**Inspiration in Photography**
When we had the idea of starting an online business, we knew what we wanted to do and what products that we wanted to bring to the American customer. We believed that our products are very interesting and worthwhile to try and to enjoy. We want to introduce “BOLSTERS” to the American bedding setting. It is known that hugging a bolster while sleeping with your head on a pillow is very enjoyable and amazingly comfy. So, we wanted to produce pillows and bolsters. However, at that moment, we were torn in which options of materials to use. We spent a lot of time in trying, in sampling, and feeling many different materials. At last, we narrowed our options between two choices. One, we picked plush materials with the perception that people would feel comfy and warm snuggled on our products if they were made of plush materials. We ordered a lot of samples of plush materials and also searched for the type of fillers that we would use. With the plush materials and the filler we picked, we made our pillows and bolsters and used them everyday ourselves. After a while, we felt that we could do better and were not 100% convinced that the plush materials were the right choice for our products. We really were not sure; therefore, we came to our second choice. We conducted searches in India, China, Vietnam, and even Italy for silk fabric. We learned about the many benefits one can enjoy by using silk fabric. Silk proteins and the protections that they offered amazed us. However, the cost differences involved were quite obvious. We pondered where to pursue the best cost-to-benefit ratio. We remained in limbo and indecision for some time. It was in the middle of the process of searching that we found an amazing message. We were driving along the street, and accidentally looked in the sky. There, we found something revealed that was very interesting in the sky. We drove to follow our view and tried to get a better vantage point for a clearer view. We knew that we had to take a picture of it. HERE IS THE PICTURE!
LOOK AT THIS PICTURE! Isn’t it beautiful? In that picture, we found the letter “S” clearly displayed. We asked ourselves if it was a coincidence. We don’t know! We just knew right away that when we saw the letter “S” on that picture, we quickly thought that the “S” was the abbreviation for “SILK.” Right then we knew, that we would use “SILK” for our materials. We usually don’t believe in superstitions. Was that a supernatural message from God? We felt like we were thinking too highly of ourselves for thinking such a thing and questioned if that was really a message from God! Who are we? We are not that special. But, we really love this picture. We just took it with our cell phone, but it is clear enough to put it on our website and hung it on our wall as a decoration.
Creativity in Photography
Talking about creativity in taking pictures, actually, is a very challenging and enjoyable topic if you go deeply into it. We bring our smart phone everywhere. We like Nature. We enjoy the Outdoors, and we enjoy looking at simple things. Sometimes we find it very interesting to see something that is so simple while most people usually will just ignore it. When we (especially me, I am involved more in these projects in our family) come across something interesting, we want to take a photo of it and keep it in our collection. What we are talking about are some simple objects, such as tree bark, a dead tree, a pine cone on the ground, mold, flowers, bugs, ice on a bush, a street embankment during a trip, and an amazing sky scene that change every day, and everything else like that. Here, we want to show you some of our pictures that we found accidentally when we looked at the sky:
Simple Things In Your Neighborhood
Having fun with fruits
TRIP TO OVERSEAS
During our trip to Indonesia, we found the people who lived there were so humble, genuine, and made us feel like we wanted to be and live with them forever. Nature, the plants, and the people were all very interesting. Here are some of the pictures that we took. We hope you enjoy them, too.
There are many exotic fruits in Indonesia, such as snake fruit, star fruit, mangosteen, srikaya or sugar apple, jambu air or java apple, and many others. Some of them you will be able to find in Chinese stores, but we never saw any snake fruit or jambu air (java apple) here. However, our favorites are rambutan, lengkeng or longan, jack fruit, and durian. We love them very much. You can find these fruits in America (Chinese stores). They are very sweet, fresh, and incomparably delicious!! Mangosteen in America is too over priced.
Family Activities in Photography
We would like to suggest you to have fun and create family activities like what we do. As we all know, most of us have smart phones and can take pictures anytime we desire. We would like to share our experience with you, in the hope that you and your family will have fun by following the same activities in photography that you all will enjoy. It doesn’t matter how many children or grand children you have ---1, 2, 3, or more--- you can involve them all in this or a similar activity. Here is the activity. Create a competition among all of you. Ask your children (parents, too, of course) or grandchildren to submit at least 5 to 10 pictures that they can take from their smart phone every month. Collect them and pick the best picture to become “PICTURE OF THE MONTH.” Put them in a frame. They can pick any theme, such as Nature, favorite animals, or any object they want, without restriction or rules. You will see that some of those pictures will turn out to be very interesting. We bet it will be an activity to remember when they become adults. So, collect and compete. By the end of the year, pick the best one to be “PICTURE OF THE YEAR.” Well, of course, you need to display the picture in your family room! That would really be an amazing experience. Imagine, in 15 years, when all the kids are already grown up, only 15 best pictures displayed in your living room wall to remember. Look at all the pictures we took. We believe you will be able to take similar or better photos than ours. Get creative! Make vegetables or fruits become unique pictures. You can make anything become an interesting picture. Activities that involve the whole family in photography are a great way to bring the family together. These types of activities teach the children not only about art, but also education, Nature, beauty, and most of all, our appreciation of God’s creation in this amazing world.
Family Competition Ideas;
- What We Found in the Sky
- What We Found in Nature
- What We Found in Society
- What you can create from all of the above.
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