TWO BY TWO

From the archives.

Do you sometimes get a headache trying to handle portrait shots? There you have it, landscape photos lining up nicely one after the other in a new post and suddenly... ...a vertical. I guess I could just close one eye and lay it out as it is, but the truth is it irks me (I probably have some hidden OCD somewhere). So here's how I usually deal with vertical shots to keep my peace of mind. Another reason why I love diptychs^^

Hope everyone's having a calm and easy weekend.

NATURA X NATURA >> LAST

The last of my old natura shots for a while. I'm kind of in a dilemma because using the film here meant that I would have to send it to the labs here, and I get irked by the quality and the results I get. But if I'm going to keep up standards that would mean that I can only use it when I go Japan, which is rather silly really (though I do go to Japan a bit too much *lol*). I need a find good reliable lab that can do 1600 film properly... ...

LATER IN FEBRUARY

Such a great shop, Rockstar at Cineleisure. Interestingly, fellow blogger Karen also talked about the place recently too. See her version here.

The rest are of Colbar (short for Colonial Bar) at the old Portsdown British quarters. We love it there for big trees, wide spaces, and not forgetting, the marmite sandwiches.

NATURA X NATURA >> THREE

All natura.

1>> Futagotamagawa.

2.3>> Izu Peninsula in springtime.

4>> Tokyo Tower.

5.6>> Daikanyama.

HELLO JIJI (& DEAR KIT CAT) #005

We have a guest cat in our home.

Kit Cat will be living with us for around a year while his real parents go on their grand tour around Europe. He's a rather easygoing cat and so far they've been getting along charmingly, what with chasing and pouncing and rolling together and friendly swatting, oh and not forgetting those wet nose kisses, it's really entertaining to watch.

His parents have an interesting blog on their grand tour, you can take a look here. I'll also be guest blogging now and then (basically posting photo evidence that their cat is still well and alive *lol*).

Jiji will be sharing her photo series with him from now on, and this is the cheesiest title I can think of, did you get the pun?^^

NATURA X NATURA >> TWO

More natura shots.

I've been reading up on the slow movement lately. No lofty aspirations but this year I would really like to cook more, buy less and sleep more.

What about you?

THE SWIMMING POOL

Leandro Erlich's Swimming Pool. We later caught his Hair Salon at the 2nd Singapore Biennale. His works are amazing.

@ 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

NATURA X NATURA >> ONE

These are some of my natura faves taken when I was studying in Japan, all shot with the natura classica camera and the natura 1600 film that complements it. What happens when you put the 2 together is that it gives you really fine grain, high contrast and beautiful colours even in low light conditions (I know I sound like some Fujifilm spokesperson but I'm such a big fan).

That said, how the photos turn out also depends a lot on where you develop them. I've had rolls processed in the local labs here in Singapore before and they were very disappointing. If you're ever in Japan and want to develop film I recommend the '55 DPE & Digital Station', they're a bit more pricey but I find the quality superb.