Leftovers: Photographs from the week

Sometimes I take so many pictures that I don't really know what to do with them, not all of them are with artistic intent, just snaps from everyday life of things that may stand out to me or that I want to capture. Sometimes I take enough of one area or theme to be able to post about them, other times they sit idle on the SD card and are left ignored, sort of like leftovers that go uneaten, wasting away in the fridge. I figured today I'd go through those images from the past week, little ones I had taken and liked but felt I could write about in one jumbled post, giving a bit more focus on the text since I always like to throw out some thoughts and context on the images in these posts. They're a little like therapy in a way as I glance over snippets of life.

My photography standards tend to be quite high, and it's something I've been trying to lower as I use a digital camera lot more often, knowing I can snap images and just delete them or retake them if I really don't like them; a mentality that came with shooting on 35mm film to begin with, where your shots are limited. But it's fun to relax a bit more, to not take it all so seriously, and to enjoy the moments more knowing I'm capturing happy events.

For example, these two images were shot in the rain, we grabbed hot chocolate and roamed the streets as the city lights increased in vibrancy, the wind picked up and threw leaves around, and we gripped tightly to our warm cups for that extra warmth. I wanted to test the bokeh here, to get that shallow depth-of-field look with the coffee cup (hot chocolate) as the main focus; sort of similar to the style of product photography that you might find. It was a challenge though, with the rainfall all over, even our coffee (hot chocolate) cups accumulating water; I remember taking sips of my drink and getting an unexpected mouthful of rainwater. Not the greatest thing to experience.

I like these images though, they're nothing too serious, but personal. Telling little stories in them, and that's really the greatness and potential of photography itself.

The other night I had to be up really early, I ended up not sleeping that night, and around sunrise I got up and went on a short walk before a meeting. It was about six in the morning here in Yerevan, and the streets were quiet, empty, insanely peaceful. I could look up and see the stars despite the few lights still on. I saw stray dogs curled up by walls, little crevices, sleeping comfortably somehow. I had multiple layers of clothing on but felt the crispness in the air still, but I loved it. That empty atmosphere, no cars, no other people. Soviet architecture surrounding, the world completely to myself.

I was stupid enough to not bring my camera though, and instead ended up taking phone snaps; I think this turned out pretty good though despite it being taken from a slowly failing cheap Chinese phone that's about 4 years old now.

I love these side of Armenia, the old look met with some newer lighting aesthetics. A really interesting blend that makes for beautiful images, full of composition and colour.

This evening we went to a yarn shop as my girlfriend's looking for some extra items to use here in Armenia, in the process of knitting me a very cozy scarf; which will be essential real soon with the weather lately; I haven't been to many places like this before, and the types of yarn and wool were too nice to pass up capturing. Different blends and textures; some I couldn't help but touch due to the softness. The building was located down an alley, in the basement of a large Soviet era apartment block. Earthly tones, knitting equipment and books all over. One woman, slightly older, helped us find what was needed; the other, a little younger, sat quietly and read those knitting books. All in covered in Russian text.

I wanted to get that shallow depth-of-field look with the camera, but partially expected the owner to not be very approving of the photography for some reason. Quick images with little changes to the settings.

This particular Coffee House is a place I think I've photographed a few times under different weather; this was the first time in the rain. Located at the top of Yerevan's most popular street, it's either far too busy or surprisingly empty. But I always end up loving the lighting and wanting to capture it. This is the same chain we got the hot chocolate from, though a little down in the street. At the price of about $2.50 each. That hot chocolate, I should mention, was actual melted chocolate, something I was surprised at given many places that offer hot chocolate use cheap powdered variations that I can't tolerate.

While I have many more photographs to share, I think I'll save them for a future post. Coming to an end here. Hopefully someone found these little glimpses of life interesting! For me, it has been fun to write a little about these moments, sharing some snippets of my days. Relaxing more with posting, and generally just being more personal here on Hive.