Downwardly Static: June 2014

Sunday, June 29, 2014

"Sunny" Winter Sunday in Melbourne

So I went out today to play around with the Art Filters on my camera. I've particularly been hanging out to try the "Dramatic Tone" filter on a cloudy or stormy day, since it seems to do especially interesting things with clouds. I wasn't wrong!

Most of the photos below have had a bit of post-processing done, but not much. Mostly just to make the contrast even more stark and dramatic. They are all essentially views of the CBD from different points along Southbank.

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Grainy Film

Dramatic Tone

Key Line

Dramatic Tone

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Monday, June 16, 2014

New Real Camera!

I'm finally taking my photography to a higher level - I got an Olympus OM-D EM-5 the other day. Officially it's a birthday present from my parents (thanks mum and dad!), but I bought it and am collecting accessories myself. I'll be reimbursed for the total up to a certain amount.

So far I'm quite impressed by this camera - not that I've had the chance to figure out anywhere near the full capabilities yet.

I couldn't sleep early this morning ("early morning" meaning 3am, the middle of the night really), so I went for a walk to test out the night photography possibilities on Manual setting. The results turned out pretty good, and I'm loving having total control over aperture and shutter speed.

Here are a few of the best shots from the walk:

CBD Closeup

Boat sheds on the Yarra

Three legged statue

Melbourne from Birrarung Marr

Three legged statue from across the river

Melbourne from the southern banks of the Yarra

Melbourne from Southbank

First light over the Sports Precinct

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Asexy Solopoly Adventures in Beijing

I just got back from an 8 day trip to Beijing! It was all organised relatively last-minute, so I hadn't gotten around to talking about it on here before.

Long story short: My long-distance special friend (the one mentioned at the end of this post long ago) was going to be there, so it was a good opportunity to see Beijing and surrounds, as well as to meet up with her.

Near my hotel.

This is actually the first time I've met up with another person who's on the asexual spectrum - and everything worked exactly as expected. We got wonderfully comfortable and affectionate with each other very quickly - and it stayed on a very comfortable asexy level, just as expected.

Now that I've gone home, we already miss each other, but then again - the original long distance connection is still there. It's mostly the head connection that matters, though of course it would totally be cool if we lived close enough to meet up for a weekend of hanging out and cuddles more often!

I've cultivated the Relationship Anarchist mindset for so long now that I don't really even ask myself cliché questions about where a relationship is going. To paraphrase some quotes I've read on Relationship Anarchy from other people: it just is what it is, it doesn't have to "go anywhere". There is no particular destination, the whole point of any relationship is simply to enjoy each other's company for what it is.

No doubt these customized commitments can be more "heavy" if you desire a higher level of practical "life enmeshment" with another person - but when the abstract head connection is 99% of what you're looking for in relationships, and you otherwise want to live a functionally single existence - it's all very easy and low maintenance.

Tiananmen Gate

The RA/solopoly adventures aside, the rest of the trip was mostly a classic "city break". We spent some time checking out the usual Beijing attractions: a daytrip to the Great Wall, hanging out at the Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, etc. I also spent some time plodding around on my own, including checking out the Tiananmen area on June 4th. The security surrounding the square on that day was something else!

Here are some more pics from the trip. I didn't actually concentrate too hard on my photography while there. Most of it was done with my mobile phone camera in fact. I only took my "proper" little Nikon compact to the Great Wall and Summer Palace.