Featured: Buttons

My friend has started an Etsy store selling handmade, miniature, felt dolls. What's so special about them is that they each contain a unique button. These buttons are old buttons that have been recycled to make dolls rather than go to waste (I'm pretty sure that's what she said to me). Their hairstyles and clothing are all based on that button. I think they are very cute and stylish and I can see that a lot of hard-work and love has been put into them. They also have their own unique names too (the one in the pic above is called Daisy). Please take a look and support her (and the environment) by purchasing one! They can be used as keychains and I think they are very cute gifts for your girlfriends/boyfriends, mums and sisters or just to decorate your already overly-decorated mobile phones. Also, I think she might be making male versions and other accessories in the future, so do go back in the future if you don't find anything you like right now.

In case you missed the link: http://buttonsbyjs.etsy.com/

"In And Around The House" - Pleasant Surprise

What a pleasant surprise. I was bored so I picked up my camera to take some photos of the clouds and the sun on my porch, just like the ugly photo above. I thought that I could add it into that long forgotten "In and Around the House" challenge. But when I zoomed into the sun (Never look directly into the sun. It hurts a lot and it damages your eyes permanently) and played around with the shutter speed, I discovered a whole new world. The one below was a bit washed out and blown, so I messed around with the colours and added a blueish tint. Looks kinda moody and dramatic I reckon. 

But the real surprise was the last two. They weren't retouched, other than a tiny bit of contrast added. The sky is all black because of a fast shutter speed (1/2000 to 1/8000), a very small aperture (f/16) and a low ISO (100). So this combination turned a sunny, blue sky afternoon into some dramatic, dark sky. They look like nebulas and star dust in space! It's amazing what underexposure can do. And because of the polarising effect of the clouds, you could actually see the shape of the sun behind the clouds in the second last photo.

Added some tonal adjustments.

Added a bit of contrast and lightened it up a little bit.

That's the sun there on the right side of the photo. That dark brown spot looks like a violent space storm.

I got these crazy colours straight out of the camera.

Mid-Autumn Festival

It is the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節) today! It's that time of the year when Chinese people stuff themselves with mooncakes, burn lanterns and candle wax and take a few short glances at the full moon. My sister set up a few lanterns in the backyard patio last night. I took a few photos with my iPhone and a few more with my DSLR and they turned out kind of eerie and sad. Quite strange but I do quite like them (particularly the iPhone ones)!

中秋節快樂!

P.S. By the way, this post can qualify for that long-forgotten "In and Around the House" challenge!