A few of photos and some anime waffle

I’m pleased to say that I’ve been getting a bit more use out of my camera in recent months, as you may have guessed by the slow but steady increase in photo’s featured in the blog. I’ve got two more for you here, though they are both just snapshots. Monday night I dropped in to visit Ben and Heather after work, where a slap up meal was provided before Samanta dropped by and we all got comfortable to watch a film. Before that started however Ben and myself got our nerd on, and started playing with camera equipment. He’s just got a new Canon battery grip for his 350D (which I highly recommend, as mine has never been off the camera since I bought it a year ago). Ben also has a ‘proper’ flash, and I decided to have a play with it on his camera. ~~Unfortunately I’ve not got any of those shots as they were on his camera~~ I got hold of those shots, they’re now here for you to see, but I did get these with mine and my paltry on-camera flash. Flash isn’t something I’ve ever bothered with, as I’ve always hated the flat and harsh look on-camera flashes produce. It turns out I’ve been a bit silly, and after Dawson’s showcasing of what off-camera flashes and ring flashes can do for a photograph, I’ve been convinced that I want to learn more. Which is why I’ve bought a book about lighting from Amazon.

Other than that I do not think I’ve been up to much since the last blog entry. I bought Princess Mononoke at the same time as my new book, and having watched it I’ve decided Anime is leagues ahead of western cartoons. In fact, the genre is so different that I find it ‘wrong’ to think of Anime as a cartoon. It’s really a feature film which just happens to be animated - it has none of the associations and connotations of the westernised version of the media. The few anime features I’ve seen all have deep plots and ask searching questions about important things (nature vs modernisation, ethics in science, etc.,). Princess Mononoke is also one of the most artistic and beautifully drawn cartoons I’ve ever seen. So, it turns out Akira wasn’t a one off smiley icon: wink I have Spirited Away on my wish list, but I’m waiting for Amazon to get more stock. Same with Ghost In The Shell.