Sami Serola (inactive)'s photos with the keyword: hands

“The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge while an ordinary man takes everything as a blessing or a curse.” ― Carlos Castaneda One thing I have always found fascinating about photography is to challenge oneself to overcome the technical limitations. In 2010 I for example used 3 MP mobile phone camera a lot, and learned many creative ways to take and edit if not technically good but at least interesting images. During this year I have decided to focus using a mobile phone camera again, and also learn at least something about black and white photography. One of my all time inspiration on photography has been Jesper Høm's and Sven Grønløkke's 'Børnenes Billedbog' (DE: Kinderbilderbuch, FI: Kuvis - uusi kuvakirja): www.achtung.photography/jesper-hom-sven-gronlokke-bornenes-billedbog-1975 My sister had a copy of it when we were young, and later on I manage to find the book from one antiquarian bookshop. So, the reason why I have always loved images of simple things very likely comes from that picture book. I remember how me and my brother once talked about this concept of shooting ordinary everyday items and scenes, when I was something like 18 years old, and just starting to learn photography more seriously. I guess the whole idea is to capture something that is meaningful to almost everyone. And presenting the image as a poor quality black and white somehow makes clear it is indeed only an image, a shadow on the wall of Plato's cave, aka an image of an idea. For example feather is a feather in everyday life context, but an image of a feather is an idea of a feather, and therefore also all of it's symbolic meanings becomes more obvious, I think... I also recently became interested on an idea of keeping a "photo journal", where I think the goal is to record and report the work-flow behind the image. For this shot the flow was rather interesting indeed. I first of course started from The Sunday Challenge, which was feather(s) for this week. During the week I was also seeking information on Canon G5x camera, and I accidentally discovered The Art of Photography "vlogs and blogs" by Ted Forbes: www.youtube.com/channel/UC7T8roVtC_3afWKTOGtLlBA www.facebook.com/TheArtofPhotography Ted Forbes had just recently started an online assignments when I discovered his videos and Facebook pages. There he introduces the technique of keeping a photography journal. My first reaction was that I really can't get printed any of my pictures, or write something about every single shot I take on daily bases. But then I realized it would be nice and useful to write at least few words even once or twice a week, and I could just as well do it digitally. After all, the point of any journal is to stop for a moment to reflect what one has done. By formulating it in words, it then helps one to recall things better. So from my daydreams of buying a new camera, and digesting this week's feather challenge, I slowly started to think not only how to use a pair of feathers I had at home, but also how to use my technically limited tools creatively. I also recalled all the things related to mysticism I have read or heard about during my life. And then it suddenly hit me. I have once been interested on Carlos Castaneda's fictional stories about "his training in shamanism". Although Castaneda's books have soon found out as totally fictional, the stories still have been a great inspiration for many artist, like Milo Manara, and perhaps also for Storm Thorgerson, who has made a very cool music video for Pink Floyd's *Learning to Fly': youtu.be/nVhNCTH8pDs After following this path of thinking, I immediately knew the scene I want to shoot, the scene where the main character on video attaches the feathers on his arm. I first had ideas on how to take just similar image as on the video (person seen against the blue sky). BUT then I started to think I want to use one of my favorite point of view, to shoot from the "first person view", and show my both arms like seeing them on front of my own eyes. And when testing how it would look seen through the wide angle (24mm equivalent) lens, I realized I can include also my feet. Finally through several test shots, I end up to this composition seen on the picture. For the background I chose a shag rug and dark shade of a sofa, to make the background as dark and rough as possible. The technical challenge when taking this shot was to use a self timer, and place the mobile phone camera in a position that shows my both hands and feet in the picture. Finally I end up using screw clamp camera holder to hold the camera with my teeth. Not a very comfortable approach, but it worked! Then because the shot was pretty poor in quality, I decided to use 'selective Gaussian blur', and then turn it into black and white. Finally I got the idea to tell this story, to record and report what I had done and why. And I also decided to seek the reference on that book that has always been my great source of inspiration. The overall outcome was that I really enjoyed the whole process, found number of interesting sources, and learned plenty of new things =)

" Damn good coffee! " Or at least good enough to get the day started. Around here it is popular to drink "brewed coffee" made with electric drip coffeemaker. There are then few things to consider in order to get good coffee: Use separate clean jar to fill the reservoir. Never use the coffeemaker's own carafe to fill the reservoir, unless you clean the carafe after every use. What you do not wish to have is the remains of earlier made coffee to circulate through the pipes of the coffeemaker. There is for example surprisingly lot of coffee grease stains left after each time you brew the coffee. Use fresh and cold water. Especially if you use tap water, make sure it is cool and fresh enough. Water standing long time inside the copper or plastic water pipes starts to take taste from them. If you wish to save water, then consider filling glass bottles and store them in the fridge. Use proper grind for your coffeemaker. Coffee packages are usually marked with symbols and texts to indicate how the grind is supposed to be cooked. Find out what is the best roast and brand for your taste. I used to favor light roast coffee, but I discovered it is then usually also more acid than dark roast, and therefore causes heartburn (gastroesophageal reflux). Moreover, the brand I used to favor was sometimes shoddy and bitter. Therefore I changed to less acid dark roast and more homogeneous brand. Filter paper may matter. Purists recommends to use oxygen bleached coffee filter paper. I am not a purist ;-) Brew several pots of hot water through the coffeemaker, if it has been unused for long time. If you are not using the coffeemaker on daily bases, and especially if it has been unused for over a week, it is better to clean the pipes before you make coffee with it. Clean the coffee maker regularly. Wash the funnel and carafe once a week, or at least once a month. Moreover, use cleaning agents or vinegar every now and then to clean the pipes as well. What comes to my 366 coffee project at Instagram and Twitter, it has been started well. ➽ How to Clean a Coffee Maker with Vinegar at wikiHow ➽ Me at Instagram ➽ Me at Twitter ➽ Me at Facebook UPDATE January 9, 2020: Storage your coffee in cool and dry place. I prefer to use ready ground coffee because I drink coffee on daily bases, and like to get the grinds homogeneous. If one makes coffee less often, then it is probably better to buy coffee beans and grind them at home with a coffee grinder. But then you also need to pay attention on the grinding process and keep your grinder clean. Some say it is better to keep the coffee grind package even in the fridge, to avoid the coffee oil become rancid. But when drinking coffee somewhat every day, I think ground coffee is way more easy. Although, grinding the coffee from beans of course can be a very enjoyable part of the process. ➽ Whole Beans Vs Ground Coffee: What’s the difference? at Craft Beverage Jobs

Picture from my #366 #2016 Instagram project.

But how? Inspired by The Sunday Challenge 'Looking down'.

...the phrase: "A picture is worth a thousand words." However... ...a picture often works only as a reference to the story. Therefore a good story is worth a thousand pictures.