Tag: Photography

Ace of Hearts

Matsuda Mashimaru3 Comments
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Took her photo at Bhaktapur, Nepal while I was on my morning walk along the alleys. This is my second visit to Nepal

2017.01.12 … time flies, it’s the 12th day of 2017 and I am still not over 2016 yet. Another new year ahhhh. Last year I opted a ‘no’ new year resolution for 2016, a year of exploring and wandering with no obligation to achieve anything, just following the flow and enjoying my moment. A care-free 2016 …

Papier Mache Doll of Nepal
2-sided Papier Mache Doll of Nepal

I aged another year … yeah! being a woman, aging sucks. I had a minor surgery last month just 2 days before my flight to Nepal. Being a stubborn woman I happily checked out from the hospital, pack my cameras and headed to the airport for my flight to Kathmandu.

Well … what could go wrong right? Except that … I am not young anymore and recovery takes time. Carrying 2 DSLRs on my back and walking around Kathmandu, Pokhara and Ghandruk felt like a chore. Hmm … lesson properly learned. But, I survived …

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A steel bridge connecting villages separated by cliffs

I want to go the opposite direction for this year … and I’ll start with having new RESOLUTIONs for 2017.

But … I want realistic resolutions that would motivate me to be a better me. Not some unachievable resolutions that would at the end makes me felt incompetent with my own beloved self. So … I’ll have 3 new resolutions for 2017 then, just to keep it realistic and 1 old resolution that I always silently yearn for each year.

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A family wefie in front of Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu

I want to adopt a ‘win’ attitude this year. Yeah … that kiasu attitude “this girl gotta win in anything that she decided to do”. I am just curious on how does it feel to be a winner for at least a year ha ha ha.

I want to create more in 2017. More quality writing, more quality photos, more quality videos, more time for quality reading, more time for quality sleep and more time for love.

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No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted ~ Aesop. A new friend at Pashupatinath temple, Kathmandu 
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Observing life along the alleys at Ason Bazaar, Kathmandu
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Enjoying my morning light on the street while observing life here
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Staring eye to eye with strangers on the road
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Playing with afternoon light at one of the alleys at the market

I want more backpack trips either solo or with a small group of friends to most strange land and meet up with all kind of kindness along the way. It is gonna be my way or the highway ha ha ha <—evil laugh. And lastly, my same old silent resolution each year is to have more HIM time. HIM … the Creator of all these beautiful moments that I am immensely in love with. Bliss …

Ahh I am sleepy … maybe it is time for a short nap. Bye for now.

Cheers

MM

Wandering Soul

Matsuda MashimaruLeave a comment

New places always excite me.

I could spend hours just wandering and observing my surroundings for something to learn from or just something to look at. Sharing 5 of my favourite portraits that whenever I look at them… I feel like packing my bag and starting wandering on the street again.

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Leaving the Nest

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The little butterfly and its previous home

I was watering my garden last week … honestly not sure if I should label my 5 potted plants as a garden … I am a self-proclaimed minimalist, having more than 10 plants at my home would disqualify me from my minimalist self-titled hu hu hu … I shall think so (an excuse to remain as lazy as possible).

Okay … back to my story. I was watering my plants last week when I noticed a newly ‘born’ butterfly … she (I prefered to call it she because it was beautiful) just came out from her cocoon. She was drying her wings and strengthen her limbs preparing for her first take-off.

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Mesmerizing beauty

I used to shot macro. Quit doing it and focusing more on traveling and flying instead but … I am a moment photographer … I could just revert back to any photography genre just to capture moments, right?

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Drying her wings by flapping it slowly

I shoot this with my 105mm Nikkor f2.8 lens. I love that lens … the color and the bokeh that came out from this lens is dreamy. Photos were taken handheld … moments like this could pass by in split seconds and you need to be quick with you camera.

Looking at this little missy makes me wonder about my own life too. When the nest is finally empty … the one who left behind in the nest would either feel delusionally lost or probably decided to move on to the next nest.

Figured that … what makes a beautiful nest, is not the nest itself but the butterfly. Deep … 🙂 and  I want to be that butterfly.

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Little missy being impatient watching me

And at last after not more than 10 shots … my beautiful model decided to take-off and explore her new world. Leaving me behind … thinking that I should sharpen up my macro skill lol.

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Little missy showing off her new wings

Beautiful moments, only if you choose to open your eyes and decide on ‘seeing’ ….alhamdullilah.

Bye for now,

Cheers.

MM

ps- “The journey.” ~ by Rumi

Come, seek,

for seeking is the foundation of fortune:
every success depends upon focusing the heart.
Unconcerned with the business of the world,
keep saying with all your soul, “Ku, ku,” like the dove…

Even though you’re not equipped,
keep searching…

Whoever you see engaged in search,
become her friend and cast your head in front of her,
for choosing to be a neighbor of seekers,
you become one yourself…

Day and night you are a traveler in a ship.
You are under the protection of a life-giving spirit…

Step aboard the ship and set sail,
like the soul going towards the soul’s Beloved.
Without hands or feet, travel toward Timelessness
just as spirits flee from non-existence.

…By God, don’t linger
in any spiritual benefit you have gained,
but yearn for more like one suffering from illness
whose thirst for water is never quenched…

Leave the seat of honor behind:
the Journey is your seat of honor.

View at 6000ft via Paramotor at Tekah Airfield

Matsuda Mashimaru5 Comments
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at Tekah Airfield on October 01, 2016 with my flying buddy

I always wonder.

On how would our earth look like from 10,000ft high up on air from a paramotor ride? Just you and your bared machine up high above the cloud looking down upon the earth with both of your feet dangling in the air at 10,000ft … wohooo!

I said yes when my PPG friends (powered paraglider) invited me to their latest flying event, a Malaysian Book Of Record (MBOR) challenge to fly as high as 10,000 – 15,000 feet up on air this coming December as their professional photographer.

They had a few rounds of training at Tekah Airfield, Taiping, Perak.

I tagged along as part of the team and as the flying partner to En. Tazza. Flying with him is always a good vibe. It seemed that both of us adore flying so much that whatever people said about us, we would still be a good partner. Last weekend on October 1st and 2nd were their second MBOR training. They planned to test their physical endurance and engine capability while attempting to reach at least 6000ft to 8000ft.

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imagine your feet dangling on air at 6000 ft

The wind was gusty that morning.

We were swaying from left to right, up and down dangling on the airspace. I nearly vomited out my early morning ‘nasi lemak’ (breakfast) 😛 … oh boy! after hours and hours of flying with them I still experienced air sickness, It showed how gusty the wind was that morning.

Since ‘giving up’ has never been my favourite words. So, we kept on going.

The gutsy wind finally settled calmly as we ascended exceeding 3000ft and we started to feel the chill and oh my God! the view was priceless. Look at how huge the airspace was. Oh, the word ‘priceless’ felt underrated … the view was awesome A+++.

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at 1935m = 6354 ft … bullseye! we reached the target
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the view at 6000ft
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the view at 6000ft
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the view at 6000ft
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at 6000ft … and that fluffy clouds on the left

I often get misunderstood by my viewers.

Guess that professionalism is still unknown to some of my conservative audiences. It may seem like I am the only woman in the team but as a frequent traveller and a professional photographer, this is a normal on-the-job environment for me. I didn’t feel awkward at all as I am not doing anything wrong … religiously or morally. The view up there is worth all the bad mouth rumours on the ground.

People do talk but having a mutual understanding between me and my subjects makes my work comfortable and easy … truly blessed!

“To live is the rarest thing in the world, most people just exist. That is all.” ~ Oscar Wilde

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at 6000ft we blend well with the surrounding
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been here, done that!

Yeay … been there, done that! and I am slowly moving on to my next project.

Preparing myself to get lost in Jogjakarta, Indonesia in mid-November. This is going to be my 3rd time wandering in Jogjakarta … this time around I will be joining my local photographer friend hunting for lights around the beaches, jungles, hills, paddy fields and some bushes outside Jogjakarta. Wish me well …

Bye for now

Cheers,

MM

ps – I am leaving it all to Allah, he is the best of planners. Ameen …

And [remember, O Muhammad], when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or evict you [from Makkah]. But they plan, and Allah plans. And Allah is the best of planners. [Al-Anfal verse 30]

Beyond the Fog of Mt Bromo

Matsuda Mashimaru2 Comments

Mt Bromo
Morning at Mt Bromo hmmm … dreamy!

I visited Mt Bromo at Probolinggo in East Java, Indonesia for the third time last July 2016. I heard from my friends that Mt Bromo was actively coughing off smokes out of its opened crater for the last few months … and I couldn’t resist the temptation for a quick weekend gateway.

We traveled in a very small group this time around. Just the three of us … leaving behind the rest of our “Sailangers” travel mate. I began to love traveling in a small group. Less drama and less need to socialize among us … which mean more time for observing and mingling around with the locals.

Tengger people of Probolinggo was celebrating their Yadnya Kasada festival that week and we intended to observe the ceremony. The ceremony was for the Tengger Hindus to express their gratitude to their believing Gods for good harvests and fortunes bestowed upon them.

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Dramatic sunset that afternoon … the drizzling rain brought along thick fogs

It rained during the 4 days of our stay at Cemoro Lawang, Probolinggo.  The last 2 days were a bit forgiving as we managed to catch morning sunrise before the fog and the rain started to concur the area.

The drizzling rain brought along thick and unpredictable fog that comfortably snuggled  Mt Bromo alley into a deep dreamy sleep. At first, I thought that I was cursed … but rain, fogs, clouds and smoky landscape are always been my favorite moment. The reason why I still love flying with my paramotor/ PPG buddy is because of this dreamy imagination that one day I might stumble into a beautiful thick clouds formation during our flying stint.

Raining morning … at day 1 after a disappointed sunrise
Doing street on a raining morning …
Moody looking jeep at Mt Bromo … waiting for the rain to stop
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Mt Bromo jeep

Well …  a sure challenge for a landscape or ‘chasing the light’ photographer when the sky is dark and the rain is dancing in the air. This is what I called … a lesson of letting go. Nature is teaching us to learn to let go … nature is beyond our human control and I need to learn to let go, this is not my moment yet. Full stop!

dreamy … dreamy landscape
smoky dreamy landscape
The clouds and the sky … lovely
us … in the fog

Once I decided to accept my fate … wallah! the sun start peeking out from the thick fogs … and presented us with a dramatic landscape view of Mt Bromo. Ahhhh … blessing in disguise  alhamdulilah … couldn’t ask for more. And … clicking the camera shutter once again … is an exciting thing to do 😛

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Us … looking for the best angle 😛

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Us … doing what we always do … shooting the target 😉

My DSLR is getting heavy and heavier lately … I blamed it on my ‘aging’ 😉 process . My heart still feels young and energetic but my shoulder started to crank up, my knee started to lose its vigor too … damn!

So … I bought a new tool for this trip … a Ricoh GR2 camera, a boxy old fashion looking dude with hmmm an acceptable image making ability. Pictures shared in this post were all taken from my boxy little Ricoh GR2 camera. Not bad for a small point and shoot camera …

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Smoky dramatic Mt Bromo taken with my boxy little Ricoh Gr2 dude

Life is full of wonder … and having a curious mind could always work wonder. Ahhh … I want more and more of this.

 

Bye for now

 

Cheers

MM

 

ps -“Creativity is intelligent having fun.” ~ Albert Einstein