Natsumi Hayashi: A woman who seems defying Gravity in every shot

In the morning, I was just surfing the internet when I came across a marvelous photographer who belongs to Tokyo, Japan. She is named Natsumi. I was so impressed by her shots that I am writing here for her. This is what she wrote about her on her own blog.


yowayowa camera woman = natsumi
Lives in Tokyo with two cats.
Photographs mainly levitating self-portraits (and cats not levitating).
yowayowa is a Japanese term meaning "weak" or "feeble."
Since I'm yowayowa, it's really heavy to carry SLR cameras around.

The special feature of her photography is that she is in air, above ground level. It seems that she is free of gravity. Given below is the detail how she makes it.

How to take "Today's Levitation" (how I actually do)
- Equipments and shutter speed
Camera body: Canon EOS 5D Mk2
Lenses: Canon EF50mm F1.2L USM, EF24-70mm F2.8L USM, PENTAX 67 lenses (with adaptors)
Tripods: Gitzo's rapid-pole 3 steps with ball heads (from 1980s)
Shutter speed: 1/500 sec. or faster (1/320 sec. can be used in a darker condition)

- With a self-timer
EOS 5D Mk2 has a 10sec. timer as it's longest timer set up. This means that I can get away as far as 10 second distance from the camera after I press the shutter release button.
First, I get a composition and a focus manually.
Then I press the shutter release, run to the right position for a levitation as checking the camera's blinking red LED counts down 10 seconds and jump by my intuition.
In this manner, I need to jump over and over to get the right shot.

- Ask someone to press the shutter release button
When I take my levitation farther away from the camera than 10 second distance, I ask someone (mostly my friend) to press the shutter release button. First, I ask my friend to be a stand-in in a proper position to get a composition and a focus.
Then I go to the position to levitate, and my friend come to the camera (we switch our position) to press a shutter release button in time with my jumps.



Here blog is   yowayowa camera woman

Here is a sample shot from her camera. Go to her blog and enjoy the anti gravity shots.