Garden Flowers @ Greenwich Park

Lots of flowers from the Greenwich Park. (They were taken by the Homemade

Two Element Lens and the Homemade Gaudy Lens on Canon 5D Mk-III.)

Don’t see this as a botanical picture.  (If this one was for botanical use, it must be a

nightmare for the photographer = may be even beyond the  Hi Dynamic Range process.)

= So, see this as an abstract painting. —– black petunia kind and the white one.  

After green and the blue Chrysanthemum was created, next by next, rather fancy

colored flower has been appearing in the market.  

Another day, I saw an almost perfect black Tulip —– and started wondering, if the

flower industry managed to crack the genetic-code of black color or found the

chemical to tint the flower.  In either way, it is a very very uncomfortable situation. 

They are extra = I found a huge Tulip Tree in the park. = I may need to visit

again to see its ancient flower !

And realized, in fact there are lots of Chestnut tree = better come again

on October to pick the nuts.  🙂

It was a very hot day —– still some people like to enjoy the sun.

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Cosmos and Hydrangea @ Greenwich Park

While checking the photos I’ve taken this time at Greenwich Park,  I went

back to the post I did last year and found that it was one week earlier, yet still

I did shoot almost identical photo then.  = not only the tree, some of the plant was

perennial and stayed the same patch, keep flowering with the same face.  And the

approach to the same plant is the same = amazingly persistent as the same person.

(It’s mean not much fresh innovation or improvement.)  🙂

Two element homemade lens was the same though, this year I brought

“New” Gordy Lens. (Looks somewhat the same fuzziness, but Gordy Lens

can give close focus. = further background became out of focus ! )

Hydrangea was one week too early and having dry hot weather they looked

a bit withered. = I may come again and change the photos here.

Those heavily fuzzier photos were taken by the Double Density Pinhole.

But those closer images were taken by the Gaudy Lens.

(One more post of Greenwich Flowers would follow.)  🙂

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Riot of Colors @ Greenwich Park

Yesterday I went to the Greenwich Park to take picture of Hydrangea. (Its photos

may come next post, though, for the Hydrangea, it was a week too early.)

So, I start with other flowers photo of which I don’t know the name.  = some

of the readers must be more knowledgeable about them = I just put the images. 

The lens used here was, Homemade Two-element Lens or

Homemade Gaudy Lens on Canon 5D Mk-III.

Be like a fire.  I like it.

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Cool for Hot day

Few days ago there was the hottest day so-far in this year.  

Fortunately or unfortunately, unlike Japan where the season has distinctive

extreme, but this is the England = even hottest would be mere 30°C though,

with no air conditioner, 30°C is pretty hot.

Other locals might be having a chilled drink with ice on it or ice stick,

ice cream kind.  But a poor man like me can not afford to buy an ice cream. 

Instead, I’m making an ice sherbet / frozen juice, what ever it’s called.  

Just put a fruits juice (here an apple juice) into a tin cup and make it frozen.  

Then break an ice with a knife / ice-pick to make it flaky and eat it.  How cool.  

Provided the juice was a pure fruits juice with minimum additives, or 

homemade would be even better  (though need to have a machine !)  

It is very cheap = two day’s supply would be as cheap as £0.70 !

To make the frozen juice flaky, use a knife held firmly against the wall of the

ice pit and rotate the cup to scrape the ice.  ( The photo above right )

When you try, you can get a knack soon. ( = Move the ice, not the knife)

(But the cup got to be a cylindrical tincup

— never try this with typical flower-shaped teacup.)

Japanese women’s football, Nadeshiko team lost  W-cup to US — still,

Have a nice day.  🙂

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Follow the Flow — Karma / Dharma

Those who, the kind regular reader of this blog might have noticed that the past

5~6 months or so, I seemed to become an intoxicated junky of junk cameras.

What happened on me ? = Give a thought or two, in terms of the flow in the life.

(= Follow the flow mean, not chase it, not cringing the mater or notion, let alone

obsessed.  It would just happen = so, just follow.)

I gave a glance to those cameras —– then, I found the serial number of the camera

I first disassembled, (which was given by my friend) was like this.

Oh my goodness, 8150 again ? !!! —– This sign appeared wherever I go, but

crucially, it will be sign-posted to the matter or thing which got “the concern”.

= May be concerned to the Dharma, and to my Karma hence I have to take the

matter serious. — to show some more hard facts, if you think it sound dubious.

Photo above left was Canon EF Macro 100mm F2.8 = the most useful lens to me.

And the Photo middle was the most frequently used Canon Fisheye Zoom 8~15mm.

Which got the number 2***1850*.   And the right, Zeiss 18mm for Nikon.

They are the numbers happened to appear onto my camera lenses.

They were in the shop purely by chance = as if they were placed there for

me to pick-up, though,in most of the case I bought it even without seeing

the number. —– Without any explanation of why it’s there = is the

natural flow of the fate or given task or opportunity to pick-up, whichever

the way we interpret.

—– as it comes.    So, I pick up and do what I can do, regardless whether it is

worthwhile or profitable, or please others — or NOT. (in a hindsight, at least

I can say “I did a lot” to respond what the moment required to me.)

I think, what comes is in fact, what was given —– for each of us to fulfil what we

were born to do. = It’s mean, my Karma think, that me to play with junk camera

suits me !   Or the Karma even like my way to play with the junk.  😀

—– And may be my Karma noticed that I’m not sensitive enough to see the

hidden sign, they started to put a noisy notice shouting 8150 to make me aware

that we are a part of the Dharma and they are watching us.

___/\___

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St Martins Degree Show

The art school, Central St Martin has been drifting place to place, like a 

hermit crab changing their shell larger to even larger.  Among the declining

English industrial, economical trend, they must be one of the few rags to rich

success story.  The first time when I visited their degree show more than 30

years ago, they were in a non assuming shabby building in the Covent Garden. 

(after the St Martin moved out, the place became to an art material shop =

London Graphic Center.  I wonder if they are having business connection ?) 

Then St Martin moved to a huge grey building in the Charing Cross Road.  

Then, next to the Back hill.  Now they are north of  King’s Cross Station,  

over the Regent Canal, place called Granary Square, a building called Granary 

Building.  As the name suggests, it must be an old day’s Granary, storing the

grain brought by the barges through the canal.

The inside of otherwise featureless big building, its courtyard has been

transformed to a huge shopping mall like space. ( gone too far !) 

It was an archetypal sample of the Capitarism.  Invest for a package, and use

it to create (or collect £9000 tuition fee) = profit to buy even larger property.

This is called the growth of enterprise !

This was a gimmick like exhibit to show a physical phenomenon.

Like an old fluorescent light, a cathode discharge lamp (used in a video light

or video projector) is flickering in very high frequency, — to see, it need to 

have a high speed moving screen.  —> Then, we can see the split colors.

Demonstration of phenomenon itself, like a fallen apple by the gravity wouldn’t

make an art.  The art has to show its apple fall in a very special beautiful way.

Likewise, the instrument makes sound is just a physical phenomenon.

When its sound was formed as an impressive melodies and composed in

harmony etc, we call it a musical art.  In Photography, the object makes its 

secondary image by the light through an optics, is a physical phenomenon.

= so that, unless the image showed the intentionally made interference of 

the author, it is not an art but mere reflection of the object.

While seeing every years work, what I found was that when the place get

larger, the works get smaller and boring.   Have look other’s, such as this;

https://tokyobling.wordpress.com/2015/03/24/godai-art-university-graduation-show-2015/

Once in a year event was in the same time, reunion with old friends or teacher.

And young graduates’ chance to meet the old boys, girls network.

(By the way, in this photo, the Left is the Top)

I think, a sweet on the hand must be a joke of a visitor.  🙂

This said to be an interactive performing space. (when something performed)

This was the Animation Corner. (Some were already in the professional level) 

The most funny story happened was,

on the last moment, I was told by this

woman that the photography was not

permitted, of which even the 

security didn’t mention so.  😀   😀

Hate crime or jealousy against a Japanese camera ?   🙂

There are chilling out spaces for chattering (or for serious discussion ? )

(but, £5 for a glass of apple juice was definitely a rip-off !)  

Out, out, — OUT !

It was a nice evening and a beautiful sky — at least.

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Remote Cable — Life in Natural Flow

My way of navigating the life is, just follow the flow.  Don’t push.

—– some of the people who knows me might feel not necessary true,

as I put enormous effort to do something some time. = though, it was

not a push for me = it was just a normal condition in its situation.  

Like, to be born in India, these days they got 45, 50 degree C hot weather

= just to survive needs to have enormous endurance, though,

that what their country is.  

This year’s Ramadan in muslim calendar is coinciding with a midsummer

= therefore, the muslim emigrated to the northern Norway couldn’t eat as

there is no sunset. (in reality, they said to have invented an excuse.  🙂 )    

Thanks goodness, I’m neither a Norwegian nor muslim I don’t need to

have a problem.   Avoiding to have problem is, “don’t do it”.

So, as a holy man, I don’t do gamble, take no drug (in fact any medicine),

no alcohol, no smoking, no woman = Where the cause of a trouble could ever

come !   It’s a well known wisdom, “Do nothing cause no mistake or failure”

= “Barren land makes no weed” — but neither has a wheat or barley even

buckwheat. —– Do nothing mean, just wasting time ?  Neither.  

Strangely, do something is coming in its course.  It just happens as a flow.

Such as being asked to help or advising something.  Otherwise, just do it.

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—– Give a thought or two.  So far, what I made after I’ve started this Blog,

were the result of a fleak idea triggered by the funny material I encountered.

(Before those, the old creation were often made to solve the practical needs

such as the flash system.)      So that, the work for “Junk Lens etc” were all

happened with a sheer coincidence. = I mean, I didn’t push it happens

neither I didn’t look for the material etc = it was already there, and I only did

a small finishing part of it for a joke or fun. So, when I went to a camera shop to get a new air blower, I found a

Canon’s Remote Trigger Cable, or its converting cable, in their

odds and ends box. = It might be a connecting cable to use old type

cable to 5D etc.  — anyhow, it might be an obsolete type, and the

price was only few pounds. (Photo above left = here the cable showes

“after the switch was fitted”).    

If it was a cable to go to 5D, why not make it for a short trigger cable ?

= It’s a matter of just put a double switch. —– And conveniently, I have

a disassembled Olympus compact camera. = I could use their switch and

the button for this purpose. (Photo above middle)    

—– Since those small accessories are the company’s  cash-cow, (you 

could buy a cheap kit lens with a price of 2~3 cables) Canon changed it 

many times to the users to buy new cable every time they got new model.

(Photo right = Remote terminal for old (film) EOS)

Anyway, I took the Olympus’ switch and the button and connected it to the

Canon’s cable = Voila’ Remote Trigger Cable for Canon DSLR. (Photo Left)

—– As I said, I didn’t look for what to do.  It was there.  

This was what I call, a natural flow.

(This natural flow is the way how the Karma leading us = and as I follow,

there is no problem or ill health.)

____/\____

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Still, Flower Patch — with Gaudy Lens + LED Ring Light

When I walked through a side of that flower patch in the evening, I found

there still quite a few flowers.   As it was already the dusk, I decided to go

there again with my camera and the LED Ring Light on Gaudy Lens.   🙂

I’m not convinced that this

combination suites for the subject.

(some shots were done while the

LED Ring Light was not fixed on

the lens-front but held separately,

aiming from above.) — This Ring 

Light was the same one I’ve made  

for the 100mm F2.8 Macro Lens,

and powered by 3 x 2500mAH-AA

battery (through a 5.6 ohm register) = it can work more than 120 min’ continuously !

= Not too bad !

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Zeiss and Zeiss — (Last shot on the Flower Patch)

It’s still a day before Summer Solstice though, the flower patch

I’ve been photographing was coming to the end.  So, seemingly this

was the last shot there and for this occasion, I used the recycled 

£1 Zeiss Talon lens and the genuine Carl Zeiss Planar 85mm F1.4 

T* lens on Canon 5D Mk-III for a comparison.

On the photos above, left was shot by Talon lens and the right was

by the Planar F1.4 lens.  Since Talon lens was F2.8, the F1.4 lens 

 at F1.4 showed much shallower depth of field.

And here, the left photo was taken by Talon lens and the right photo 

was by the Planar F1.4 lens, but as the modified Talon lens got quite 

long focusing helicoid (it was not a screw helicoid but a rotating cam) 

which allows the 1/3 close-up, against this, 85mm F1.4 lens can close 

only to 1m (1/12), hence the photo right was a heavily cropped image. 

—– still, they showed amazingly similar characteristics, such as

the type of Bokeh.

And the rest of the photos here were from the £1 Recycled Lens = “Zeiss Talon Lens”

In fact, I was rather impressed by this quality performance !

As this lens was designed for a projector lens, (= never used for infinity) 

it was pretty good in close-up work !  (Ordinary lens was designed to work 

best in the infinity and the macro lens was designed to be best in the x10

magnification.) — Then give a thought, if a lens of 2 or 3 lenses structure 

could give such good performance, why we DO need to have an elaborated,

heavy, expensive lens.  (Mind you, all those photos were taken at fully open

F2.8 = anyhow no Iris there.)  😀    

But, this last photo was by the Planar F1.4 lens at F1.4 (all photos’  

aperture were fully open). —– Recycled 50 years old lens costed me   

£1 and the 85mm F1.4 lens was £600 even for a secondhand.

= May be we should start to think about what we really need from

a camera lens.  Like a so-called HD sound (called Hi-Resi in Japan)

do we need such a high resolution —– Does it make any difference

on our life ? — Wasn’t that mere illusion created by the company and

a ploy to sell yet another new model to us ?

What the photo image meant to us ? — DO we ever watched the world

in 10MP details, let alone to remember in such a detail ? ? ?    😀

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Modifying the Zeiss Lens

The story started when I found the same Olympus camera in a junk shop, 

of which I’ve used its lens barrel to make the “Gaudy Lens”.

Since I’ve disassembled this camera and already know the structure, in this

time I unscrewed only few crucial screws and took out just the lens barrel.

(so far, this lens barrel is the most useful component I found and I was

going to use it to modify the £1 Zeiss lens .) —– This Carl Zeiss projection

Lens was mere £1, still having Zeiss quality and the distinctive character

though, as it was a projection lens, there was no focusing helicoid or

Iris kind to use it for taking a photo. = It’s shame to be wasted as a junk

despite it got fine optics. (And the reason why I bought it was, of course,

I was going to use it for taking photos. — I’ve tested it on the homemade

bellows but, it is better to have a convenient focusing helicoid.)

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To mount the Zeiss lens onto the Olympus barrel, the pipe of the

Zeiss Lens has to be narrowed down. (Photo above middle and the right) =

(It’s a simple work to file down the plastic pipe = simple but laborious.  🙂

—– it is a kind of the work, a Buddhist is quite good at ! —– remember

an old say  “Dripping water can curve a rock” )

 = Anyhow, on the end, the Zeiss

 lens was fitted in the Olympus barrel

 and they were screwed onto a Canon

 mount adapter. = And now, the Zeiss

Talon Lens is working on a Canon DSLR

while giving the focus from infinity to 1/3 close-up !

—– The photo here right, showed a remarkable similarity of the

softness of the other Zeiss Lens !

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