Saturday Market - Fashion of Its Own

My circle of friends is from a mix of different culture and region. My view for life and things in general is not All American though I have lived here for almost 30 years. Apparently this has something to do with my cultural background where my primary perception and understanding are originated and rooted. I have learned a lot about American culture since I lived here, but it is still limited in comparison with the mainstream majority. It is not me who should be here talking about American culture, but I am giving it a try based on what I know.

When my non-Oregonian friends think of Eugene, they instantly mentioned hippies. When Saturday market is addressed, tie-dye becomes the subject. When I show them 5^th Street marketplace, “isn’t that where Nike originally started?” Over the years when I live here, these are the stereotype conversation that I encountered. Our European friends particularly wanted to visit Eugene Saturday Market because they want to see hippies.

I have worked with a 'real' hippie in an office and had business encounters with some. My hippie co-worker does not use a clock, she relies on sunrise and sunset to tell the time. She is a medicine woman herself and does not take any medicine from the counter. She carries a super long hair and dresses very plainly. No make-up, no artificial addition to her natural body. She does not drink coffee, only herbal tea and plain water. My conclusion is, they like everything natural; they are counter-cultural in regard to industrial civilization; they believe in hand-made work, organic food and down to earth outlook.

Northwest has vast green and beautiful nature where nature lovers want to be. Comparing the Saturday market between Portland and Eugene. Portland is more organized and structured. Eugene has heavy hippie influence, more organic and natural. As the population of real hippies are diminishing, the spirit of freedom and naturalism remains strong and is vividly exhibited at the market.

I would say, the lady pictured is a good example. She wears a one of the kind skirt that she may have made herself or from other hand-made source. Transportation is a bike, soul food is the guitar and violin.  Bike generates no pollution and music pleases the soul, all natural.

It must have something to do with my former career training. Whenever I am window browsing in the streets, my attention is always on apparels, colors, trends and of course something to my personal liking. I am not a frequent visitor to Saturday Market because I am not into the world of organics and local crafts. But, I am intrigued by the diversity and creativity displayed here.

Eugene Saturday market is loaded with gifted artisans and their unique handwork pieces. Every booth has a style of its own. And, almost all the vendors are dressed to fit their own theme and style that I found impressive. There is no on-going trend here, no style influence of any kind. It's all own creation and own style. If I want to give is a name, I call it Unique styles.

The man with a hat with western flare, but then instead of a cowboy bandana, the red scarf almost looks more like the one used by boy scouts...

This little girl's mother is selling kids clothes and she is the onsite model.  She is a classic cutie, I could not help but follow her with my camera. Except that the market is full of merchandise and the background is quite cluttered. I replaced the background with a painted texture so that her outfit will pop better. Maybe you can, I cannot tell exactly what style is this without talking to the creator herself.

This boy caught my eyes the moment when he showed up. It seems to me that his parents have a booth in the market and he was just there wandering around. I took great interest in his outfit and followed him wherever he went. Finally I got this shot that I like, but the background is just a small circus.

I tried to remove the background, but it is a bit work that I would rather not to spend too much time on it. Photoshop 2014 has a new feature to pick out the main subject instantly, but it is not so easy if the subject is bombarded with multitude in the background. So I lightened the background with a texture. At least you can see him 

better. I tried to analyze his outlet one by one from head to toe, but I cannot. I really don't have enough western cultural background to solve the puzzle.  I think it is more an eastern European style, but I cannot be sure. 

Then, here came a small crew of Ukrainian teenagers who were distributing post cards for their upcoming concert. Their bright and colorful traditional costume has certainly drawn everyone's attention. They remind me of the costumes I saw in Estonia and Russia. Not a surprise as these three countries are very geographically and historically related. I cannot tell one from the other. I cannot tell a Malaysian to an Indonesian either even though they are all Asians.

It is quite interesting how geography impacts history and affects our civilization. It determines how we live, how we utilize our natural resource and how an ethnic group of people is formed. I have noticed myself that Asian ethnic kids grown up in western society have more fair skin than those living in Asia. I think it is caused by geographic resource which includes food, water and such. American-born Asian kids have also a 'reformed' look that is quite easy to be distinguished from native Asians.

A nine year old girl in a hot pink demure dress was selling the greeting cards she hand-drew herself! She was surely standing out in the crowd when the majority is wearing unique and extraordinary apparels. She is your All American girl, contemporary and conservative. I was really impressed by her work and her independence.

I myself have always been interested in making greeting cards, but other than making a few for gifts, I have not done much of anything. She is here to be my inspiration.

I am only showing a few images to explain the diversified styles at Eugene Saturday market. You can stand on a street corner and capture a whole world of unique fashion, one of a kind. This Saturday Market is no longer just a hippie market, it is full of creativity and surprise. Tie-dye is still popular but no longer a dominating style. It is everything and all possibilities.

Golfing on Father's Day

My daughter treated my husband a 18-hole golf session on Father's Day. Have not touched a golf club for 13 years, Steve had said half dozen times that he was not sure if he could hit anything with his injured shoulder and the long recess from golf course. But, he was going for it and I am getting a free ride go photographing.  I have never been one and had no clue what I would be shooting.

The only thing I have something to do with golf is the product development of men's and women's golf belts and accessories. I know all major golf apparel brands and managed a Nike and Tiger Wood golf belt line. And, yes, I played Wii golf. That is all.

I have always thought that golf is not a real sport because it is slow-paced and no substantial physical activity involved. People stroll on the course, hit the ball when it's your turn, and the goal is simple, just to get the ball in the hole. I thought it is purely a social event to gather family, friends and business associates. However, after four hours walking down the course to watch my husband and daughter play, I came out with new perspective. I am of course not here speaking for professionals who live on golf and golf course is their office.

First of all, I say I would rather carry my camera bag than a golf bag. It is quite a load of stuff to carry and move from one hole to the other throughout the whole session. I guess you can ride in the golf cart or hire a caddy, but what's the fun if all you do is to hit the ball and no fitness effort is made? What's the purpose of having nice and soft green acres when golfers sit in the cart and take the bare dirt roads? Walking the course conducts a good exercise in the beautiful and peaceful environment.

 
Laura is an absolute athlete.  She plays all sorts of sports and she goes to the gym regularly. I play nothing and I sit in front of computer most of the time. I should be the one who invest more time to stay healthy.

There is an intangible price to pay to stay active, fit, and energetic. Tangible price paid to buy convenience, comfort and more or less, status,  can never replace the reward paid by the intangibles. One of my goal to age gracefully is to stay fit. Walking on soft green is surely an enjoyment.

I have never taken golfing pictures. It was a funny start. I aimed and I shot when they hit the balls. Guess what, I knew immediately that it was not right. Ball was either somewhere in the air or bouncing on grass. Golfers seemed to always have the club in lower position, not too exciting.

Wrong to press the shutter at the moment when the ball is hit because there will be no ball in the scene.  Firstly I learned that I should snap before the club hits the ball. I second realized to have 1-2 second delay before I press the button to get a more interesting shot of the player raising the club high.

Without seeing this picture, I did not realize the power of the club and the impact of the hit.  As you can see, the club rattled like a musical string. I have no doubt here that the golfer has released quite a power force.  It is surely not as easy as I used to think.

On this day I learned that there are three basic tools to finalize a round,  the club, the driver and the putter. Club is cast heavy, designed to hit long range distance.  Driver helps to guide the ball close to the Green center, I say, a hurdle remover. Putter is used to finish, the sensitive and decisive maneuver. Inside the perfect green, there is still skill and technique required.

From the eyes of a completely spectator, I see patience and endurance is displayed in this last fragment of the game. It involves estimation, experience and a perfect execution. I also don’t doubt the significance of a good luck.

No caddy, no golf cart, we figured this will be our daily walk.  I was quite surprised to see this local golf course has so many handsome and lofty trees, ponds and rolling greens.  Grass is soft here and I saw lots of ducks napping by the ponds. Mommy duck hid her babies in taller grass and she was the guard. Grass is soft. My steps are light. She did not sense my presence till I got close. I had a close look at the frightened babies and weary mommy but I tried to leave them alone sooner, no pictures. Mothers are naturally great when come to protect her babies...

If not for the people behind us, I would want to spread out on the tender green and enjoy a nice nap. I tend to forget where I was till I was reminded to stay out of the hitting range. And yet, it is irresistible, I managed to get down low to the ground and have a little fun with the ball.

Not a sunny day, otherwise, I think it would be cool to have more bokeh behind and more light around. Best of all, if there were no golfers around and I can have the place all to myself. Good enough, I concluded. I had my experiment done and I at least got a few shots though not perfect.

Golf can be a wonderful sports if a golfer walks the course and carries the bag himself to get full benefit of fitness ; Enjoys the green and feels rejuvenated. While some tension is inevitable from one par to the other, remains calm and not too wound up with a win or loss. Treat it as a sport, not a game. An amicable social, not a business battlefield. A family fun gathering, no hassle of party food preparation. Sound great, don't you?

I may end up trying to golf myself some time. Who knows?

'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids', not really

I have to confess that I am lying if I say that I am tired of taking flower pictures. It just like telling that I don’t like my grand children while I am thinking of them all the time.  It is awfully difficult for me not to pick up my camera when the flowers are in full bloom and the sun is pouring out its magical golden potion.

Flowers are in such a vast variety that we probably won't never run out of shooting ideas. We can use different lens and technic for variation and diversity. I feel lucky that I am able to live through this technology explosion era and have abundant freedom and resource to go about. I am learning some, tons more to learn.  But just for a few technic and tips that I know, I have amused myself a great deal. 

I have retirement time in hand, but my time shrinks dramatically if I choose a few to play.  My mind wanders and my inspiration comes simultaneously when the image prospective is changed. It is so much like what I used to do in the past, new product development.  Even better, nobody watches over my shoulder and I don’t have a deadline to meet. Best of all, I get to do it at home comfort and no office politics. Some day I will write about my old workspace, my version of The Office'. 

Remember Rick Moranis' movie 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'?  That was a piece of creative and imaginative work that I can still remember it up to this day. I love the picture I took for my daughter and grand girl. The little girl did not know what Mom was doing behind her, but they certainly rhymed well as you can see. Lady bugs are everywhere, I usually don't think about shooting them except this one, the Lady glows in the sunlight, different from what I usually see.

I did not have intention to shrink my daughter and grand daughter, but when I zoomed in the lady bug, it looks crisp clear and shining. Almost immediately I linked it to my grand daughter's picture. To make it more like a scene in 'Alice Wonderland', I painted the background slightly to dramatize the fantasy effect. Flower is not the main subject, but I cannot do without the flower.

It is not easy for us to see grand children. Long drive. Short visit. Snap shots. No time to consider better light or suitable background. I often brought home hundreds of shots, but most of them are taken in low light and among the piles of kids toys.  For little ones' pictures, I tend to keep more than what I should, for sentiment, no quality concerns. I have been waiting to do some work to these images. Recently I came across a software which helps to remove the background easier and faster than Photoshop. And, I have been addicted to it since.

I love Verbena. I bought three of them this year, different colors and variation. This rich purple looks stunning. Silver-like spots along the center of the flower are sparkling in the sun. I like the images I took, but it is just one of my many flower images, so I use it as backdrop, the stage for my grand daughter. She was licking a spoon from her little kitchen. I just love the turquoise, hot pink and yellow on her, and now the addition of deep purple. Lovely colors, aren't they? I used water color digital paint brush to make the background more painting look and the image more story-like. 

The little girl seems to have lots of personality. She always looks around, checks out things, ponders, makes faces, giggles and of course, makes her point when she is not happy. 

I like the look on her face. I know she found some target and was pondering over. The flower in the background is really beautiful. I think it's the perfect color for my grand daughter, so I blurred it and placed it as a backdrop. 

Mother's face is cut, but her content and loving smile is illustrated. I don't care for the idea to dress little girl's hair with a bow. Don't know where the tradition comes from, not a good one in my opinion. I think it makes the little ones very uncomfortable, a bondage.  My daughter is artistic and has eyes on fashion. She likes to dress up her little princess and she is really good making hair bows to match the outfit. They are very cute, but I would rather trade it for comfort and freedom for the little girl. 

I am in the experiment phase working on composite and I tried not to spend a lot of time on each image. I know I can make the people more blended in with the background, but I thought, cartoon like presentation actually fits better with the unrealistic theme - giant flower and small people. While the last image is a realistic visual , I only toned down the background and use it as enhancement.

Only be more serious about photography in the last two years, I am learning, exploring and experimenting. If you find something interesting to you and curious about how is done, please free feel to email me (chrisk541@gmail.com). I am happy to share and I believe we can grow together with what we know individually. Beauty is in the art of sharing.

Calming by Flowers

Oregon is photographer’s heaven. There are so many places to go for landscape photos and I have only touched a small portion of them.  I love to shoot birds and flowers. Birds and flowers can be occasionally included in a landscape photography shot, but then I have to carry more than one lens and my bird and flower shots will be mostly occasional snap shots that I have been trying to avoid. I really want to get good at certain areas and not to swim among too many possibilities. I want to be focused. I love to learn, but I restrict myself to learn only what will benefit my favorite categories of photography.

I also consider to classify my categories, such as Oregon Life (what Oregonians do for leisure), Love for Birds, Flower Frenzy, Nature in Oregon, Travel Journals (all categories included) and something that I have been wanting to try more, Still Shots around the house. And, the last, certainly not the least, family portrait and event shots. One more, I am growing to like street photography but I would only do it whenever I am traveling, near or far. 

Not a competitive person, I have not thought about entering a contest. I guess winners of the contest will obtain a fame tag to their names. I think I am a bit too far from that level of achievement. What I can do for myself is to come up some projects to challenge myself.  In that case, I would call it Self-Projects.  If my weekly post fits in none of the categories, I will then can call it, Out of My mind, or something like that. Talking focus, but I seem not be able to narrow down my categories. But. I am trying...

Weather has been gorgeous. I have hard time to go out without my camera. I took a walk yesterday without my camera due to a serious back pain, but I regret almost immediately when I saw a pink patch of wheat grass wiggling in the wind.  This passion for photography seems to become an addiction or even a drug that I cannot live without.

I am so dependent on my Android to keep track of my to-do and shopping list, my tasks, my schedules, my small and big ideas and the most important, for emergency need. The moment when my phone is out of sight, I look for it and I don't leave home without it. I was a little desperate this morning because I could not find my phone. I heard Find My Phone app is one source for hackers, so I am not using it.  I need my husband to call me, but he was not answering my email.

Pondering on my retirement life, I realized that I am pursuing an artistic function while still struggling to ease away from the habit that have deeply rooted in me from my years of career life. It will be a working progress for me to bring words like breath, calm, peace, relax back to my daily dictionary. I need them and I want to begin my experiment to reach this goal. I gave myself a photo project: still shots with calm and soothing effect using the materials available at home.

Yellow roses from my garden, a book given by a precious friend that I love, a pink peony, a cushion pillow and my coffee mug. Meanwhile, I control myself to use only one lens, my 50mm. 

I don't have a green thumb, but I happened to grow this yellow rose successfully.  I might not have a single piece of yellow apparel, but this yellow color will take your breath away. I sing Johnny Horton's 'Yellow Rose of Texas' in my mind whenever I see my yellow roses. I love this song. In order to cut a few stems from the plant, I am often scratched and sometimes to bleed by its thick and nasty thorns, but temptation is big that I still go for it.  

I bought 4 peony plants from hardware store two years ago from sales rack and no tag was attached. This year they all bloomed nicely but three of them are the same color pink. I like the hint of its subtle fragrance. The soft pink petals touch your skin and melt your heart.  I however have not been able to take any images that I like. So used to close-up shots that I am always looking for details. Peony has dense layers and beautiful curves on the petals but no intricate details.
However this gives me an opportunity to try something different. I blurred the background and softened the overall tone. Hope you can also take a nice inhale and breathe in its fragrance. Feeling rejuvenated and peaceful.

A cup of aromatic coffee in the morning is a treat, essential for me. Luxury is to enjoy breakfast at an European boutique hotel. Sitting by the window and looking out a manicured but natural garden. English bone china coffee cup/saucer with a dainty silver stir on tidy and classy tablecloth. German pastry or Italian croissant with tasty jam from the small jars. And, I like to crack the boiled egg with my silver spoon and enjoy it on egg holder, small bit at a time.

Things are quite different at home. In order to get my husband out of the door for work, I make breakfast, coffee, smoothies and his lunch box. A sandwich or healthy veggie burritos are fast food in my eyes being an Asian. Though I used mostly leftovers from dinner, I make sure that there is new item of something else and cover all essential nutritions. If there is salad, I make it fresh in the morning. Believe or not, I actually enjoyed to make the lunchbox looking nice and yummy. A bit work for me to joggle between breakfast and lunch, so instead of sipping from a fancy ceramic cup, I gobble down coffee from a mug, fast. I am usually drinking coffee while I am either frying an egg or toasting the bread. My mug is in motion. It is a 20+ year old mug that I brought from California, the only survivor from a set of 3. I cherished it and wrapped it in peony petals.

It is sunny outside, but my house is mostly in the shade except couple of skylights in the kitchen and living area. These skylights set in the vaulted ceiling. By the time when the light hits my subjects, it has been diluted and can only give a little wash to my images. My windows are mostly hidden behind the grown shrubs. I like to see the green and colors through the windows, so I leave it that way.  I placed this rose by the window with a bit of simmering bokeh behind. I toned down colors and shades when I was in the mood to seek calmness and tranquility. Really, I could even hear the fountain in our backyard...

I have to admit that I am getting a bit lazy recently to shoot flowers because there are 'too' (listen to that) many choices that I am a bit overwhelmed. I am also constantly (now you know why I need to stay more focused) to shoot something else other than flowers . I intended to head out to shoot other subjects, but my misplaced phone kept me home and it eventually kept me calm and content. The purpose of this blog will be done if you can also feel the peace and serenity.