Exploring Inside Lanterns w AKASO EK7000 Action Camera

This camera (AKASO EK7000) does a lot of kool things. I had been exploring with it, because its so tiny, and can shoot wide angle and macro.

And, here's some Misc Video Clips from when I was testing it out... it's very Boho:

Again, thanx for coming to my Blog!

Inside My IKEA Lantern Exploring with a new AKASO EK7000 Action Camera Camcorder

 I wasn't sure what I wanted for Christmas, and mostly I got nothing on that day, aside from a vaporizer, and some candy. But, my little brother sent me some cash which I held onto, and eventually my Aunt also sent me some stuff, including cash... Honestly I REALLY wanted to buy TOON BOOM HARMONY's software but I was $100 short to get a permanent license.

Since I'm a DP/DoP (Director of Photography) on an independent film now, cameras are even more so my life than ever. I had NO IDEA that I would end up in this position, and I'm always still learning as a filmmaker.

So, I really wanted a GoPro "Action Camera", because my father also wants to take my daughter & I to Ft. Lauderdale FL in March. But, those are  easily $400 a pop. Luckily, I know how to hold out and shop for deals on Amazon in Jan-Feb, and 3-day weekend national holidays (USA). That's how I buy nearly EVERYTHING I've ever invested in for camera equipment since 2010.

Action cameras are tiny camcorders, that also shoot stills. You can take them underwater, wear them, commit espionage (tee-hee), etc... So, I found a really comparable that in some ways was a bit better than an actual GoPro on Amazon: The AKASO EK7000 which shoots in 4K, but also can shoot 1080 at high speed up to 120 FPS! It has various exposures and ranges as well.

Inside my LANTERN:


I recommend most people DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME.

The timing on this was CRUCIAL!!!

A flaming candle is VERY HOT, and the camera is made of PLASTIC which can melt.

I literally only had less than 2 min to shoot this, and if it weren't a deep freeze WINTER, I would NEVER had attempted this.

First I tested to see if I could set the camera inside,
I set up the wireless configuration to my iPhone,
Took a test shot,
Lit the candle,
shot the video of myself closing the lantern door,
stopped recording, quickly switched to photo mode,
shot the stills,
abruptly opend & blew out the candles,
Then removed the battery to allow camera to cool down....

There's a SLIGHT mark where the flame JUST started to become a full sized candle flame, and began to melt it....

Action cameras DO CLAIM to handle extreme weather... but NOT FIRE.

Candles take a little while for the flame to become full sized and are usually small at first.

Again, I it were summer I would have NEVER DONE THIS. 
NO WAY.  

Actually, I don't think I will EVER do this again... but, I did get the shots...

Blog Feature + New Instagram Photography Profile

It's no secret that I have an affinity for art, including photography. Well, photography was on my mind last night, and I was observing fellow photographers demo their modes operandi on how they do their XYZ... (The jab is due to the fact that SO MANY "pro" pedigree photographers can be SUCH SNOBS to ametures & "avid photographers" i.e. those with degrees and those without)   I was somewhat surprized how much some popular folks are such hacks, but I still love their work. ;)

I was going back n forth between YouTube, Snapchat, and twitter, when it suddenly occurred to me: Oh, maybe I ought to create a new Instagram profile specifically JUST to showcase my photography... I mean, I DO put in untold hours worth of work, prep, travel, equipment, etc... SO, what the hey! Why not? I mean, i already got multiple blogs, and other media profiles, so why not?


Here's the New Instagram Photography Profile: KLICK HERE

#DSLR #CANON #dslrphotography #YogaMom #selfportrait #mori #morigirl #morikei #nemophilist #wanderlust #wanderer #boho #bohemian #bohochic #makeup #rimmel #makeup #fall #autumn #gypset #whimsical #whimsy #freespirit #maples #newengland #dreamer #dreamy #GreaterBoston #foliage

A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman (@blackunigryphonphoto) on Jan 17, 2017 at 10:39pm PST

Well, sometime after midnight, I threw together a new photography profile....
Next thing I knew, my iPhone was going crazy. Last night I barely even had 30 photos published, and I couldn't turn off the notifications!

So, since my spouse & I had to take the kid to the hospital all the way in Boston for an overdue appointment, I was like: Well, since I've already started posting photos, what's a few more?

What's a few more?
Well, it's CRAZY!

Instagram changed their notification settings, so I finally figured out how to turn the whole thing OFF!

Now I have companies inviting me into affiliate programs & offers, so I have contracts to read through. 

I also woke up this morning to an E-mail congratulating me on winning a FEATURE on a Blog Directory HERE & HERE.

Pics Art

I've been playing around on an App called PicsArt for quite a while. I think I first started playing on it on my Sony Galaxy S in 2012 or 2013 when it was an Editor's Choice pick for Android platform.

I just got a new Apple iPhone 6 last month as a gift, and it's even better than the version on my old 2011 Galaxy S model phone. 

People are even more social than ever on there, and I quite like it. I often find it to be better than Instagram, other than not having video which my iPhone now does that my Galaxy did not. 

Here's my PicsArt Gallery. 

I quite enjoy bohemian, gypset, rave, psychedelic, dreamy, exotic, ethereal, and fantasy themes, but i like strait of photography of landscapes, and macro plant/flower studies, and wildlife.

Crazy New England Snow!

At the moment, I'm up here in the frigged North Eastern Coast of the USA, in New England. I'm in the South Shore area of Greater Boston in South Weymouth. I certainly DO NOT plan to be here forever. Screw that!

It is so friggin' cold, and this year it's supposed to be an El Niño year, so we were expecting more warm pockets of air for winter... and yes we did get some, but the planets ability to self regulate can also trigger extreme colds instead in an attempt to self-cool or compensate for the average temperatures rising of the entire globe over the longer periods.

In 2012, it was incredibly warm here in winter, and even 2011 wasn't very snowy, but this extreme cold winter trend has been going on for a while. You just can;t predict it anymore because the situation is so unstable and unbalanced that crazy weather like this happens. Even the Boston weather men now admit their computer models can't predict with certainty on these blizzards anymore.

These photos were take on Friday last week, and already the snow is much higher, and is still coming. It's very cold, and due to my asthma, I cannot go outside.

My daughter is on vacation from school right now, and last week the weather was so bad she couldn't go to school, and it was closed. The highways were closed in some places, and the public transportation is still down in some places.

it's such a deep freeze that I could only go outside for about 20 seconds to take these pictures. I had to wrap up my head to keep the body heat on me, and I probably shouldn't have gone out in my slippers.

I will probably be blogging some of my photography of the snow on my photography blog.

Chinese Bridal Studio Photos

These photos were shot in May of 2002, in Chinatown of Flushing New York (NYC) USA.

We had already married at the courthouse in January that year (just a few months after September 11th, 2001) literally across the street, diagonally, from Ground Zero. There was smoke & steam still streaming from the wreckage & ruins, with posters and candles everywhere, and people crying asking if you had seen their missing loved ones.

Honestly, I generally hate weddings, and never wanted to get married, EVER. I still have no idea how I got married twice, and both times I didn't even think the person was serious, because all the men in my life scoffed at the idea of marriage, just like I did. However, since the day I turned 18, all over social media, like ICQ, AIM, and my e-mail inbox was full of marriage proposals from men all over the world, from Hong Kong, to South Korea, to Egypt, to Saudia Arabia. I sat at my mother's boyfriend's computer, after having been battered by my own father, the day before my birthday, after coming home from the doctor, and put on muscle relaxers, and read through all kinds of messages feeling completely dumbfounded, since the most of my concerns at that time was not even my birthday, nor starting my Senior Year of High School, but never wanting to see my father again, and wondering what to do at my newest job, at AMC in Marlton NJ, and worrying over not getting more hours since I was on muscle relaxers, since I barely had any hours when I was 17.

But, back to THIS photo shoot.
I'd been dieting, and so was my spouse, the whole year, and he even use one of those electric facial muscle shock thingies, to make his face look tighter. my Spouse is 10 years older than I am.Also, my spouse was very wealthy when I first knew him, and even tho' we all griped about the economy being terrible, it was FAR BETTER than today.

The qipao is not mine. It's the studio's. It was some artsy-fartsy place in Flushing Chinatown. There were several to choose from. I picked this one because I liked their whole window display better than the other ones, and when we went inside they went all out in accommodating us. We booked the photoshoot day after we actually got married that January, and booked the photoshoot for May. I have no idea WHY but photoshoot appointemnts seem to ALWAYS also end up being the day I am ovulating, or the day after, so I often bloat up.

We got there around 7:30AM, and it took about 7 hours to do my makeup, and hair the first time. After that, they would quickly change my hair and makeup quickly between studio themes.

People often comment about "how Chinese I look" meaning my gestures, poses, or postures... (because I'm clearly NOT ethnic Chinese) I had no clue what they meant for several years... but, I've realized what they mean now, after having lived in China so many times. In American, or Western, cultures there are certain cultural gestures, or poses, or demeanor that people do, such as ways they tilt their head, or express themselves, and even facial expressions. At the time I did not know this... so, how were these "very Chinese expressions" achieved? Simple. The photographers were a team, and one of them would be the director, and coach how I would pose, or facial expressions to make. THEY were Chinese. I had no clue what I was posing to "be like". Just following their directions.

I DID NOT EAT the entire day, and refused as much drink as I could, and just the small amount I DID drink, really bloated me right up.  So frustrating! Hormones! ARG!

So, by the time were were done, and it was SO HOT outside, I was starving and thirsty.

Here is the Chinese Peking Opera Bridal look. I specifically wanted THIS hat! I'd recalled this bridal hat from older portfolios. When I mentioned it, they looked for some older portfolios, and said: Ah, yes! I have it! Then went into the basement, found it, and affixed it to my head.

You know what I LOVE about this hat? It looks SO GREAT, right? Amazing!
Right?
It's made almost ENTIRELY of plastic, rubber, and metal springs. And it's spray painted! HAHAHA!

But, it looks fabulous in the shot!

The opera clothing is actually a real Opera costume, and made of silk.

We bought the deluxe, most expensive package of photography. I also own the negatives.

I have so many of these photos, I should share more.