A Little Oasis

.

oasis-1

“How do I start? Blaming myself for being so, so lackadaisical?”

Perhaps, I really should. It is awful neglecting this page for almost a year. I’m writing this apology from myself to Goofydreamer, a room of everything I share to the world, from a simple story of how I prepare my breakfast till “very-personal” life stories.

Eine Unvergesslische Reise (teil eins) was originally written last year but I re-published on the month of May when I did correct some grammatical errors and adjusted few photographs. So truly, I neglected this blog from October last year, the longest time I did write nothing here.

2020 was definitely an unforgettably awful and unexpected year for everyone. As I thought 2021 was going to be better yet some moments terribly hit me till I almost lost myself for sometime. Never had I imagined one the worst life destinies happened to me too soon. Never ever had I imagine it left me nothing but memories with one of the most important people in my life. Nothing I could change but keep going even to crawl for days till I had enough braveness to stand still again. I may share on writing what happened when myself is ready.

I once stood in front of a mirror in the restroom when I thought that one of the things we all need to do during these hard times is to stay happy. So many ways to achieve that, different ways for different people. I have been trying hard to keep myself stable during this “pandemic” era from last year, listening to a record that helps me to stay happy every time I listen to the whole body of work (folklore, what else :) let me remind you that today last year ago folklore was released and boom! it won Album of The Year Grammy 2021), investing more on my time to be closer to my mom even though it is only by phone, keeping my saving on track but I still let myself go for an eat-out ordering the same Tom Yam at the Chinatown restaurant, buying one or two new mugs (you’ll see the latest one is FOR FOX SAKE below – I guess it’s my new addiction), watching Lee Je-Hoon‘s dramas, etcetera, etcetera. I am taking it slowly on the fact that I never travel back home for more than two years due to some issues on this and that yet I am still looking on the day I stare to the clouds by the window seat again pretty soon.

Today when I woke up, I whispered to myself that I wanted to try to write something here, some random stuffs, or thoughts, anything, just to keep updating. Because updating contents here used to make me happy: photographing my food, chasing an afternoon light when shadowplay falls nicely, editing travel photographs from the vaults and publish them, or even those personal touchy stories that take one or two months to finish, or some random iPhone pictures. I was worried that I might not keep my words to post but then, I accidentally lifted myself when I found an afternoon light fell on my faux Eames chair. I took some interesting objects near me and well the time I exported all to my MacBook, I finally felt that spark again. I was happy. I named that simply happiness from photographs I took for 15 minutes as “A Little Oasis” – feeling.

.

oasis-4oasis-5oasis-3oasis-6oasis-7oasis-8oasis-2

.

All taken with Sony A6300

.

Oh hi Alice Gao!

Aw, Alice Gao just made my day. It was a little (I’m lying), a little surprise for me. Six hours ago when I saw a notification on my iPhone screen that ” @alice_gao liked your photo“, and two second later I had another notification, oh I will say it wasn’t a little, it was a BIG BIG surprise that my role-model on photography a.k.a Queen of Instagram liked my pictures. I had no words to express my feeling (sounds garish huh? sorry :P), but that’s fine, I felt spring of joy for that. Seriously.

If you ever read my write-ups about Alice Gao, either in Bahasa Indonesia or in English, or if you’re a reader or a lurker of this blog, I’ve mentioned her for quite often that she inspired me a lot in photography. By reading her over-stunning blog (damn! I just opened hers to get the link and found she posted a new post, what a beautiful content Alice!), her journey when she decided to quit her job in two companies (hope my retention is right :P) then she emptied her bank account and chose to be a professional photographer specialized in Food and Lifestyle. For me it was awesome, it needs brave to struggle on the first time she became a freelancer and now we can see who Alice Gao is.

You know what? I think I will do the same!

These are the two (whole version) that I took from my iPhone 1. Cheese cake and Americano. After Work and 2.This morning. An apple and a glass of wine.

LikedbyAlice1

LikedbyAlice2

I couldn’t remember when exactly I found Alice’s feed on Instagram, she wowed me on the first time and I followed her along. By then, I always remember from her how to post picture in Instagram (once again, hope my retention isn’t wrong, hehe) ; don’t put fifty hastags in one picture (yikes! I agree Alice!), post thoughtful and deliberate pictures as much as you can and feel happy for it”. From Alice, now, I always try to snap better and better through learning by doing. And I think I deserve for this dream kit.

Hey Alice Gao, if you read this post, I would like to say ; I would be super happy if I could spend coffee time and shot gorgeous spaces + mouthwatering foods with you, even just an hour, in NYC. Oh someday.

Another angles of Cheese cake and Americano.

CheeseCake&Americano1

CheeseCake&Americano2

An Awesome ; Alice Gao.

Alice Gao copy
Images captured beautifully by Alice Gao

Berawal dari instagram yang populer itu, saya bertemu dengan salah satu fotografer keren. Proudly introduce to you, Alice Gao.

Pertama kali melihat salah satu gambar yang ia posting, saya langsung kesemsem dengan cara ia membidik gambar. Cerdas dan Indah. Instagramnya adalah must-follow-account. Bagi saya kecerdasannya sempurna. Subyek yang ia tangkap, ide, teknik, pencahayaan, komposisi dan warna, semuanya memiliki wow-factor. Semuanya mengagumkan.

Dari instagram saya berkunjung ke Lingered Upon yang sekali lagi, bellissima!. Kenapa saya menyebut blognya indah? Pertama, konten. ia sering memposting Food and Still Life Photography dimana keduanya adalah jenis fotografi yang saya suka. Kedua, foto-foto yang ia posting semuanya memanjakan mata. Obyeknya indah dan dimensinya besar. Saya termasuk baby blogger yang tidak suka dengan blog makanan/fotografi yang memposting gambar berukuran kecil atau bahkan nanggung. Karena menurut saya kekuatan foto ataupun gambar itu salah satu kekuatan nyata sebuah blog makanan/ fotografi yang harus disajikan dengan kualitas baik. Picture speaks louder than words rite? Dan Gao tau benar bagaimana menampilkan bidikannya di blog. Ketiga, blognya bersih, desainnya bersih, font-nya, layout, semuanya indah. Cerdasnya Gao menamai blognya Lingered Upon, dalam bahasa inggris Lingered memiliki arti ‘berlama-lama’ dan yap! Saya jamin anda betah berlama-lama berkunjung ke blognya.

***

Paduan memotret makanan di tempat keren adalah salah satu hal yang membuat saya terkesima dengan hasil bidikan cewek berusia 24 tahun ini. Ia banyak memotret makanan keren di berbagai tempat keren seperti di NYC, kota yang ia tinggali saat ini (deep breath) dan beberapa tempat luar biasa lainnya (baca : Paris).

Selain objek-objek bidikan yang selalu indah dan menarik, Gao teramat pandai memainkan cahaya hingga hampir semua hasil bidikannya cemerlang dan (tentu) memiliki ciri khas. Angle-angle yang tak biasa kerap membuat saya geleng-geleng saking bagusnya. Memotret dari atas adalah salah satu ide keren yang sedang saya pelajari.

Menurut saya pribadi, memotret itu membutuhkan ketajaman indera penglihatan yang tanggap saat melihat objek. Semacam bakat juga mungkin. Coba perhatikan karya-karya Gao, sepertinya mudah membidik objek-objek menarik, namun bagi saya, jika pembidiknya tak memiliki ketajaman indera terhadap hal-hal bagus (dan tak terbiasa melihat hal-hal bagus) hasilnya mungkin akan biasa. Selain itu ya tentu saja sebuah foto kualitas prima juga dihasilkan dari kamera profesional yang yahud. Milik Gao sepertinya harganya (deep breath – again) hingga hasilnya flawless.

Dari Gao saya belajar banyak bagaimana menangkap objek-objek bagus, permainan cahaya, komposisi, dan karakter foto. Saya belajar menampilkan hasil bidikan yang bagus meski yah, jangan membandingkan hasil bidikan saya dengannya, masih jauh (smiling). Maklum selain kamera saya masih kamera standar, dulu juga nilai mata kuliah fotografi saya hanya B (damn I was so bad that time), saya masih dalam tahap belajar. Jika anda perhatian dengan foto yang saya posting di blog akhir-akhir ini, saya berusaha menampilkan foto dengan dimensi besar, kenapa? Selain untuk memuaskan penglihatan anda, itu semua terinspirasi Lingered Upon.

Anyway, saya memilih beberapa hasil bidikan dari teman setia saya yang sederhana, Sony NEX-5 untuk postingan ini. Kualitasnya pasti jauh lah dari Gao, tapi untuk pemula bidikan seperti ini tidak buruk bukan, toh practice makes prefect, isn’t it? hihihi.

Enjoy!

Inspiring Alice 7

Inspiring Alcie 5

Inspiring Alice 13

Inspiring Alice 10

Inspiring Alice 15

Inspiring Alice 14

Inspiring Alice 17

Inspiring Alice 16

Inspiring Alice 18

Inspiring Alice 8

Inspiring Alice 9

Inspiring Alice 11

Inspiring Alice

Inspiring Alice 2

Inspiring Alice 3

Hey ya! saya sempat memposting foto mawar yang saya potret saat lewat di floristy ke akun instagram, dan see! Gao commented on that pic, hihihi :

Inspiring Alice 12