Keep on striding.
Looking at this image gives me “Into the Woods” vibes. 龙龙’s green eye perfectly matches the color of the leaf blades, while his dark hair creates an effective contrast. This viewpoint may be of a leaf on the bush, or an insect, inches from his face. I took this photo using shutter speed 1/160, aperture 5.0, and ISO 100.
These three musicians could be celebrating the elephant in front of them, or, given the moody feeling created by photographing in monochrome, they could be like the Pied Piper in children’s stories, casting spells over the elephant.
The figures have a special meaning for my stepdad, who bought them when visiting Thailand years ago. I took this photo using a shutter speed of 1/60, aperture of 4.5, and ISO of 400.
When I browsed through the gift shop inside Old Mission Santa Barbara, my eye was caught by a display of handicrafts, including this miniature sculpture. As a younger child I loved making crafts and was inspired by watching YouTube videos sharing the process of creating clay trinkets that were miniatures of food and such. After taking Architecture class, I also built small, accurate-scale models of a playground and the interior frame of a home. Projects like the one in my photo awe me because I admire all the work and care that its craftsmaker put into creating the tiny details that make it unique. I took this photo using a shutter speed of 1/40, aperture of 4.5, and ISO of 800.
A woman, her distant husband, and two teenage daughters are invited for a stay in San Diego by her altruistic older sister, who seeks to fix the gaps in this family.
That is a possible logline for a movie that I feel this photo could portray. The neutral colors of the sand and sky make the pop of green and yellow and the dark tints of skin and black clothing stand out, leading the viewer’s focus to these people. I thought it was interesting how there are three ‘groups’ of people, with a trio positioned between a man and a woman. This space makes me think of gaps within a family and possible ways the unity of the trio could spread to the people on the edge.
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I also want to share this photo of an immature (I think) seagull centered in the frame against beige sand, its form perfectly reflected beneath it.
What’s happening in our brain circuits? Pops of light and sparks, as dendrites conduct electrical signals to other neurons, sending information to your limbs to carry out a motion, or to your higher-order brain regions of consciousness to support thought. (I don’t know actually about the pops of light and sparks, but the rest is true!) I took this photo at a shutter speed of 2 seconds, an aperture of 6.3, and an ISO of 100.
Before working on this blog prompt, I didn’t know how to take long-exposure photos, but I fell in love with the beautiful effects we can create through applying it to light. This image, a zoomed-in view of a foil Christmas tree with small LED lights embedded at points in its branches, reminded me of our neural anatomy and the processes of how our physical biology influences our higher-order functions like remembering, planning ahead, communicating, and reasoning.
Jin (gold), mu (wood), shui (water), huo (fire), tu (earth). I remember the basic elements of our world through this heuristic in Mandarin. It is slightly different from the elements most frequently depicted in American culture, which are Earth, fire, rain, wind, and spirit. Luckily, this photo represents an essential element of both worlds! I was entranced by the intricate pattern of the concentric rings of air bubbles, trapped in an elongated spike within the ice. The icy ray of blue at the left, behind my hand, further reminds me of mystical stories constructed around our elements, like the ice sword Excalibur.
I took this photo using a shutter speed of 1/80, an aperture of 4.5, and an ISO of 800.
I took a night walk along Castro last December and took many still object photos of the restaurant chairs stacked up, or chained together, awaiting the next morning. I’ve wanted to display this photo since then! These chairs, not quite aligned in a straight line, remind me of a migrating flock’s V-formation. The odd number of chairs add a sense of center and balance to the photo. I took this photo using a shutter speed of 1/60, an aperture of 2.8, and an ISO of 1600.
While I was home, sick, I often took walks around my neighborhood with my sketchbook and camera. I always pick up pretty fallen leaves, and this tree was no exception. The golden sunlight filtering through the canopy and illuminating the leaf reminded me of the simple joy we can take in beautiful things. I love how the Bokeh (blurred out) effect on the canopy makes it seem there is a whole new dimension between the sky and the subject. I took this photo at a shutter speed of 1/640, aperture of 3.5, and ISO of 100.
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For humor, I also want to share this photo embodying the ‘season’ of SAT test preparation! I took the photo using a shutter speed 1/60, aperture of 5.0, and ISO of 100. Over the summer, I took practice tests (from a book that I found in a Little Library) outside at this table because the sunlight was too nice not to enjoy. The light happened to pass through a blue vase nearby (shown in the background) casting a UV-colored ray onto the bends of my practice book.
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Additionally, I liked this photo below, showing my street on a rainy day. For a change of style, I changed the focus so that the image is composed of a blur of shapes and figures. The red and green circles come from traffic lights beyond the sidewalk. The sky is gray with a hint of pink from the trees, showing the season of rain.
I am grateful for my freedom: to choose how I spend my time, what school I will attend, and where I’d like to live among many other factors of my life. My conditions are far from those of this colorful crane, seeming to be trapped, entangled by the spool of green decorative wire. The scene reminds me of ocean life, dolphins cut by fishing lines and geese trapped in nets. I’m determined not to have a noose around my neck, and others’ if I can help it.
This photo was taken using a shutter speed of 1/100, aperture of 5.0, and ISO of 200.
龙龙 follows me as I talk a walk around my neighborhood block, bouncing from yard to yard, and then disappears into a neighbor’s green hedges. Now, it’s my turn to follow.
This perspective through the hedge places his body at the top-right intersection of an imagined grid of thirds. The focus on the background – on this cat’s retreating form and the dirt and pine needles around areas he passed – creates a feeling of mysteriousness and curiosity.
Here’s another photo. 龙龙 looks especially like Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon in this view.
