the thing about the yashica

...is that it's BULLETPROOF.

Just kidding. Seriously though, I'm constantly marveling at how dinky the thing (the thing, meaning my Yashica 6x6 TLR) looks and the quality of pictures it gives me. Even though I've been on/off shooting with it since 2012 I don't have the enough experience or knowledge to really comment on the exact mechanics of twin lens cameras. The best thing about working with 120 film is though that it teaches me a whole lot about one thing: shooting.

Why? because shooting with this kind of old camera is hard especially when the internal light meter is broken and you're basically eyeballing the ASA (=ISO) + shutter speed + aperture the whole time, and then since you only get 12 chances you're extra aware of the composition and focus. There was one time I thought I had a roll of film in and supposedly shot all these beautiful pictures of the DC cherry blossoms, only to be shocked and embarrassed later by how stupidly I had forgotten the most important part of shooting film: LOADING FILM.

Medium format is wonderful at shooting portraits, yes, that's basically what most fine art wedding photographers use nowadays, but I think it's awesome at capturing landscape too. It makes you think harder about the composition. And the depth of field. I literally just realized one of my weird tendencies when I shoot, which is leaving a lot of room at the top or just sticking way too strictly to the 'rule of thirds.' I also secretly obsess over empty spaces in photos for whatever reason.

So all in all, I love the way this camera makes me actually think when I'm taking photos. It's a whole another experience working with medium format in film. Lately, with the iPhone camera game so strong I feel like I've forgotten to really think about everything I learned in photography class in college when I shoot. My mentality has sort of become: shoot, like, a lot a lot, and just fix everything (composition, lighting, color...) in photoshop or an editing app later. But I've found that I just end up with like hundreds of very mediocre photos that are not very meaningful because I know I half-assed it. I shoot film not really because of anything else other than wanting to go back to the basics of photography and just the pure quality that gets me every. time.

So anyway, that was my pre-coffee ramble about my beloved Yashica. And film. I LOVE ALL MY CAMERA BABIES. so much.

Miami daze

Miami. Who knew I'd be frolicking around in Miami for a hot weekend this summer? All thanks to Ann Choi, one of the funniest and dearest friends I've ever had, I found myself swimming at South Beach, petting the cutest chihuahua, hanging with some of the smartest and nicest people, dancing to queen BEY and watching Ann rub sunscreen all over the bare back of a complete stranger. So South Florida basically exceeded my expectations in every way possible. I went down there with my trusty Minolta and finally got the photos back today from Film Box Lab - aaaaaannnd I gotta say - I'm absolutely in LOVE.

We spent the weekend at Karen's in North Beach, which was absolutely lovely all around.

Then we took a stroll at PAMM, aka Pérez Art Museum Miami right by the water (I guess in Miami, everything's sort of by the water).

Then we went back to beach because WHY NOT

Oh, and Wynwood Art District was actually one of the loveliest art districts I've visited. We even stumbled into this random TWLOHA gallery party where I ended up bonding with this random girl from Australia over photography. Panther coffee also did not disappoint.

Meet Peanut. THE CUTEST CHIHUAHUA IN THE WORLD!

Oh Miami. Thank you for such a beautiful weekend. :)

All photos taken with Minolta X-700 + kodak 200 + beautifully processed/scanned by Film Box Lab

one cup of coffee

Here's a late Korea travel post from back in March. Named "커피한잔", meaning one cup of coffee, this became one of my favorite coffee shops my cousin and I discovered, tucked inside a small neighborhood behind Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul.

Unlike a lot of contemporary coffee shops I'd stepped into in Seoul, this vintage coffee shop was completely vintage without the pretentiousness. From the exterior, it looks like the shop's been there for ages (maybe it has been. I didn't ask). It's a quiet shop that exhibits a glimpse of what coffee shops might have looked like in 1970s Seoul, with shelves full of vinyls, old comic books and disco balls hanging around in random corners.

Made me feel nostalgic for the... "older" Korea. Why does this country change so rapidly all the time?

crumbs & whiskers! DC's first cat cafe

If you live in DC metro area, you've probably heard of Crumbs & Whiskers - this city's first cat cafe. The place opened not too long ago to much anticipation after its successful Kickstarter campaign (more than $35k! cool), resulting in a long wait list and people being turned away on weeknights. The owner/founder, Kanchan, is my age (I think) and listening to how she came to start gave me a little nudge in my heart, because honestly, opening a cat cafe (or even just a cafe) is not easy. This whole thing, to me, is pretty inspirational.

I wouldn't say I'm a cat person but I still do like cats. Just unfortunate that I'm allergic. Not terribly, but if I touch a cat or be near a cat for more than 10 minutes I'll start going crazy. So how did I survive shooting/doing interviews for ~2 hours at a place swarming with like 30 cats? I'd say the place is pretty well ventilated - and clean. And my sheer willpower to not die.

If you live in DC area and are not repulsed by the sight of cute cats, you should definitely check it out! It's nested in an adorable building in Georgetown and the people (and cats) are incredibly nice. When you first enter the place feels a little tiny but there's a second floor where the VIP cats choose their favorite human to go home with. Jk. But all cats are from the DC Humane Society and are adoptable. When we went, they had been open for 6 days and had 6 cats adopted - so that's a pretty good rate!

^ cat giving me his/her fierce look

And here is Kanchan! (below) I mean, how adorable is she?

Video for PBS NewsHour coming soon!

a long list of unfinished ... stuff.

Fine. I am a serial book starter. I get some major FOMO about missing out on books like some people do with movies or shows. Especially since I wasn't fluent in English until I was 14, I felt like I had missed out on so many great pre-teen reads. So I'd buy those books in high school (i.e. the outsiders, ender's game, naaarnia, etc) and college and never bring them anywhere public, embarrassed about being stuck in the basics. I personally consider the ability to discuss books with people a pleasure and privilege - there's something about revisiting a work of art you pored over for weeks and maybe months (in my case, months) with others who did the same.

There are a lot of books I haven't finished. Murakami's 1Q84. The Nightingale. David Carr's memoir. The American Sniper. Gabriel Garcia Marquez's masterpieces Jason was raving about. Farewell to arms. Uh. Yeah. It's not that I lose interest by chapter 8, I'm just slow. I basically count on future ariel to have finished all of them by the time I grow up and am a better person. Also I usually only read on the bus or the metro, which is probably only like 30 minutes a day. Trust me, I have more excuses...

Is it too late to be starting things over? No one warned me about feeling like I'm losing the possibility of having more possibilities!!

Obviously books aren't the only things I have started and haven't finished... sometimes I bring myself to look back and see how many promises i had made myself and all the things I claimed I would do in my 20s. When I graduated from college exactly 3 years ago, I made a huge list of things I want to do in my 20s (or when I'm still 'young'). YET THERE ARE ONLY FIVE YEARS LEFT. FIVE. (ok maybe not exactly five...but i'm sure i'll make a huge deal when i turn 30) As much as birthdays are fun, they are also actually kind of scary. It's like life gives you cake and then shits on your face. Like, you move to a completely strange city for an internship and before you can decide what you want to do with your life, BAM. You're 25 and feeling kind of old already and also spending a lot of extra income to buy plane tickets for friends' weddings.

Is it too late to be starting things over? Am I spending my prime right? Where did the list go? What happened to living abroad and helping people and making my skills worth it? I know it's not too late right now, but maybe it is time to start being more proactive and start checking stuff off the list.