Wash Grapes

Grape is one of the most ancient fruits recorded in the human history 

though, as it is the cousin of Ivy,  I guess,  in the ancient time its

fruits must be as small as Ivy’s berry.   (about 1/4″ — 6 mm big ?)

Any how, the matter here is not a big (or small) issue at all = the way to serve.

—– In my bad boy’s habit,  there is nothing but a pleasure to steal a fruits.

(Fortunately or unfortunately I didn’t grown up to acquire the pleasure to

steal a woman.   😀  —– before read such menu available

I’ve become a monk (?)  —– how shame,  what a boring life isn’t it ! )

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To pick  and eat a fruit in the (Somebody else’s) garden, I wouldn’t be bothered

to wash it while presuming that the dirt has been washed away by the rain, and

no human hand ever touched it anyway. 

Though, when I bought it from a shop, I suspect it has been handled rather

dusty condition hence they are not clean. —– So, how to wash it ?

Long before,  I was washing the bunch of grapes under a jet of water then later

changed to wash each individual fruits —– I mean one by one,  since when

I noticed some time, some of them were covered with quite stubborn film of dirt.

( Remember, we eat grapes with its skin !  —– Japanese grapes can be skinned !  )

And these days,  I separate each fruit from a bunch and wash them in a plastic

bawl under the running water while make them well rubbing each other.

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Considering the amount of dust we are inhaling and eating, which may consists

sand or dried soil, even dried dog shit etc etc, without  knowing,  some dirt on

the occasional grapes wouldn’t make any concern.  —– So,  is this a matter of

principal or most likely the personality ? —– A kind of contemplation such as

“Resisting the dirt would be useless” may have an effect still,  the sense of 

cleanliness came from one’s up-bringing, and IS the one’s second nature.

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So, as a practice, how about the point of  so-called “Mindfulness” or “Middle way”

= how can we be “single-minded” and in the same time “be tolerant”.

(Is it a funny question ? )

If you think this is a funny question,  your understanding of Buddhism was wrong.

Wrong in the “Thinking” of  both  “Mindfulness” and the ” Middle way”.

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We don’t need to think about how to wash or how to eat grapes.   We should just Do.

= Wash or not wash what so ever you Do, IS a reflection of WHO YOU ARE.   As you

are born to be under the own Karma,  to follow it,  is the most natural way to live.  

And to be natural, need no thinking = just to be the own.  

No thinking or no conscious mean no Self is there.  And no Self,  no conscious mean

no intentional thinking NOR being not natural,  hence no over doing = Middle way.  

Without the Self, still able to do what necessary to Do, IS the Mindful way.

In fact, all the teachings of Buddhism are [ To be done without conscious ].

= Live without a conscious of Self IS Selfless.  Do without thinking IS Mushin.

When you Do the thing, there are no other things in the mind IS Mindfulness.

And when you Do,  no intentional thinking is there, therefore

Do only naturally you need to Do,  IS  Middle way.

If you are Doing something special to be a Buddhist,  IS not Buddhism.

[ Buddhism is Do nothing special, Think nothing as Thinking.

This IS why, Buddhism mean the VOID.  —– And this was what

Lord Buddha taught though, it was not fully understood by even

the author of scripture. ]

___/\___ 

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Mono Hole – DD Pinhole Comparison

Another day, I demonstrated the effects of the Pinhole to a sceptic in a Park.

So, the Photo above is the reference shot by a Fish-eye lens.

Photo above are the images made by [Wide-angle Mono Pinhole] (Left)

and the Pinhole alone (= Wide-angle lens was removed) (Right)

And here, the Photos were made by [Concentric Double-density Pinhole]

with Wide-angle lens attached (Left) and without (Right)

A Fish-eye image of  “Pink Forget-me-not” (I think) — note,

even Fish-eye lens has limited depth of field.

Left was [Wide-angle Mono (single) Pinhole] (Orange cast was caused

by a light-leak.)  Right was [Wide-angle DD-Pinhole]

Left = Wide-angle Mono-Pinhole.  Right = Pinhole alone and close to the flowers.

(Remember, Pinhole has no focus —– even no view-finder image = too dark.  

Therefore all those photos were the blind-shots)

Left = Wide-angle DD-Pinhole.  

Right = Pinhole alone and close to the flowers. (The line in the left side

was caused by an internal reflection.)

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At least, my friend was convinced that the effect was not by a digital

manipulation though still sceptic about the significance of the image.  

That’s a matter of the taste Sir.  😀

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Snap-shot by DD-Pinhole

All the photos here were taken by my ” Wide-angle Double-density Pinhole” on

Canon 5D Mk-III.  In fact on that day, I went for a walk only with this lens (?)

and the Tamron 500 mm Mirror lens, hoping to see Parakeets.

Original pinhole got about 60 degree of view though, with the additional concave

lens ( from a Canon Zoom lens) the angle was greatly widened to nearly 100 degree.

You may guess that the Pinhole Camera needs to have long exposure though,

with the advantage of Hi-ISO digital camera, such as with ISO 12,500,  the shutter

time can be  1/80~1/8 like this outside shot. —– who care with slightly

blared photo on 1/4 or 1/2 slow shutter any way.  😀

The best thing was,  no visual details were given in the image,  

no further information would be needed.   Photo has atmosphere only.

So, the photography (for me at least) purely a fun.

No complicated notion about the subjects or message in the photo 

= image or the subjects were there just as they are.

To see the world in clear eyes, the world showed its fuzzy nature.

This paradox is what the Dharma is.

 ___/\___

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Snap-shot in the Park

I think they are the Canadian Geese but I’m not sure as the

color is dark grey — or are they juvenile ?

And they are the Coots.  Unlike ducklings,  Coot’s chick looks rather odd.

Now I realized, Coot’s chicks got full-size foot !    But no web — how

those chicks can swim ?   (Photo right )

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I think, most of the bird’s chicks are not cute or I rather say, they are ugly.

When I was young, I rose a pigeon chick whose mother didn’t return few

days after egg hatched.  New born chick was almost naked with few yellow hair still,

the beak was quite big, and eat a lot. —– I had to feed the chick mouth-feed while

chowing the grain myself.   When chick got stomach-full, the eaten grain or maze

were visible under the thin skin.   So, chick walks with full-up chest while shaking ass.  

= looks awful — not mention utterly noisy begging call, and shit everywhere.   😦   🙂

Still, this chick became a fully grown-up pigeon though, she (he ?) was completely 

imprinted me as the kind, and couldn’t become a member of pigeon society.    So, 

even after became independent, she stayed under the roof many many years. 

—– I don’t know whether I did good things to her or not = wasn’t that better, leave

her fate to the nature and let the chick dies ?    Good but heavy question.

You may say, why Dandelion here ? —– Well, all the photos here were taken

by 500 mm Mirror lens.    And my mirror lens works well as a Macro lens too.

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Daddy Long Legs

————————   HEALTH-WARNING = NOT suits for Squeamish person  🙂   ————————-

M

M

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Well, this is about a visitor here / Daddy-long-legs.  🙂

In principal, I don’t discriminate any life form —– though, in practice,

I’m not welcome any visitor here. (Before, I invited the person to come and

see my work here.  Though, since I started this blog, I just tell the person

“Just look into my Blog and Youtube”.  Yet still, insects are kept flying in and

I knew the Spiders must be somewhere —– though, I didn’t expect to see a

Daddy-long-legs in my Kitchen.  =  She hanged on the inside of a fruits bag.

But, how she came here — walk-up all the way,  outside wall  ?  

Or born and had been living under the floor board  ? 

(Photo Left /  F5.6 ,  1/60,  ISO 3200.   Photo Right / with Flash,  F16,  1/100,  ISO 400

by Canon 100 mm Macro F 2.8,  5D Mk-III )

( Part-enlarged Image —– It is an incredibly designed piece of mechanism ! )

Well, —– not so pretty face to watch.  😀

Though, she might not wish to born as a Daddy-long-legs, and a Hindu person

may even say that she could be a woman before !     Who knows.  

—– still,  what so ever, she is an amazing creature !

(How she could sense and catch small insect ? — by eyes or detects vibrations ?)

(To see how she hunt other insect,  I should watch her all through the night

though, I’ll do it one day in my next life. —– I guess, somebody must have done.

= Isn’t there any video clip “Hunting of Daddy-long-leg” in YouTube ? )

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View from Roof-top

Me and my friends went up to a roof-top of a building in Greenwich.  

One of the friend brought up 800 mm mirror lens on Canon and me with the

same D-D Pinhole, the other with a compact camera and we took some pictures. 

Though we didn’t stay long as it was a bit windy and  chilly.  Still, I could see a kind

of potential with Wide-angle Pinhole for the land-scape photography = weather

permitted, with something great lighting such as a sky burning sunset.  

(Something like the paintings of Turner !  🙂 )

I borrowed 800 mm lens and clicked few pictures.  

In the Photo left is the top of the Canary Wharf (1.8 mile / 2.8 km),  and in 

the Right photo, the Victorian Tower of the House of Parliament and the

Westminster Abbey (5 miles / 8 km away).

And this is the top of so-called O2 / Millennium Dome (1.8 mile / 2.8 km away). 

Photo left,  the mast of the Cutty Sark and the Church tower.

The clock face in the right photo was a part enlargement.  

(Not too bad quality for a £150 second-hand lens.)

 

 

Impressionists Flower Photo — like oil paintings/DD Pinhole Images

These are the Photos of  [Wide-angle Double-density Pinhole]  😀

Just a pretty pretty sweet pictures.  Nothing else. (Don’t ask too much.)

Now a day, sharp pan-focused images are everywhere,  especially “Phone-Camera”

become even more popular. (The smaller the camera, image become more

Pan-Focused)  —– Though, our eyes are not Pan-Focus = Brain only sees where and

what the person wants to see and feel irritated to see Pan-Focus image —-> Thence,

Google issued a program for Android called [Google Camera (Google Play)] which

makes an image “Selectively Focused”.

I can make a photo, well Pan-Focused if I need but other than that I’m not much

fond of sharp image = rather like an ambiguous image, double image etc.  🙂

So, I’ve spent many years to seek and try all sorts of “Soft Focus” techniques. = This

Double-Density Pinhole with additional Concave Lens, which made it Wide-angle,

is the best so far.  Not all-rounder yet it produces pretty jokey image.  I like it.   😀

 I don’t think even a Botanist wants to see the details of common garden flower.  

What we need is just a coloful flowery air !

It seems what I need to add here is, a distant back ground

and the blue sky over it and the Victorian Ladies with umbrella ! 

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Carnival in Greenwich (3) — Impressionists Pinhole Photo

I expected that the bold color and the shape of Masquerade and the Carnival costume

would suite for the Pinhole photo though, in real life, it was not as colorful or bold.

This photo is a reference, how it looks like through normal lens !

Double density Pinhole creates big hallo around brighter subject,  

though, this softness seems to be a bit too much to be the Impressionist’s.  😀

(In this post, the results of  two days shot = wet cloudy and fine / bright day

were mixed, hence, it might give confusing looks.)

Wide-angle Double-density Pinhole was mounted on Canon 5D Mk-III.

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Carnival in Greenwich (2)

Well, I went to Greenwich twice.  The first day was rather wet and poor light.  

The photos I put in the previous post were , in fact taken next day

when it was bright weather.

It seems he does know the expression on the fingers —- at least.  🙂

Then gathered audiences were put on the long march to the venue.  

It looked like an impressive cattle run which scared the local kids.

When the party reached to the destination, they could sip a drink or two,

while entertained by some comical acts. 

And a theatrical performance of the intrigue in Venice.

Then, to the next scene, the audiences were again taken to yet another location.

Venetian story has to be told on the canal.  😀

—– then moved to yet another location (though, I don’t know any further)

(It was getting too dark for photo.)

Ciao !

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Carnival ? in Greenwich — 500mm Lens Portrait

For a Theatrical Art Event in Deptford, the audience was asked to come to the

gathering point at Cutty-Sark ship Greenwich, while wearing a mask.

So, at 6:30 evening, Thames side of Greenwich suddenly see the

Venetian Carnival like atmosphere. 

Performer, their staffs audiences all alike under the mask.

Those photos were taken by Tamron SP 500mm F8 Lens on Canon 5D Mk-II.

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