I am extremely happy to have received some lovely jewelry items from the Q-Pot summer 2016 collaboration with Sailor Moon~! ♥ It’s difficult to capture some of the nuances of these pretty pieces in pictures, but I tried to take advantage of a spot of sunshine to do so. These pictures will be presented without commentary, but I’m planning to follow up soon with a review. 🌟
This is old, but I still wanted to share it! ♥ When I was borrowing a friend’s camera, I went to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. My husband really enjoys visiting museums, and it was one that neither of us had been to. I was excited at the prospect of taking more pictures, so we brought the camera. The museum has a butterfly haven–for me, that was a big draw! It’s a large room with more than 75 species of butterflies. (There are also a few quails running around in the planters! They were so cute~)
The quails were usually moving just a bit too quickly for me to get more pictures of. I wanted to try and record a video of them, but I never seemed to be in the right place at the right time.
It was a magical place to be in. The butterflies are absolutely everywhere. They cling to the walls, the flowers, the rocks, and any other structure in the haven. You can get very close as long as you are patient and move slowly. You’re not supposed to touch the butterflies, so I tried to be very careful. I did have one land on my hair, though, and it really startled me! I had to stop myself from reflexively brushing it off.
I brought the borrowed camera, armed with the macro lens. It was perfect for getting very close-up shots of the butterflies, most of whom were very small.
I enjoyed it very, very much. I hope that someday I can go back. I’d particularly love to go back with another camera and macro lens, to take more pictures! I’d be perfectly content to sit in the haven for several hours just to wait for the right moments.
I don’t usually like to follow a photo set with another photo set, but I have many flower pictures that I’ve really wanted to share. I wish I had shared them several months earlier when I took them!
The camera that I’ve been borrowing isn’t just a basic camera body with the usually-included lens, it’s a camera owned by a friend who takes photography semi-seriously and has all sorts of gadgets and lenses. One of the lenses is a macro lens. To me, “macro lens” was like a magic word. Most of the things that I regularly like to take pictures of, like dolls, toys, and food, are well suited to macro lenses. My friend had told me that flowers were good practice as well, so I tried my best to take many, many flower pictures to try.
I’m not a fancy-schmancy photographer, but I had a lot of fun and wound up with a few pictures that I am very proud of~
I took so many pictures of flowers that I created an entire set on my Flickr: Botanic Garden Floral. I tried to weed out any that were particularly bad or unskilled, but I’m not yet at the point where I can critique my own attempts very accurately. I can only hope-hope-hope that I’ll get better with more practice!
During the meetup at the Chicago Botanic Garden I took many, many pictures using the borrowed DSLR. The sky was very overcast, but I wanted to make use of the gorgeous setting and lovely attendees as best I could. I took a lot of really terrible pictures that day, but I also took some that turned out fairly well~
I really like to take pictures of people in settings with lots of flowers or water features. Flowers and trees often provide a nice frame or general setting. They come in all sorts of colours, and greenery on its own often contrasts well with lolita outfits. Water features, like fountains and pools, seem soothing and relaxing. It’s so tranquil.
I hope that I have the opportunity to take more pictures like this on some other day–maybe before the approaching fall gets too chilly! (Although I do really want to take pictures in the snow, too. There are so many things I can take pictures of in any season!)
Over the past few months I’ve been lucky enough to borrow a friend’s DSLR and experiment with it. I’ve always liked taking pictures, but I haven’t really had a flair for photography, and I had been too frightened by the settings and dials on SLR cameras to want to give one a try. However, now that I’ve used one, I love it! ♥ I’m saving up for my own, but thankfully I’ve been allowed a lot of opportunities to use the borrowed camera.
I brought it with me on International Lolita Day, the first Saturday in June, and took pictures of the tea service at Russian Tea Time. I know that there are several flaws in my pictures, but I’ve really been trying. I have a habit of making everything underexposed that I really need to get better about! It was really rainy that day, but we were seated near the front window of the restaurant, so the natural light was very nice.
Darn, now I want to go to tea again~ Every time I see these pictures it reminds me how much I love scones, tiny sandwiches, and bite-sized desserts accompanied by hot tea. Maybe I’ll bake some scones at home on my next day off~ ♥
The weekend before last I attended the Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown. I keep intending to write about the meetup, but in the meantime I thought I’d at least share some of the pictures that I took~ I love the parade–the bright colours and festivity keep me coming back every year, even though it’s always freeeeezing cold. It was snowing very heavily this year, but I took pictures anyway.
Out of everything in the parade, the dragons are my favourite part. I love the sequins, glitter, and fur! The dazzling, often neon, colours add lots of pop to an otherwise dreary winter day. The frills or scales billow in the wind. When the dragon dancers are having fun being a part of a dragon, it’s even better! They shake the head, open and close the mouth, and make the dragon seem to dance down the street. I love it~! ♥
That said, here are some pictures of dragons from this year’s parade!
The entire set of photos can be viewed on Flickr. (Warning: it is not 100% dragons.)
One of my earlier brand-name lolita items was a skirt I purchased from Kinokuniya Bookstore in New York. It was in 2007, when the store was carrying lolita fashion goods they had intended to sell at a local anime convention. However, sales had not been as promising as they anticipated, and the excess stock was placed in the bookstore. When I arrived there wasn’t much of a selection, but I immediately fell in love with a BABY, the Stars Shine Bright skirt. I spent everything I had on it and insisted on wearing it during the rest of the trip–despite having brought no lolita clothing with me.
It’s been spending a lot of time in my closet, however. I don’t wear skirts very frequently, but I often admire the pattern when I open the closet door. On Mother’s Day I found myself trying to assemble a not-jeans-but-not-overwhelming outfit, and my attention focused on it. The skirt features my favourite kind of print–the artwork is gorgeous and elegant. The colours compliment each other so well. I wish I could wallpaper my house in this print!
The print is inspired by the ballet Swan Lake, with ballet slippers, tiaras, swans, and dancers amidst ribbons and pearls. It’s so pretty that I decided to take some pictures of it. I don’t plan to ever part with this skirt, but just in the event that happens in the future, I’ll have something to remember the splendor of this beautiful art. ♥
I hope that someday I am lucky enough to own other pieces of this series. The jumperskirt and purse are so lovely~ ♥
I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to take some pictures at the gorgeous Fourth Presbyterian Church. This beautiful, gothic structure is amidst the hustle and bustle of the city–right across the street from a famous skyscraper and surrounded by high-end stores. Taxi cabs whiz by while buses honk angrily, but when you step under the stone archway and enter the courtyard it’s an entirely separate place. I feel so happy to be able to take pictures there. The weather was chilly, but not too cold, and the sun was just starting to filter in while we were there.
My husband was my photographer. ♥ He’s very kind to take these pictures for me.
There are more pictures on my Flickr~ (I ought to organize my photostream…)
Pink Milk Tea © Alice 2009 - 2019
This blog expresses the opinions of one girl. Neither she nor this blog is affiliated with any companies listed. Content may not be reposted elsewhere unless by the author herself. The term "lolita" in this blog refers to the fashion style and not any sexual activities or fetishes.