Archive for the 'Hobbies' Category

October 11th, 2015

8 photos of happiness

I’ve been wanting to do this tag since I’ve seen it around, and then Georgie tagged me! Thanks Georgie! 😀 Picking only 8 is pretty tough, but it was fun because it made me look through old photos and really made me remember some great times.

Rules

  • Thank your nominator/s and link them in your post.
  • Link the creator (Ariel).
  • Post your 8 photos of happiness.
  • The photos can be anything that represents a moment, object, place or feeling that makes you happy.
  • Pop in a brief description of the photo, why you chose it or let the photos do the talking.
  • Spread the happiness and tag up to ten other bloggers.

Hawaii 2011

happiness_hawaii

This was our honeymoon! (We took the photo with a tripod and remote shutter.) I thought about picking an engagement or wedding photo, but really, the honeymoon is when all the wedding stress is over and we can just relax and enjoy each other’s company 😉 We went to Hawaii for the first time – Kauai first and then Oahu. It was a great trip that started our obsession with Hawaii. We’re currently planning our fourth trip back!

College: UTACM

happiness_acm

I joined the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) in college, and in my second year, I joined their officers group which really changed my life. I made lasting friends who I still see and have so many happy memories from it. It was definitely the highlight of my college life. Many of us took classes and studied together, and much of my free time was spent hanging out in our club’s office. I also met my husband in it!

This photo is after one of our “Broomball” events played at a hockey rink, except we have a ball, paddles, and we use our shoes instead of skates. There is a lot of falling, which is part of the fun 😉

Read the rest of this entry »

17 · Posted in Photography, Random
September 22nd, 2015

Beginner Cosplay Tips

With Halloween coming up next month, I thought this would be a good time to do an entry on beginner cosplay tips 🙂 People often tell me that they’d love to cosplay but think they’d be bad at it. Well, that’s pretty much everyone starting a hobby for the first time, isn’t it? (Trust me, I didn’t know how to sew at first, and my first few costumes were pretty terrible.) You’ll never get anywhere in a hobby if you don’t try it!

cosplay_timeline

If you are thinking of cosplaying, I really do recommend making your own costume, even if it’s not great at first. Here’s the benefits:

  1. It feels really good. It’s just an amazing feeling to finish a costume and then wear it. Also, when people compliment you, you know that they’re complimenting your work, not someone else’s.
  2. I frequently cosplay characters that aren’t well known, which means their outfits probably don’t show up in premade cosplay shops. I can choose what I cosplay without caring what’s in stores, and I save money because I don’t need to commission it.
  3. You learn many useful skills! I can alter and repair my clothing now!

Of course, there’s the cliche tips like, keep practicing! Start small! No one’s perfect at first, etc etc. Definitely those too, but let’s get into some cosplay-specific ones 🙂

Look into premade patterns

There are many companies that make premade sewing patterns, and it’s less intimidating than trying to draft your own pattern. You probably won’t find one exactly like the outfit you want to do, but the key is to find one that is close enough and alter it from there.

I used a premade pattern for the following cosplays, and you can see that they don’t look exactly like the patterns I used. I had to alter all 3.

Chell’s didn’t need that much altering. I basically changed the fit to be a bit baggy and added stripes. I altered every piece of the pattern for Zia’s though (see this entry). Even after that, I still found the pattern worth it because it gave me a good starting point.

Read the rest of this entry »

18 · Posted in Cosplay
September 13th, 2015

Project 52, part 8

My recent trips have made me behind on posting my usual Project 52 recap! In August, I was busy processing photos from San Japan and working on cosplay for AnimeFest, so I actually forgot about taking a photo a couple times and scrambled to come up with something.

I feel like I’ll be back in my normal groove after September. I’m currently post processing photos from AnimeFest, and then I’ll be doing event photography at the end of the month for work. For now, here’s a recap of weeks 31-36!

#31 – Sakura
Week 31 was San Japan, and Treacly is a cosplayer I’ve worked with multiple times! She always picks characters with cute or elaborate dresses, and they’re so fun to photograph. For San Japan, she chose CardCaptor Sakura, and this is one of my favorites from the shoot. (More photos in this Flickr album.)

2015_31

#32 – Personas
I was working on my Phi cosplay when I realized I hadn’t done my photo of the week yet. I searched my mind for ideas and then noticed my closet of costumes. I pulled some out with recognizable designs and made a collage with them. There’s 7 costumes in the photo. Can you name them all? (If you’re not sure, you can compare them to my costumes page, and it becomes kind of obvious!)

2015_32

Read the rest of this entry »

12 · Posted in Photography, Project 52, Series
« Previous Entries
Next Entries »