The Eye of Patrick

This photo was taken on my recent trip to Thailand. The sun was setting and it was producing some wonderful colours. This is my interpretation of that beauty.

Recently I was in Sapporo for a school event and with the improving weather I decided to take same street photography.

This photo was taken in Sapporo this past spring, when it was Cherry blossom season. I really like this photo becuase of the focus on the simple red leaves and the blur of the background.

Omikuji (御御籤, 御神籤, or おみくじ) are random fortunes written on strips of paper at Shinto shrines in Japan.

The omikuji predicts the person’s chances of his or her hopes coming true, of finding a good match, or generally matters of health, fortune, life, etc. When the prediction is bad, it is a custom to fold up the strip of paper and attach it to a pine tree in the temple grounds. A purported reason for this custom is a pun on the word for pine tree (松 matsu) and the verb ‘to wait’ (待つ matsu), the idea being that the bad luck will wait by the tree rather than attach itself to the bearer. In the event of the fortune being good, the bearer should keep it. Though nowadays this custom seems more of a children’s amusement, omikuji are available at most shrines, and remain one of the traditional activities related to shrine-going, if lesser.

(Wikipedia

This photo was taken at the shrine in Sapporo this past Spring. The fortune I got said “That you had as much patience as a mossy rock which had never moved an inch for a thousands years!” and that it was a “fairly good luck” fortune. So because it was a good fortune I could keep it

Two weeks ago I went to Muruyama Koean in Sapporo for Cherry blossoms (Hanami). The season for Cherry blossoms is later here compared to Osaka or Tokyo due to its more northern location. This means we get ours in May and everyone else gets there is March or April.

A common thing to do when it is Cherrry Blossom season is to get with your friends and have a BBQ. In the more popular places this can mean you have to go really early to lay down your blue tarp so that you can enjoy your bbq later.

Some random tidbits from Wikipedia.

The teasing proverb dumplings rather than flowers (花より団子, hana yori dango^?) hints at the real priorities for most cherry blossom viewers, meaning that people are more interested in the food and drinks that accompany a hanami party rather than actually viewing the flowers themselves. (A punning variation, Boys Over Flowers (花より男子, Hana Yori Dango^?), is the title of a manga and anime series.)

Dead bodies are buried under the cherry trees! is a popular saying about hanami, after the opening sentence of the 1925 short story “Under the Cherry Trees” by Motojirō Kajii.

[edit]

As I was taking this photo I realized it is likely the last time I see Cherry blossoms in Japan as I will be returning to Canada in August when my contract runs out. I likely will keep this blog but more turn it into a photo blog as that is what it seems to becoming.

I hope you enjoy the journey.

Patrick

Spring has come! Atleast that is true here in Hokkaido. With the recent improvement in weather, the flowers have started to bloom. So when i went to play park golf during golden week I saw many wonderful flowers and decided to take their photos. I have recently been expanding outside of my comfort zone with taking photos. I have been trying to play with how it focuses. I really like photos with things blurred in the background and the focus point really crisp. I hope you enjoy.

I went to a shinto Shrine in Sapporo this past weekend to take photos of Sakura. But ended up taking more photos of non-sakura related stuff. This photo is of Ema, which are wood blocks that people write their wishes or dreams on.

According to wikipedia

uma or ma in Japanese (馬); ema means, literally, “horse picture”.　This name originates from the fact that real horses were once offered by the wealthy in exchange for blessings at shrines.

I took this photo in Niseko this past winter with my family. The original version of this photo was not very colorful or exciting. So recently i purchased Aperture by apple to edit my photos and this is one of the first photos that I think I did a good job on. Though the background is a little yellow. But i really like the vibrant nature of the tree coloring and on how it is frame with the trees.