Dune Hiker

Exploring.

[dunehiker]

Japan Train Rescue

[dunehiker]

Origami packaging. It's one of the first things I learned when I first got Kunihiko Kasahara's "Origami Omnibus". Just finished wrapping up something.

[w0odennails-deactivated20210809]

This is my dog, Lily. My sister and I bought her, without my dads permission and brought her home as a puppy about a year ago. My dad hates her, but me & my 2 sisters love her to death. This dog helps me cope with my depression and shes always great company to my sisters and I. My dad describes her as “tolerable." Today, after having this dog for over a year, my dad is saying she needs to go, while he is angry at us for bringing her home, she has become part of the family and we can’t get rid of her, it’s too painful. After begging my dad for a while, he was still stuck on getting rid of her. I mentioned tumblr as a final option, and surprisingly he agreed to it. If I can get 200,000 notes by the end of July, we can keep her. He thinks it’s impossible, but I have faith. I’ve seen tumblr do it before. Please guys help me, I love this dog more than myself. Please oh please :c 

[qwordy]

Everyone get this guy notes and let them keep the puppy!  

[dunehiker]

It's been a while since I posted items from my Etsy shop. So here's a hump day small sampling of recent additions to the Dune Hiker shop. You can use coupon code DNHKRTUMBLR for a 10% off discount on purchases $5 or over (expires July 31). From top to bottom:

stab-bound notebook

red roses film photo print

kumihimo-braided keychain fob

origami envelopes

etegami note card

[dunehiker]

How much of a photography geek am I? That was a question I asked myself when I was rescanning some film that I took a few years ago and saw a photo that I took of my Vivitar LI55—that's the camera in the first photo above, and I took the photo using expensive film, too. Notice the purple rhododendron in the picture? Well the color just about matches the color of the camera in real life, it's just washed out in the photo. And, actually, the camera is more purple than the rhodie.

I got the Vivitar LI55 where I usually get my old used cameras—from a thrift store, for around a dollar. Nicely put, it is a toy camera. Or even more nicely, a lomography camera. Or, how should I put it. It's not a camera you pick up to take nice pictures.

So I posed this toy camera with a pretty rhododendron with a matching color and took its photo using expensive film. How much more of a photography geek am I? I remember taking apart this camera so I could clean some of the parts which had accumulated dust. To its credit, it still worked when I put it back together. How much more? Well, I also used the camera. The second photo above was shot using the Vivitar LI55. The light fall-off from the center of the lens is massive. But note how wide the angle is.

Funny thing about this camera, below the lens it says, "Japan Optics." Well, that ought to count for something. And I do believe this camera goes by other names. For example, the Kodak KV270 can still be bought online if you know where to look.

[dunehiker]

Colorful string can be so enticing.

[dunehiker]

I'm learning kumihimo, which is a Japanese braiding method that dates back to to the 8th century. Kumihimo (組紐) is Japanese for braid or braided cord. It's quite an interesting craft. Skilled practitioners of the craft can make amazingly beautiful braids. Apparently, obijime, the cord which is tied around a kimono's obi, is a kumihimo braid. I would guess obijime is made of silk cord.

I don't have the right cords yet, so I've been practicing with hemp cord, which stretches a lot after it has been braided—not really ideal. I hope to get some suitable (and colorful) kumihimo cords and findings soon. (The cords are not cheap.) I already have a prototype for a kumihimo keyring and have improvised a tool which facilitates the procedure for making them.

Another welcome Japanese connection.

[marisalucille]

No Trespassing.

Columbia, SC

[dunehiker]

What day is it? Why is FedEx making a delivery to me on a Saturday? What did I do to deserve this? Do I have my days wrong again?

[dunehiker]

Just sat down in front of the computer to clean a lot of dust artifacts off a scanned image. My scanner thought they were birds. Digital ICE changes its mind a lot. Sometimes it removes the dust, sometimes it thinks it's part of the image.

[dunehiker]

Here's an end-of-the-week roundup of items added this week to my Etsy shop. Several 5 by 7-inch photo prints and small flat note cards were added. A smattering of blue seems to have crept in without my planning it. So here are the blues. Check them out on the Dune Hiker shop. Use coupon code DNHKRTUMBLR for a 10% off discount on items priced $5 or more.

I am now working on producing larger folded note cards and 8 by 10-inch photo prints.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

[dunehiker]

Oops, I mistook some birds in a film that I scanned for scanning artifacts and obliterated them. It's really hard to distinguish between birds and scanning artifacts if the birds are far away. I promise to put you back in the photo, birdies.

[dunehiker]

Time to rescan a ton of film. With Digital ICE on, this will take a while. High resolution FTW.

[dunehiker]

Here's an end-of-the-week photo roundup of recent items listed on my Etsy shop this week: Black and white photo prints and hemp key fobs. Check out my shop for more information about these items. Use coupon code DNHKRTUMBLR for a 10% off discount on any item priced $5 or more.

Have a great weekend everyone!

[dunehiker]

Six petals on Flickr.

Sized with glue after folding to maintain the form.

[dunehiker]

Some geese on Flickr.

[dunehiker]

I added a black and white photo print to my Etsy shop ($24). It is an 8x12-inch print depicting a western scrub jay amidst a tangle of leafless branches. The original photo was shot on Ilford black and white film. Use coupon code DNHKRTUMBLR for a 10% off discount.