Sweet images

Well, they were yet another template like photos — fuzzy cherry flowers, this time created by the homemade Mag-Lens.  

Don’t worry it wouldn’t cause any infringement of the copyright law.    😀

It supposed to make fragile flowers even more soft though, strangely, it made flowers looks somewhat like a ceramic craft.  —– ?      Are my eyes got something wrong ?

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Metalica of Steel wire

He said to be a hard-core original member of the heavy metal Metalica. 

Though, long time he had been confined in a box in my place.  As a hard iron man, without having a high voltage power he couldn’t play a single note nor even just shake his body.  (The story behind was, that a part of stock taking, I need to document and Video my kinetic works.  But a trouble was, that I couldn’t find the electronic controller of this man.) —  As seen on the photo, he was a man on the stage standing alone = just an empty wire work. — So, how he could play music let alone move his body, as there is no mechanism or trick was seen on the stage.   Well, that IS the ingenious part of producing him. = He play a music with the resonance. = Tune himself to the vive and excite himself.  (The base, stage vibrates almost invisible mode.  Then his wobbly body resonate and amplify the movement, so start to shake, following the resonating frequency.   Acoustically or mechanically, his body is very complexed = depend on the resonating frequency, he vibrates different way — and his heavy instrument got rather large inertia and makes own vibration.)  The reason why I haven’t done this video making was that I wanted to compile it with metal music — how to synchronize the beat and the body movement etc etc, not mention the trouble with music copyright. 

Anyhow, today, I’m going to see my friend video maker Funki Porcini, who got amazing creativity and video editing skill ! = We are going to produce Matalica on wire MV.   (Wish me luck.)    😀

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Lost in Translation

There are quite few Japanese words notoriously difficult to translate into western language. 

Such as  Itadaki-masu (いただきます), Okage-sama (おかげさま), Mottai-nai(もったいない)、and abave all  Wabi, Sabi. (わび) (さび)

Why those words were difficult to translate, was because of that the one’s fundamental conscious to exists were completely different in the west.   Some said that because of the difference between the Christianity and the Buddhism.  But, to my eyes, the cause was much deeper = because of the fundamental difference, the westerner invented God, but the people in the east IS living under the Heaven since the beginning of the time. (so that, even Buddhism adapted the Dharma / Rule of the Universe)  And in the Shinto, (of which Japanese unconsciously follows) naturally follow the Rule of Nature which is almost the same to Dharma though sublimated much deeper down to the almost chemical level.  (That’s why Japanese doesn’t touch other’s possession and wash or clean the hand almost obsessively = so that, they were reluctant to shake hand, let alone kissing others, because they were prohibited to touch filth by the Shinto. —– hence, wearing surgical mask to avoid to breath other’s germ. = some of them even don’t eat a rice ball made by others hand.) 

In the same time, since the Japanese has the deep awareness that they “were Made to exists” by the Heaven, Rules, Dharma what so ever called, when they start to eat, they have to say Itadaki-masu = I gratefully receive this given food and thanks to the food (material itself) who gave their lives to me as well = Japanese are well aware that they are killing the Potato, Beans etc boiled alive.  Likewise, the word Okage-sama meant the thanks not only to the person who gave a kindness to him but also grateful to the Heaven who arrange the meeting. = This is the word to express absolute humbleness. = conscious toward the “Given Life” and thanks to its fate.  And the word Mottai-nai meant “Feel shame to waste the precious resources which has been given to us“.

=== It’s easy to see the point, that the fate of the rice glowing society was governed by the sun and rain = nature, not by a strong hunting, fighting individual. (The western God was conceived as an ancient Hero ascended to the heaven (A legend became myth, then to a religion) = therefore speak same language, and negotiable with a bribe = how humanistic !    😀 )

In contrast to the east, the western’s Ego justify his existence “As a rightful owner of my life”  and have a right to kill and eat, because they were made to be eaten. = thus feel no sorry to a butchered chicken.  Such fundamental difference between arrogant Ego and passive Humbleness couldn’t have the same kind of sentiment, the psych which is the base of each word. = therefore no compatible word could exist.   No wonder a trouble in translation.

I’ll explain the words Wabi and Sabi on the next post with sample photos. 

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Snowscape in Japan

I found those screen-shot image among the news (Jiji-news) from Japan.   They are having very heavy snow these days.    Japan has the highest snow fall (in the urban area, more in the mountain) record in the world, somewhat over 11 m (nearly 40 feet) high — I’m not joking = you can check it in the Guinness Book.   When it’s very heavy, the visibility could be less than 1 m = hard to see the ski trail of a man in front. (I have actuary ski down in such condition once. = in fact, we had a run for the life.)   So, the view of the (not too heavy) snow scene could be like this.  The landscape over a snow curtain.  And I like this impressionist like image !   Shame I was not in there.   😀

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Soft option in close-up photo

The lenses of which I dubbed “Omunifocus Lens” produces quite usable images from infinity to 0.5m without having any focus control.  Yet, it has a limitation — closer than 0.5m, the image became too blurred.   Still, if the position of the lens was adjusted it can produce pretty sharp image.   So, I ordered the close-up ring for Sony E-mount and while waiting its delivery, I took a soft option of close-up technique.  = The lens was stack on the camera mount with 10 mm high soft plastic putty. (Bluetack) = As the lens was positioned further away from the image sensor it’s enables the close-up shot. 

Those homemade lenses were mounted on the OM body cap (which can be used as a Sony E-mount body cap), so that I can change each of the lens quite easily = take one out and just stick the other.   Since its humble origin from a toy camera or disposable camera, every lens are all one or two plastic, still each of them showed the different character.  Such as the one from panorama camera got quite deep depth of field = keeping omunifocus character even under the close-up shot. (Photo above left and middle)   Still the other lens showed very nice soft image. (Photo above right) — Can you believe, those images were created by the lens costed almost nothing !   And now you might be realised that the photography even with such thousands pound Hi-Tech camera may not necessary be very precise and rigid technology or art = in fact they can be very soft.  (You can see the images if the optical axis of the lens was 15° out.) 

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Fun lens on the Alpha 7R

Picture here is a kind, nobody would be impressed, still nobody

would complain kind.  It was made by a lens of rather humble origin,

came from discarded toy camera. —– Considering it’s utterly cheap

existence (two plastic lenses structure) the picture isn’t too bad at all.

On the time, people see the picture on the 5″x3″ chemist print,

this kind of quality was perfectly acceptable.

In fact, I’ve talked about this lens, few post ago.

And now, the lens has been properly (in certain extent  😀 )

re-structured for Alpha 7 camera. (Beautiful isn’t it ?) Ha ha ha.

(So, the lens can take landscape to portrait without refocusing

or change F-aperture kind = anyhow, no controls here at all.)

Only the trouble I found with this combination was = mysterious

blurred image they makes.  It was under a blight day light. 

The AUTO setting on the camera, A7R chose ISO 1600 and

shutter speed was  1/160.  

Why the picture was blurred ? — I set up a tripod (not a heavy weight,

still proper Gizzo tripod) — strangely, still the picture was blurred. 

It was nothing but a mystery.  (Obviously, I need to test further though,

at moment, this IS a lens (other than Pinhole) I got for this camera.

(I’m waiting to receive lens adapter for this camera.) — Whether this

body got a resonance to  1/160 shutter vibration, or the camera activating

other function to cause adverse effect ? = So, I tested the camera on

manual setting :  ISO 3200-1/320, ISO 1600-1/160, ISO 800-1/80,

ISO 400-1/40, ISO 200-1/20. Iso 100-1/10, Iso 50-1/5.  All hand-held.

ISO 3200 – 1/320

ISO 50 – 1/5

Those photos above were the shot on the test.    Non of them

showed heavy blur = it seems, the AUTO and  1/160 combination did

the Blurring business.  😀   — on the AUTO setting, other function

of which I’m not fully understood the implication, meddling in.

(Such as when the A7 thought, the image is too high contrast, the

automatic HDR operation comes in = gives three consecutive

exposures = unexpected hand may not keep still.)

I guess, something adverse effect of AUTO might have had happened.

It’s still a mystery Sir. 

* * * * *

To be fair to a Paying Customer, this is the quality if you pay the price.

This photo was taken by  Canon EF 40mm F2.8  on 5D Mk-III

— can you see the difference ?   (It’s costing  £100 more.)

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It’s the Gaudy Lens

I developped 10s of devices/lenses to obtain painting like fuzzy effect

— and so far this gaudy lens seemed to be the best device for the job.

No filter or attachment available on the market  nor digital

manipuration can make the same effect.

(simplly nobody else needed => no manifacturer wanted to make)

So, I’m enjoying a dance alone in the middle of nowhere.   😀

The best things of this gaudy lens is, its balance of fuzzyness

and the ability to retain a certain details of the image.

(In fact, I can controle it by the size of paper hole/iris and

the amount of over-exposure/halation = so, it is not

like a wild animal of DD-Pinhole)  Ha ha ha  😀

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Paradox on No-Self

Despite the Buddhism IS the teachings of the NO-Self,

there is no explanation of “What is no-self” in the scripture.

Even more peculiar phenomena were = there were hundreds,

if not thousands of description of “the ideal person” still

there was no words saying that the man has no-self. — Why ?  

Because there IS NO-Self.

(To talk about the SELF need to recognize the existence of it = need to

have yet another Self to observe its existence ! — if you can aware/

observe yourself, your observer has already alienated  YOU. )

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Our feeling was induced by the Limbic System of our brain. 

In fact, all the signal from the sensing organs goes to the

Limbic System first and the most of important process =

selection of those signal, cognition, judgement etc etc were

done in there and only the last result goes to the New Cortex

of the brain and then converted to the conscious and given

the lexical interpretation.  = It’s mean, we human being has

enough wisdom to sense the environment and judge the

appropriate response to have the daily life by the process of

the Limbic System alone though, all those feelings and the

process are hidden under the darkness of the Subconscious/

Unconsciousness they ARE invisible for the most of us. 

Those process were called instinct though as they were

hidden, often we don’t know why we took such reaction. 

So that, when we say “This IS my decision and how I think”

they ARE only a conscious part of the process in the brain.

= And we called this = “Self-Conscious” and the SELF.

Lord Buddha saw this Self-Conscious as a mere delusion

and it was coherent with the view of No-Self = Anatman.

=== To become aware of the SELF is the sign of

the alienation to yourself and the break-down of Mushin.

(State of the Mind of No-mind) —– It IS the paradox.

And this paradox, delusion IS the loot-cause of the

discord to our nature / Dharma.

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Ephemeral Evanescence

Beauty in Japanese nature and the people’s life style, well

harmonized with its nature is so famous = so, you may think.

And you may think a famous touristic spot of such as the

Cherry Blossom is naturally there from ancient time.

Well, this IS the biggest paradox or contradiction, even

a trick in the Japanese culture.  = Virtually all the famous

Cherry spots are intentionally created by planting the tree

which was artificially grafted and propagated Somei-yoshino. 

—– Cherry tree has limited life about 60~100 years. 

Therefore, those Cherries of the famous places has been

re-planted 2~3 times since the original Somei-yoshino came.

(simply, when the tree became too big,  they brake and fall)

Because of the Somei-yoshino could only be propagated by

grafting,  unless the tree was intentionally planted,

it wouldn’t exist there.  They are the Created Art.

The situation is the same in those Japanese gardens,

even a garden in the Buddhist temple was “created”

= Still they look like a real landscape in great nature.

(I don’t think, you ever imagined that famous Rock Garden

in the Ryoan-ji temple did naturally exists there.  😀  )

It’s like a Bonsai !    Looks like a great tree in the nature —

though, to create those realistic Bonsai tree, the craftsman

spent 10 even 50 years to shape it. = This IS the Zen. 

The most peculiar things in the Japanese culture / Ethos is

such Zen Ethos has been kept not only by the monk or

religious people but by everybody without their conscious.

Zen doesn’t speak. It have to be learned by looking and to

try oneself. Therefore, what learned couldn’t be explained.

(Because they are not aware of it, they don’t talk about,

therefore, foreign journalist could not find and describe it.

= So, the Japanese mind/attitude/Ethos stay in the myth.)

And the Zen Ethos of impermanence/ephemerality, even a

death has been symbolized in the Japanese Cherry Blossom.

( = Beauty in its fall !)

(Hence, lots of Japanese Military establishments having their emblem

with Cherry flower pattern, and their barrack has Cherry garden.  

And the Kamikaze suicidal-rocket-bomb made on the last stage of the

last war was named Ouka = 桜花 = Cherry Blossom )

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Zen and its ethos keep driving the Japanese to even more

refinement/improvement = So that, the next generation of

Somei-yoshino is coming as the Jindai-akebono which is

stronger than Somei-yoshino against the virus.

(This new variety of Cherry has been created by crossing the

Edo-higan Zakura and the (almost original) Somei-yoshino

back from Washington USA.  Now the Flower Association of

Japan stop to distribute Somei-yoshino and recommending

to plant Jindai-akebono.)  (The name Jindai =  because it 

was established in the Jindai Botanical Garden in Tokyo)

—– to express the beauty and its ephemerality and the tree

to symbolize it = Cherry = and the quest to develop stronger

tree in order to express ephemerality is a real paradox.  😀

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Cherry by Soft Lenses

The photos here were taken from the same Cherry tree as

the previous post.   (As they are not plain 5 petals flower,

this is not Somei-yoshino) 

The softness (?  Blur) on the previous post were created by

the Focus-Shift = focused image and the out-of-focus image

were mechanically superimposed on the shot. — But here,

the softness was caused optically by the lens’ aberration.

= Those first 4 photos were taken by the homemade

single glass lens = nicknamed “Gaudy lens” .

Among my homemade lenses, this is the most useful,

easy to use lens.

You may say, the aberration of this lens is too much

though, this is what I wanted.   🙂

Above those two photos, you can see the type of

softness are very different.  = The photo above and

the following 3 photos were taken by  the modified

(front diverging lens was removed)

Tokina Wide-Converter.

Regardless the technical blur blur, all about

the photography (or any art) the matter is the

end result = if it is good, it’s good. 

Nothing else.   😀

(And when the result was the same, the cheaper

the cost is the better.)

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