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Shrines, Cleansing and Peaceful Times (Japan – Autumn 2018 Day 18)

This morning when I woke I already knew what I wanted to do with my day… there was no question that I wanted to visit as many less-frequented temples as possible while I was in Kyoto… I already had a basic idea of which ones I wanted to see so I planned a tentative route to the three that stuck out as being the most interesting that I should see.

Near our rented apartment there were some small shrines and temples, so there were definitely no shortage of places to visit… over 1600 temples and shrines exist in Kyoto so you are bound to find some place to relax or worship that is very near where you are at any given moment – this was evident just in walking on the main road down the hill from the apartment, where I passed at least 5 minor temples on my way toward my destination.

Hoko-Ji Temple, not far from my Kyoto “home”

I wondered if the locals were jaded toward the existence of so many temples and shrines because they have just always been around or if they feel privileged because they know how special this place is. I found myself thinking that if I was given the choice to live in either Tokyo or Kyoto, I’d choose Kyoto.

In Kyoto you have big city things to do, neighborhood things to do and the added bonus of all of those temples. Plus, mountains surround three sides of the city so there is no shortage of outdoor activities that one can find to do, and if you know me then you know that I do love to hike and spend quite a bit of time in nature.

Theme of the day was definitely temples. I felt that this was the perfect way to continue the journey for peace and refreshment that I began the night before at Imakumano Temple… I wanted to fully embrace the tranquility that I have been seeking so diligently the past couple of months, to leave pain and sad thoughts in the wake of my determined steps toward healing.

On my way to some specific points, I saw all manner of temples, and I stopped at a few that seemed interesting. One such place was at Gojobashihigashi, which contains the Otani Mausoleum, Jippo-Ji Temple, Tsumyo-ji Temple, Myoken-do Temple, and Myoken Daibosatsu Myokendo… phew that’s a lot of important places!

The approach to Gojobashihigashi

At the first gate I found that there was the first stamp in a stamp rally! I learned that there were 4 stamps located throughout the complex and they supplied a leaflet to stamp each one… I ended up just stamping my Moleskine that I had with me.

 

Stamp rally stamp

 

Offery

The lady in the photo above was praying for such a very long time… I only understood words here and there but she sounded so sincere and thankful that I wanted to capture the moment.

Near the offery was another stamp. I waited until those around had finished making their offerings before I stamped my book, and then I moved on toward one of my destinations.

I see faces… everywhere.

 

Leaving… this lantern looked to be covered in gold leaf.

Onward I walked, and soon I found myself at one of the main destinations that I was seeking… Yasui Konpiragu Shrine. Located in the Gion district, this shrine is located on the grounds of Horyu-in Temple and is unusual because of it’s Power Stone…. it is said that if you wish to end a bad relationship and/or initiate new good relationships, then you make your wish, crawl through the center of the stone and back, bow, then adhere your wish to the stone on a slip of paper.

The long line to the stone was mainly filled with women, but also some families and a few men who were alone as well.

Yes, I did purchase a slip of paper, write my wishes and stand in line for 45 minutes… totally worth it.

Now, if you ask me, a stone really holds no power other than being good at standing still and in this case, holding thousands of papers on it’s surface (with the help of glue) . That, however, did not dissuade me from completing this ritual. It seemed an important thing for me to complete, an outward demonstration (at least to myself) of leaving some very unfortunate life altering situations behind me and moving on with the purpose of having a fulfilling life not dragged down with sadness.

It took a while to make it to the front of the line. Thankfully the sunny day was not too warm or too humid, so I did not mind things taking a little longer than would be optimal.

From a distance, the hole in the rock looked very very small and I had a growing concern that I would actually be able to make it through that hole without getting stuck! However observation told me that those with a waistline… erm, much larger than my own, were able to make it through so my fears were soon laid to rest.

Closer and closer I inched, and suddenly I found myself faced with this:

The Power Stone!

It kinda looks like it should be a Hobbit house, except… it’s too small for that. Phone at the ready to film myself go through, I got on my belly and slid through. Easy peasy! Now, to crawl back… I thought perhaps that I could crawl through with no problem since I’m a skinny person… left knee forward… uh oh… STUCK! I did not take into account that my legs are longer than the average person going through that hole, and so it was a big NOPE on crawling through! I had to back out a bit to get my leg un-stuck, and then I slid through on my belly again, quite embarassed already because I could hear laughter, but also people had their phones out and were filming me. Oh dear. Now I’ll be all over the internet, the gaijin who got stuck. Memes would be made of my ordeal and my embarrassment celebrated over and over. I turned to the stone, bowed, looked at the ground and hurried around back of the stone to apply glue to my wish-on-paper.

I adhered my paper to the stone, and still felt the flush of embarrassment. I could not bring myself to look anyone in the eye lest I catch someone mocking me. Hurry away I did not though… I paused to take more photos of the rest of the grounds.

On my map I noticed a park nearby that was not terribly far away, and decided to check it out. I had been near there back in 2014 but did not enter because time was limited and we were on the way to other things. On the way I passed by Yasaka Shrine and spotted these beautiful sisters:

I paused and offered to take their photo together – they happily accepted! I wish that I had remembered to also take a photo with my own phone so that I could have had the memory! They also took a selfie with me which was very sweet! Again, I forgot to get my own phone out… how sad!

Onward I went, but I diverted my route so that I could walk along the Shirokawa, which is quite a beautiful and simple neighborhood. No fancy houses… just older homes that have a lot of charm. I found the Furukawamachi Bridge, a foot bridge that is maybe one foot wide? I crossed it with a little concern, and made sure to take a video as I tried to keep my balance.

The Furukawamachi Bridge in the background.

The Shirokawa River (wait… isn’t “kawa” river in Japanese? Did I just type river twice?)

Once safely across the “scary” bridge, I continued my walk. Along the way I saw an old sign:

Everything about this worn sign screamed “make me black and white”… so I did.

I also saw a pair of tanooki in a stream – an out of place pyramid rests on the street above them. I cannot help but feel like I was in that exact same spot looking at the exact same items during July of 2014… now I have to go back through the photo archives and look (when I return to the US of A) because this will haunt me until I do.

Tanooki in a stream… seems like song lyrics.

Tanooki with the weird pyramid thing – it looked to be made out of granite or marble.

Next stop: Narnia, AKA Murin-An Garden. Built between 1894 & 1896 by  Yamagata Aritomo, a Prime Minister during the Meji Period. His vision was realized by the Japanese master gardener Ogawa Jihee, who also designed a few other famous gardens.

410 Yen admission is a paltry sum considering the sheer delight that this garden brought to my eye and the solace to my spirit… pay at the window to the left of the entrance, and then you are directed through a small door, which even people shorter than I need to bow their heads to get through:

Murin-an doorway… the portal to a magical garden.

I stepped through and was dazzled by the sight that I beheld: A wonderfully landscaped garden with both Japanese and Western influences welcoming wanderers into it’s harmoniously peaceful scenes accompanied by a symphony of gently flowing water, lullabies of songbirds and the occasional faint trumpet of elephants, who live nearby in the Kyoto Zoo.

What joy sprang to my heart! I slowly meandered through the gardens, allowing myself to slow down and fully drink in every sight, smell, sound and feel that I was experiencing around me… I felt quite at home and relaxed… usually I feel a bit as if I have to behave a certain way in a formal garden but this seemed to be a more natural place, like walking in the woods, except that it was clearly a structured garden but artfully so, because so many nooks seemed so natural, as if they had always been there.

Paradise in the midst of Kyoto

 

The path to relaxation!






I took a few hundred photos in this beautiful garden and it was difficult to narrow it down to those that I included here. If these seem redundant, I heartily apologize to you, Dear Reader, if your eyes glaze over or roll back into your head for a moment… but I simply could not resist putting these choice photos here for my own pleasure. Thank you for your indulgence.

How much time I spent in the garden I could not tell you, for I literally let go of all sense of time and just… existed for a while. A rare thing it is for me to let myself unwind to this point as I am always planning something or working out some puzzle in my head.

Before leaving, I paused at the teahouse to sit on the veranda – the last photo above is from that vantage point. Once sufficiently rested I moved on, unsure of exactly where I was going to next.

My feet ended up taking me deeper into the Gion District, a part of Kyoto that hither to fore I had not seen much of. Keep in mind that my previous visits had very short time constraints and were more like whirlwind tours of temples and shrines.

My feet took me to the grounds of Nanzen-ji Temple, I knew nothing about them except that they were a 15 minute walk away… I am very glad that I went there because there were more awesome surprises awaiting.

It turns out that there are a few temples on the ground, with the main Nanzen-ji being one of the Great 5 temples of Kyoto… I was surprised to learn this as there were very few tourists there… perhaps because it is more out of the center of town? I do not know, but having no crowds to deal with was again, exactly what I wanted and needed for this day.

Sammon

 

Nanzen-ji Temple offery.

Here I purchased an incense stick, lit it and put it into the censer, said a prayer and tossed a coin into the offery. This place had an overwhelming sense of welcoming, and I was surprised to see locals going right past and ignoring this wonderful place

One of the “feet” of the Shoin-an Temple offery – absolutely stunning metalwork.

Offerings and respects paid, I moved on further into the complex, where I saw what appeared to be a small grove of trees… I was indeed correct, there was a small grove of trees but I did not expect to find…


A western-style aqueduct?!?! Puzzled, I investigated further. It seems that this aqueduct connects to Lake Biwa, and used to bring water into the city! Parts of the aqueduct are under repairs after some years of neglect. It is a popular place for people to gather and take photos – this one above is from my iPhone, but I did get a few shots with my DSLR that are waiting to be edited – that will be in a later post.

I was delighted to find such a treasure on my wanderings and I spent a bit of time here taking photos.

Soon I moved on, for I wanted to catch a view of the setting sun from Kiyomizu-dera… through Gion I walked and found a parade? OH! It was theThe Jidai Matsuri—”Festival of Ages” which commemorates the founding of Kyoto as the Imperial capital by the Emperor Kammu in 794… this is quite the affair, as a procession of over 2000 people in costumes from every era of Japanese history leave the Imperial Palace grounds in the morning and walk along a route that is several kilometers long, ending at the Heian Jingu Shrine.
(I looked this up as I snapped the photos) – a total surprise and a very happy one at that!

I was near the Heian Jingu Shrine, so I was literally seeing the last 10 minutes of the procession – I am very happy that I was able to witness this!


As the last of the costumed people went by, I quickly took my leave in an attempt to get ahead of the throngs of people that would soon be flooding the streets. Up up up the hills I went, and I found the meandering streets of Gion charming…



A few more tourists and touristy stores were here, mixed in with stores filled with handcrafted goods and foods… then my eyes spotted a small coffee stand, and then my eyes spotted a sign that said “Portland Roasting Coffee” and I had to stop!

Grateful for a cup of really good hand poured coffee and thanked by an even more grateful shopkeeper, I was also welcomed by another customer, who heard me talking with the barista about me being from Portland, where the coffee was roasted.

This friendly face was from Australia, near Adelaide… I never did catch her name but I am inclined to think that she will never fade from my memory. I sat next to her on a comfortable wooden bench, coffee in hand and had a nice conversation… we talked about coffee, about our respective homes and lives… and even touched on some deeper things. I never did get her name. She had to dash off after our 40 minute conversation to return her bicycle rental, which was due to be turned in shortly as she was heading back to Australia the next day

I wasn’t terribly far from Kiyomizu Dera so I quickened my pace, determined to catch the setting sun but alas, too many interesting things were vying for my attention… stopping to snap a couple of quick photos turned into more photos, more stopping and delaying my arrival to a vantage point to view that sunset. Clearly it was more about the journey for me today, rather than an ultimate destination.

On the winding streets of the mountain that lead up to Kiyomizu-dera, I found the Yasaka Kōshin-dō, whose full name is Daikoku-san Kongō-ji Kōshin-dō – one of Kyoto’s most colorful shrines… yet another surprise! I paused here for a bit and people watched.


 

A little investigation told me that these multi colored fabric “balls” are actually in the shape of Kukurizaru, a monkey with bound feet and hands.In Kōshin belief, it represents the control of the playful and desire-driven creature everyone has inside his body, according to Wikipedia. One writes their desire on the ball and by tying this ball with their desire to the shrine, a sacrifice is made… the desire vanishes, and thus a wish can be granted… it is said that desire keeps one’s wishes from coming true.

Many selfies and portraits being taken at the shrine.



I unintentionally followed these two up the path toward the Yasaka Pagoda… It wasn’t until I snapped this photo that I realized it was the same couple!

Onwards to Kiyomizu-dera I went – by this time I knew that I’d miss watching the sun go down, but would be able to witness at least the afterglow:

The sun had already set at Kiyomizu-dera, but it was still beautiful.

Tired and incredibly hungry, I message my Swedish friends… the guys wanted to do their own thing but Paulina was willing to grab some dinner.

We met up at home and then walked to the downtown area and a Yodobashi… we proceeded to the floor with all of the restaurants and ended up choosing a Chinese place for dinner, which was pretty good. Soup dumplings were had, but frankly didn’t have much broth in them, which was disappointing. I could not help but wish that it was Din Tai Fung!


… aaaaand since we were in a Yodobashi, we HAD to check out their extensive selection of Gashapon!


Walking home, near the Kamo-gawa river I spotted this shrine… which seemed really really familiar and then it hit me that I had passed by and observed this very same shrine on my first visit in 2014… I had remarked at the time how out of place this shrine seemed, and it still seemed so… but definitely a nice thing to find!


Turns out that I walked for almost 13 miles that day… around 20 kilometers – on my feet there were a few blisters as a physical reminder, and and in my heart, memories that will last me a lifetime. Indeed, I did find what I was seeking that day, and much much more. Peace was welling within and confidence that the tender bud of hope was starting to grow, a promise that healing would soon bloom.


Last Minute Shinkansen Tickets (Japan – Autumn 2018 Day 15)

It had been planned all along that my group and I would travel to Kyoto toward the end of their stay here in Japan, and the beginning of the middle portion for my own stay.

In talking with them about getting the tickets, for an inexplicable reason I thought they told me that they would be purchasing the tickets this week… as it turned out, they had ALREADY booked their tickets and had to pick them up from Tokyo Station! I started to get worried, because they used a booking agency to purchase theirs and I was concerned that the number of non-reserved seating would be sold out by this time.

So, after I finished working this morning, I traveled to Tokyo Station with them to see about tickets. They started the procedure to pick up their tickets and once they had all of the pertinent information, Joy explained the whole process to me, and showed me how much I could save by booking through the same website.

So, I walked up to the kiosk and had a number assigned to me.

My ticket for my place in line – 608 was the number but not indicative of how many persons were waiting!

Since I knew there would be a bit of a wait, I went ahead and booked my tickets online, right there on my phone. Now, I know that smartphones are clearly not a new or novel thing but it still delights me that you can do practically anything anywhere, and it was quite convenient to already be in the queue to pick up tickets, purchase tickets while waiting and then picking them up minutes after! The process online took merely 2-3 minutes and my wait in the queue was around 10 minutes, plus another 3 for the tickets to print. They must have a slow printer!

Tickets in hand and much relieved to actually HAVE shinkansen tickets… at a 22% discount too! We then took a stroll into the Minato Ward… I was feeling the nostalgia hard at that point because I recognized so many places that I would walk past or visit during my time here in 2015- definitely not a touristy area and I love that it’s sparsely visited because there are fewer people.

Paulina needed to visit Daiso, and I stopped along the way to take some photos. I caught up with them a few minutes later and we decided on eating Burger King since it was near and burgers sounded delicious. I hadn’t eaten Burger King in 3 years and it was also in Tokyo (Odaiba) … I can’t even tell you how long its been since having BK in the USA!

Not an eventful day for adventures, but certainly a day of getting things done.


Day #62 – A Photo A Day 2013

Tangled FX is fast becoming my new favorite photo editing app – it’s so versatile and I love how other-worldly it makes my outdoor pics look!

Here is a photo that I shot in Muir Woods on Friday before any editing of any kind:

Redwood Trees - Before Editing

Redwood Trees – Before Editing

Same photo – after editing in Tangled FX:

Sunlight in Muir Woods

Sunlight in Muir Woods

Watching the photo transform in that app is like magic – it just morphs in front of your eyes! I didn’t layer two effects in this pic like I did in the last one since I felt that altering in any further would have not been as effective. Sometimes less is more.


Day #61 – A Photo A Day 2013

There are SO MANY photo editing apps that I have been wanting to download lately but I have been limiting myself to one or two at a time so I can fully explore them before moving on and adding another to my library of well-used apps.

I just purchased Tangled FX, and app that I’ve had my eye on for a few weeks now and let me say that this app has blown me a away for a few reasons.

1. It’s easy to use. Effect options are clearly marked and it’s not hard to figure out what process you want by looking at the toolbar.

2. Processing time is minimal. It’s only taking a few seconds for the chosen effect to alter the photo.

3. Customization. You can adjust the effect scale factor, color boost, contrast or gamma.

4. There is a wide selection of effect choices – 16 in all.

Today’s picture was modified in Tangled FX, and I layered two effects in Blender to get the look that I wanted:

Piggy Art In The Window of Gallery 16 - Edited

Piggy Art In The Window of Gallery 16 – Edited

I pass by Gallery 16 a few times a week, and FINALLY the shadows were just right so I seized the moment and got my shot! Immediately I knew that I wanted to use Tangled FX to modify the photo. The shadows already had rather soft edges but I very much wanted to highlight and exaggerate that.


Day #59 – A Photo A Day 2013

App Layering. It’s addictive. It’s highly rewarding and creatively stimulating, not expensive and most apps are really easy to understand and apply practically.

I’m doing another Before and After post today because the edit I did this morning is so drastically different from the original photo that I wanted to show the difference.

The Hawaiian Chieftain is again the subject photo of the day. This photo here was taken on my iPhone 4s, native camera app at approx. 4:45 in the afternoon.

Here you see it un-touched – no edits nor touchups of any sort, just the raw photo:

Hawaiian Chieftian Un-Edited Photo

Hawaiian Chieftian Un-Edited Photo

I went to bed last night thinking of this pic and how I’d like to edit it. As I found myself immersed in the process, the picture ended up becoming something much more different than I envisioned it to be in the first place and I built layer upon layer of editing and overall I am much more pleased with the finished result than what I had originally planned to do.

Hawaiian Chieftian Heavily Edited Photo

Hawaiian Chieftian Heavily Edited Photo

I started out in Photo FX where I added a bit of haze to darken things up a little. I then moved on to Iris where I added a bit of dirt, back to Photo FX to darken it a bit more. On to Filtermania 2, then Wow FX, back to Filtermania 2, again to Wow FX again, on to ScratchCam and that’s where I forget just how many more times I ended up going back into Photo FX and Filtermania 2. This edit has taken the longest of any iPhone editing I have done – there were just a lot of layers to play with and tweak until I got just the look that I was going for.

I really don’t know what I would do without Photo FX and ScratchCam – they are my staples, and the Dropico apps are quickly becoming favorites as well!


Day #58 – A Photo A Day 2013

Back to the tall ships I went today, cameras and iPhone in hand!

There were considerably more people there than there had been yesterday. At first I figured that yesterday wasn’t busy since I was there so late, but one of the crew told me that there were much fewer yesterday. I guess word got out that they were here!

They’ll be in Oakland for the next two weeks after that, so just across the bay. It’s cheaper to moor over there, plus they can have mock battles with each other on that side of the bay without paying for a sound permit like San Francisco charges.

Today’s pic is the main mast of the Hawaiian Chieftain. It was very sunny today, but I decided that it needed a little moonlight:

Hawaiian Chieftian Main Mast - Edit

Hawaiian Chieftian Main Mast – Edit

Layering iPhone apps is SO fun and I got so deep in this one that I don’t even remember all of the apps that I used – I was sort of doing it as I was working on other things and not making mental notes of what apps I used and in what order. (I really should note these things!)

I have many more photos to sort through from today’s session so expect more tall ship photos!


Day #56 – A Photo A Day 2013

We have arrived at post #2 for today, which is actually today’s post! Hopefully the website and internet access woes are behind me for a great deal of time.

I met @tatum22 and @diegoscott83 of Instagram fame on the instawalk_sf and they are a continual source of inspiration to me. They have this Monday tradition where they post “Meditation Monday” pictures where one of them (usually @diegoscott83) jumps in the air in a pose of levitated mediation and they have really perfected this!

Below is one of the shots that I took of @diegoscott83 doing just that at Fort Point right under the Golden Gate Bridge here in San Francisco.

@diegoscott83 "levitating" under the Golden Gate Bridge at Fort Point - Instawalk_SF 2103

@diegoscott83 “levitating” under the Golden Gate Bridge at Fort Point – Instawalk_SF 2103

There was a great deal of lens flare that I wanted to keep in the picture, but it was hard to tone down the outer edges of the picture and still keep the basic integrity of that awesome flare. I’m basically happy with how this turned out but I may re-visit the pic for a re-edit later.


Day #54 – A Photo A Day 2013

This whole week I have been bummed out that I was going to miss my good friends’ concert up in Seattle today. Sure, the plane ride is short, but other forces prevented me from going.

Actually “bummed out” would be understating it a bit, but I am trying to not sound melodramatic so the phrase stays. Oscillaror X not only makes awesome music that I LOOOOVE, but they are also dear friends of mine, so to not be there to support them was driving me nuts. (side note – you will see a couple of shots that I took of them in their Photos section! /shamelessselfpromotion)

Somewhere around Wednesday this week I was perusing the San Francisco Fun Cheap websites for distractions this weekend when I saw events listed for the wrap-up of all of the Chinese New Year celebrations happening this weekend – how could I have forgotten?!?!?! I’ve only wanted to go to the San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade since forever!

While I wasn’t able to be magically transported to Seattle for the concert, I did have the parade to look forward to and it would be so sweet to finally see it in person! I immediately studied the parade route, diligently scouting out the perfect position for me and my camera – oh and Chris too. I really wanted to share the parade with him – to have that memory to share together.

This morning I awoke, sleepy and cuddly when suddenly my mind remembered what day it was… PARADE DAY! I jumped out of bed with anticipation of the evenings festivities to come – why was the morning crawling by?

Afternoon came and my excitement grew. Chris just looked at me with a half smile and a shake of his head.

Oh! It’s time to go! We put on our coats and half walked and half jogged the 3 blocks to Market St. – despite wanting to be in Chinatown, I felt that we would have the best experience with fewer crowds (for Chris’ sake) and I could still get a good angle.

We weren’t far from the beginning of the parade, so that meant less time standing around too. We stood just north-ish of Market on the corner of 3rd and Geary, right underneath the Geary sign. (Some of the intersections downtown are soooo odd) We had a front-row seat! er, stand!

A few parent-less kids (where were their parents, anyway?!?!) attempted to make the crowding more miserable by yelling at each other and shoving both themselves and people around and didn’t stop until the guy to my left said “Look, you should stop shoving and shouting because if you don’t I’m going to shove back, and I’m definitely going to win”. That made them leave – hooray!

The parade was a cacophony of colors and sounds that constantly bombarded your eyes and ears and it was hard to focus on any one thing for too long due to the whirlwind of activity before you. One of my favorite parts of the parade were the Chinese Lions dancing all around the street and coming up to greet and dance right in front of us! I was determined to use my iPhone as much as possible as an experiment – sometimes the images are just a blur of color (once it got dark) and sometimes the motion really added to the sense of movement in the picture, in my opinion.

This picture is actually pretty clear:

Chinese Lion Dancers - SF Chinese New Year Parade 2013

Chinese Lion Dancers – SF Chinese New Year Parade 2013

Here I am now at home, re-living the parade tonight with relish – I’ve wanted to see this for such a long time, and finally I was able to attend! I’ll never forget when my former boss Stan told me, in great detail, what this parade is like. He definitely described it well enough for me to yearn to go and being there to experience it myself was really a treat – I felt like a kid again.


Day #53 – A Photo A Day 2013

Goodness, my internet connection has been SO HORRIBLE this week, and it has only gotten worse! Much thanks that Philz Coffee here in SoMa not only has the best coffee that I have ever tasted (and tea!) but also has free WiFi access that is enabling me to write this post!

My horrid connection that (insert well-known broadband provider name here) has been providing to me lately has made me want to escape into a fantasy world where there is no packet loss and I don’t have to pay for my plentiful lightning-fast internet access. At this moment, I would also like this fantasy world to look nothing like this coffee shop – although it is decorated tastefully, I’d rather be in a moody forest right now, cavorting in flowing dresses and uploading photos to my hearts content, sweet breezes gently wafting through my hair and perhaps a bit of hauntingly beautiful music beckoning me toward it’s source…

Erm, back to the post…

Since there is no such place available, I have created this place – in photographic form – for my eye to wander to and in turn inspire sweet dreams to escape the reality of this daily purgatory fraught with continual internet connection disruption.

Dark Forest Beckons

Dark Forest Beckons

Again, photo taken with my iPhone 4s – I began by doing a few things in Photo FX – I often start in this app to tune the pic up a bit, if I feel that it needs it or if I want to enhance a certain aspect of the photo, before I begin layering other apps. Some of the current reviews of this app are less than stellar, but it seems that all of those have to do with the new version released for iOS 6 – I refuse to upgrade my iOS because I read and hear so many disparaging things about it that it doesn’t seem worth my while. So, I’m still very very happy with Photo FX.

Next, I layered effects in Filtermania 2 juuuuust hints of layering there – I didn’t want to alter the base picture too much but rather enhance it (and hide a few modern details that I didn’t want there) – next came Iris, which has apparently been re-worked by the creators to be called Laminar. I use Iris all of the time – easy to use and so many choices for editing. I’m afraid that I won’t like the new version after reading a few of the reviews – again, this is for iOS 6, so I don’t have anything to worry about as long as I don’t “upgrade”.

Lastly, just a hint of ScratchCam. I have played with the free version of this app enough that I now know that I really need to get the full version! I don’t know what I would do without you, ScratchCam!

Sometimes when I create a piece with one of my photos I am too critical. With this piece I can wholeheartedly say that I am really very happy with the way it turned out, and I hope that it pleases others as much as I seem to have pleased myself. (a rare thing!)


Day #52 – A Photo A Day 2013

When I am out and about, I really do need to be better at keeping track of where I taking random photos because if enough days pass I can tell you about where I was, but I’m not able to exactly pinpoint the exact location where a specific picture was taken.

For example, this bit of stencil graffiti that Chris and I discovered on our way to the basketball court on Saturday:

Tron Graffiti Stencil

Tron Graffiti Stencil

I know for certain that this was stenciled on the sidewalk between 3rd and 4th streets, but what I am NOT sure of is what street we were actually walking on – I want to say that it was Brannan Street but I’m not exactly confident in saying that it definitely was. (I’ll ask Chris – maybe he will remember)

Anyway, I take great delight in finding things like this in random places, especially when it has a geeky subject like Tron… what I can’t figure out though is what on earth does the Nike Swoosh (props to Carolyn Davidson) have to do with Tron???


Day #51 – A Photo A Day 2013

More fun with the Manga Camera app was had today with a pic that I took of my own eye around two weeks when my fisheye lens from Photojojo arrived.

On it’s own the pic was less than stellar, in as much as it was just my eye – BORING – but now that I’ve discovered this new app, it was time to make it a bit more interesting.

I’ve got my eye on things…

Pop Art Eye - Self Portrait

Pop Art Eye – Self Portrait

Before I ran it through Manga Camera I sharpened it a little in Photo FX, then after running it through Manga I went to Colormania and applied a couple of filters – that wasn’t satisfactory so I went back to Photo FX and added a bit more color and polarization and there you have it – a new and improved version of my eye! If only it looked that good in real life.


Day #48 – A Photo A Day 2013

Chris and I have decided to do more things together that are physically active. When we were looking for an apartment here, we saw these basketball courts near one of the apartment complexes that we toured and made a note to go back.

Yesterday we went there to shoot hoops, and ended up going again today, vowing to make this our weekend morning tradition. We had such fun! It made me realize just how awful at shooting baskets I have become but it’s still fun nonetheless and I’m determined to up my skill level to what it used to be. (or at least try!)

Chris was getting some serious air time – he says that he wasn’t jumping high enough, but I was certainly impressed and of course I brought out the iPhone to snap some pics, much to his chagrin but he was still a sweetie and didn’t complain.

Chris - Michael Jordan Style

Chris – Michael Jordan Style

We played at the Berry Street Basketball Courts at the end of Mission Creek Park – there is also a sand volleyball court there too!

It’s underneath Highway 280 which provides some nice shade and an interesting setting. It’s clean and quiet and steps away from Mission Bay and a super nice walkway along the water, which is the route that Chris and I like to take to walk there.

I’m sure we will have many more happy one-on-one games there! It’s a nice spot.


Day #47 – A Photo A Day 2013

Mass transit is definitely one of the best ways to get around here in San Francisco, other than using my two legs to get me from point A to point B and the various options available here is a source of endless fascination.

There is the Muni which is the bus system here – that’s not so unusual except that they run off of electricity so they have connecters that go up to lines suspended above the city streets – similar to what you’ll see in Seattle.

Of course there are the Cable Cars that are the quintessential mode of transportation that you see in connection with San Francisco all of the time. They’re beautiful, and I have yet to ride one – can you believe that? I need to start doing all of the touristy things!

There is BART – the Bay Area Rapid Transit which I use often and is very convenient since there is a stop not too far from my apartment.

There is Caltrain, which takes you places in the Bay Area outside of the city – oh goodness I need pics of those trains! (I am in love with trains! I totally understand Sheldon Cooper’s obsession)

Then there is the bus-type-cable-car-ish-on-rails-thing – what are these things called! I love them! They look so retro, like 30’s or 40’s or 50’s retro. Sleek and colorful, they really add to the fun atmosphere of the city and I HAVE TO RIDE ONE!

Retro-Bus-Thing

Retro-Bus-Thing

This was taken near Market Street and The Embarcadero – I’ve obviously altered this photo, as there are not that many stars visible in the skies above San Francisco.

Don’t these things look romantic! They make a lot of noise going down the street – they’re on rails and derive their power from electric lines above the street. I need to see the inside of one! I’m guessing that I’ll be as impressed with the inside as the outside. Ha. It takes so little to please me.


Day #46 – A Photo A Day 2013

This past week has been a fun one! So many photos shot, and so many that I need to sort through and edit… and certainly many that I’ll need to trash too. 🙂

Today I’m posting a pic that I shot and edited on my 4s on Thursday when I was at the Raygun Gothic Rocketship. I just can’t stay away from that spot – I have already taken SO MANY pics of this thing, and I’m sure that I’ll probably continue the trend of redundancy with more. Perhaps I should apologize in advance for too many rocket pic posts in the future.

Raygun Gothic Rocketship Up Close

Raygun Gothic Rocketship Up Close

I ran this pic through Photo FX, then Iris, then back to Photo FX again. I REALLY wanted to do a grunge-y effect on this one, but I was so happy with the results of my tinkering that I felt that any further modification would have displeased me.

Every time I visit this awesome piece, I want to climb inside and see what’s there – there IS a door!


Day #45 – A Photo A Day 2013

Valentine’s Day is today, or if you prefer to call it “Singles Awareness Day”.

It’s not that I am anti-Valentine’s Day, but I’m not really a fan. As a kid I LOVED it – it was a reason to make pretty cards and give them to your friends – that’s something that I liked to do anyway, but people made fun of me for being “mushy” so I just kept the sweet messages for Valentine’s Day.

As I grew up, I realized just how commercial the holiday had become… or at least I THOUGHT had become. Valentine’s Day origins are different from the modern day celebration of the holiday, which didn’t really have any mention until the 14th century.

From my observation, Valentine’s Day has become a day for people to feel guilted into buying presents and fosters the believe that if you’re single, you aren’t worth as much. Not everyone sees it that way, but in my mind, every day should be like Valentine’s Day – show people how much you care – show them how you feel with your actions and your words every day. Make it a celebrated lifestyle and not just one day a year.

There is a tradition here in San Francisco, a way to celebrate the day that everyone can enjoy wether you are single or in a relationship, young or old – it’s the Great San Francisco Pillow Fight and I went to it tonight at Justin Herman Plaza!

Here is a guy blowing feathers at me, and well… me covered in feathers!

Blowing Feathers at the Great SF Pillow Fight

Blowing Feathers at the Great SF Pillow Fight

Me Covered in Feathers

At the 2013 Great San Francisco Pillow Fight!

I’ve never been in the middle of such craziness! I am guessing there were over 3,000 people there, maybe closer to 4,000, most of which were in the thick of things swinging away with their pillows!

Revelers were not supposed to hit people with cameras, but I still got hit… A LOT. Sometimes, it hurt, and twice my iPhone got knocked to the ground, but thankfully it was not hurt!

I was out there in the fray for about an hour and a half, and loved every second of it. The event was supposed to last for another 2 and a half hours, but I didn’t stay… I wish that I had stayed to get pictures of the aftermath, but after I went home Chris and I spend our Valentine’s evening playing Borderlands 2 well into the night.

Giant pillow fights and playing video games probably isn’t most people’s idea of a romantic Valentine’s evening, but I cannot imagine a better way to spend it than doing just that. (I can’t wait for next year’s pillow fight!)


Day #44 – A Photo A Day 2013

A few weeks ago I discovered an awesome website called SF Fun Cheap where there are listings of tons of free or cheap events happening all around San Francisco and the Bay Area and since then I’ve found many great things to do which has introduced me to several awesome people.

As we only know just a few people here it’s nice to find venues that make it easy to meet people with similar interests. It’s not a meetup source but so far a few of the events have made it possible to meet some really nice people.

I went to an event this evening at the Ferry Building – it was scheduled to start at 5:30, but I walked to the waterfront early so that I could catch a few shots of the Raygun Gothic Rocketship, one of my favorite places so far here in the city.

It was COLD. I didn’t think about the fact that it can be a few degrees cooler there despite the fact that it’s only 4-5 city blocks from my apartment, so I was FREEZING after spending a half hour in my hoodie next to the water. So, I walked a few more yards down to the Ferry Building and walked around inside to warm up.

It was time for the event to start… I didn’t see anyone gathered yet, and from the information on the event page, it was going to be obvious when they arrived. Minutes passed… I was not going to go outside and freeze again so I just hoped that they hadn’t changed the meeting place… checked Facebook… no notice there.

I patiently waited at the doors… watching from my nice warm spot, people filling in and out of the building as the ferries came and went – no one even noticed me, which was good because I was snapping shots of people walking without anyone noticing. 🙂

Suddenly, they appeared! The first person I saw was a girl in a cute black and red tutu with hearts all over it… I walked outside, and was glomped by a lady in a huge heart costume! Free hugs for all! The First Annual Operation Street Love was in session!

Crack A Smile!

Crack A Smile!

Only 6 people showed to give random people hugs… a smaller turnout than was expected based on the responses on Facebook, but 6 was still fun! They hugged commuters, scared tourists off with their offers of hugs and high-fived joggers, spreading love and smiles everywhere. I hope that there is a bigger turnout next year – people need to have a reason to smile more.


Day #42 – A Photo A Day 2013

The Instawalk last Friday yielded so many great shots that I’m having a hard time deciding which ones that I should edit first!

This one lept out at me and said “edit me” so I did… not much was done to it… just darkened a few areas and brightened the color a bit. Nothing more, since I felt that it spoke for itself.

Instawalk Shadow Pic

Instawalk Shadow Pic

This was taken near the Crissy Field Warming Hut and the Fishing Pier.


Day #40 – A Photo A Day 2013

Once again I felt inspired today to take one of my photos and make a “dirty” painting out of it.

Today’s subject is one of the shots of the Golden Gate Bridge that I took yesterday – like I did a few days ago on my balcony I used the Slow Shutter app and held as still as possible to get a bit of a blurr to the picture, and then I edited the Dickens out of it.

Golden Gate Bridge - February 8th, 2013

Golden Gate Bridge – February 8th, 2013

I really let myself go crazy with color this time – do you like the result, or would a pallet more true to the actual colors have been more pleasing?


Day #39 – A Photo A Day 2013

This afternoon I had the opportunity to go on a iPhone Photowalk with some users from Instagram – some were local, some were from as far away as LA or San Diego!

I am so glad that I went! Not only did I take some great shots, but in the company of like-minded people who understand the need to stop and “take a picture of that”. Also… they don’t mind being in your shots, which is something that many of my friends just won’t do.

We met at Crissy Field and walked from there all the way to Fort Point which sits right underneath the San Francisco side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Fort Point visitors hours were over, so we could not go inside, but there was plenty to keep us busy outside for sure.

The sun was going down, and it was the PERFECT time for shadow pictures – here is the first edit from today, with 4 of the Instagrammers casting shadows for us:

Instagrammers Shadows at Fort Point

Instagrammers Shadows at Fort Point

It was great to spend time with that group, and I’m already looking forward to the next outing! Hopefully it won’t be too soon, because I have around 200 iPhone photos to sort through – hopefully I’ll have a few gems to edit and share!


Day #38 – A Photo A Day 2013

More fun was had with the Pro HDR app this afternoon. I was on Market Street running some errands and the late afternoon sun was blindingly bright and casting the most interesting shadows from the mass of people walking toward me.

Market Street was even more crowded than usual due to the droves of people freshly out of a day of convention going over at Moscone Center, which made it difficult at times to move upstream (since I happened to be going in the opposite direction of what seemed to be EVERY person who had been at the optics convention today) but this proved to be the PERFECT conditions for capturing people in motion without them noticing me taking their pictures. Stealth for the win.

I am really having such fun with movement while using this Pro HDR app. I end up with some very interesting double exposures and in this case, some of the people toward the top of this picture look like ghosts.

Shadows on Market Street

Shadows on Market Street

Look for a couple more pics from this day! I have a couple of unusual edits in mind.


Day #35 – A Photo A Day 2013

A pic from our walk to The Presidio for today – there were loads of these skinny trees everywhere near the entrance to the area and it smelled like eucalyptus! I think they may have been some variety of such, but a little research is due before I say it is thus and so.

I was particularly struck by the lush green grass carpeting the floor of this “forest”. I’d really like to come back here for a few more shots, this time with people.

Trees In The Presidio

Trees In The Presidio

I wish there was some way to give you the scent of these trees as well – it was heavenly!

Shot with Pro HDR.


Day #34 – A Photo A Day 2013

Yesterday Chris and I took a walk to The Presidio here in San Francisco, partially to take a nice long walk, but also our main destination was the Walt Disney Family Museum.

Unfortunately, they do not allow photographs in the museum and it was very tempting for me to snap a few, but I respected the rules. The museum was very different from what I was expecting – many interactive displays done in creative ways! It was a very fun and interesting experience for both me and Chris.

On the way there, I decided to take some pictures “from the hip” with my iPhone… in other words, I wasn’t looking at the screen to see what was going to appear in my shot – I just pointed my phone in the general direction that I wanted to shoot and clicked.

I ended up with several pleasing shots that I want to edit a bit – I won’t be posting them in successive order most likely, but probably all of them will be posted before the end of this month, and I’ll be sure to note which ones are from that walk.

This is one that was most stunning to me:

HDR While Walking - From The Hip

HDR While Walking – From The Hip

Pro HDR functions like this: you tap the screen and it analyzes the lighting, then it takes one picture with a longer exposure (more light) and one picture with a shorter exposure (less light, you see the darker portions of the pic) and then matches the two up as best it can.

This process takes around 30-45 seconds, so if you are moving at all the pic will be blurred. In daylight, if you are walking, you can get some pretty interesting results!

I’m pleased with this result, and it’s something that I plan on trying with Slow Shutter also in the coming weeks. What do you think of this experiment?


Day #33 – A Photo A Day 2013

Accidental photos are always fun when they pop up in your phone photo album… you know the ones, the completely black ones where you must have hit the button while you were setting down your phone, the kitchen tile ones where you must have bumped the button after taking a pic of your dinner, and then there are ones like this:

Accidental Photo of Myself - Feb 3, 2013

Accidental Photo of Myself – Feb 3, 2013

I was talking to Chris as I had been messing around with pictures, and the only thing I can figure is that I left a photo app open and I was either picking up my phone from the bed or setting it down.

I like how my hair is all over the place as I’m bent over the phone. I decided that it needed editing.

I tried this, and then I tried that, and finally decided that it needed more color… and scratching. I came up with this:

Edited Accidental Photo of Myself - Feb 3, 2013

Edited Accidental Photo of Myself – Feb 3, 2013

I am pleased with the edit, despite it’s subject! It’s rare that I like a photograph of my own self – I much prefer to snap pictures of others but still, this one turned out okay… now I’m just wishing that I had cropped it down to a square. Never say it’s a “final edit”!


Day #32 – A Photo A Day 2013

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of Chris proposing to me, so I decided that today’s pic would be of him.

We went out to dinner at Chevy’s (Which turned out to be one of the most disappointing meals – did they change their recipes or something? It is NOT as good as it used to be) and while we were waiting for a table, I snapped a pic of Chris with my iPhone.

I have been playing with motion in photos as I use Pro HDR, and I asked him to move his head a bit while I was taking his picture. The result was rather cool, since the background was obviously not moving and he was – the effect was rather creepy.

I decided to make that look a bit more creepy by layering a pic of a Chinese lion I took the other day – I used the Blender app for that… adjusted the amount of lion that I wanted in the pic, ran the photo through a few more adjustments in a couple of other apps and I finally decided that I liked this version of my edit:

Creepy Chris Edit

Creepy Chris Edit

I made 6 versions of the edit, and this is the one that spoke to me the most. This is not a face that I would want to meet in a dark alley – such a dark pic is very opposite of Chris himself, so perhaps this is what his alter comic book villan self would look like.

By the way, Chris was pleased with the edit. (and that is some of the best praise of all!)