Chiyoda |
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| 18 - Imperial Palace, Chiyoda |
Japan part 1: Hakone
by
laura tj
- 1/05/2017
The stars are aligned and after having so many people telling me how amazing Japan is, I finally got to go last year. Not only first time going to Japan, but I was also lucky enough to go during spring. On this post I want to talk about highlights on our trip to cute little town Hakone.
First of all, the best of the best is that this is the very first time I got to experience staying in Japanese ryokan. I don't have any good snaps of our accommodation, but we stayed at Shinanoki Ichinoyu. Mind you I haven't tried any other ryokan, I have nothing to compare this to - but for me personally I LOVE it there and enjoyed our stay very very much. We picked the room that comes with our own private little onsen. The dinner and breakfast were served in the restaurant instead of our room, but I didn't mind that at all. Urgh. Reminiscing about this all makes me want to go back to Japan already.
So. We didn't have much time as we were only staying overnight. We got a nice sunny day and got on to the cable car then did the Hakone sightseeing cruise around Lake Ashi. It was touristy but having not been here before I guess it's the one time activity that we got to do. While it was bright and sunny, unfortunately we didn't get to see Mount Fuji. Oh well, maybe next time.
Day 2 of our trip, sadly it was cold and raining. All good though. I mean.. we were in Japan! So much excitement regardless what the weather was like anyway. Because of the rain and all that, we looked for somewhere convenient and close to our accomodation and decided to visit The Little Prince Museum which is super cute. And also very French.
