I wish to levitate like Natsumi Hayashi ” The flying girl of Tokyo”

When I saw her pictures, I couldn’t help but be amazed.  How did she do it? I have no idea… I emailed her asking some questions, but unfortunately maybe she is quite busy with her endeavors or flying around Tokyo that she didn’t have the time to answer it.  So I just did some research to know more about her.

She blogs at http://yowayowacamera.com, her last post was dated June 2011 (so this means that she is really a very busy girl).  In her blog, she shared the tips on how to levitate.

She uses the following:
1. DSLR Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mk2 (which is roughly around US: $ 2,699, EU: € 2,499, UK: £ 2,299)
2. Lenses: Canon EF50mm F1.2L USM (around $1,519) , Canon EF24-70mm F2.8L USM ($1,399), PENTAX 67 lenses (with adaptors- can’t find any price of this)
3. Tripods: Gitzo’s rapid-pole 3 steps with ball heads (from 1980s) (around $220)
4. Shutter speed: 1/500 sec. or faster (1/320 sec. can be used in a darker condition)

Whenever she saw a place she would like to capture; this is what she does according to her.

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.

I haven’t tried to follow her advise, because first of all, I can’t afford to buy the items she is using. Second, I am quite heavy and I can’t resist laughing whenever I am about to jump in a photoshoot.  That is why the outcome is very different from the outcome of Natsumi’s portraits LOL

I need to practice a lot more to achieve the levitation portrait that I wish achieve. Here are some photos that I admire most on her blog:

Look at her face, no reactions whatsoever.  Very different from my first attempt of a jump shot below ….  this was taken before I even saw Natsumi’s blog,  so you can laugh hard if you want hahahaha

Learning to levitate like Natsumi and publishing it here is one of my goal. This will give more life to this blog since it’s title also means LEVYtation hehehe

Have you ever tried to capture yourself levitating on your camera? Care to share it with us?

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