Sometimes, friends will just drop out of your life completely. Its not sad - people change. People grow. And that is never a sad thing. I think the last time I explored this little park was with my old friend - lets call her Sasha. No wait, lets call her Sandra. I like Sandra better. Anyway, Its been almost 4 years since the last time I was at this little park. Time sure does fly.
I think the first thing I noticed about this place was the amount of vegetation that grew in the last 4 years. I clearly remember being able to see the ground where I was walking pretty easily back then. Now, there are trees blocking the way. It feels more adventurous I suppose. Wearing sandals was the worst idea ever.
I brought my D800 (the picture below was taken with my Oneplus) and the newest lens I own - a 20mm 1.8. Its my first time really using it. With the product shots (Like the Evora, T-shirts) I am usually shooting with a 55mm 2.8 macro. The 20mm has too much distortion for product but I love wide shots for scenery when I am traveling.
As the Ken Rockwell review suggested, its insanely sharp. Like insanely - even at f1.8. And it is small compared to the 16-35mm f4. I am so glad I went with the 20 prime instead of the 16-35.
I took an Evora along for the walk. I didn't actually throw it at all, but the purple is a good contrast for the forest. It is funny though, years ago CLYW had a video contest with "Canada theme" as the challenge, and I filmed it here. I won a gold and red splash Peak for it (Ironman edition?). I wish I still had it. That thing was bad ass.
I walked for a bit longer along the path until I found the stream. This was in the CLYW video from back then.
If you follow the stream, it leads to this brutalist monstrosity. This didn't change much since the last time I was here - I remember hopping around on the bricks in the past before as well. More graffiti than before I guess.
I think the last time I was here with Sandra we got covered in mosquito bites because we didn't wear bug spray. I didn't learn my lesson. I look back at it now, and it is weird how okay I am with how everything happened. We just knew each other so well because we grew up together from a young age.
This plant looked so out of place. What the hell.
Anodized titanium sure looks pretty. Its always so different than aluminum anodized that we are so used to seeing. Anyway thats where my journey ended. I essentially walked back where I started at the bridge. TLDR; Don't get hung up on old friends, anodized titanium yoyos are pretty, and the 20mm f1.8 is a baller ass lens. Cant ask for more!
It has been a while since Ive written much - the second half of 2023 was insanely busy with project management. Since the release of the plastic lineup, I had very little time to focus on the roots of what made Luftverk so exciting. I realized this was a huge problem - I needed to guide Luftverk back to it's roots of exploring new materials and build product lineups that told a story stemmed from exploration. I had done this with plastics last year but in 2024 I would like to also focus back onto some more products that use exotic materials. While being incredibly late to the party this recent project is Luftverk's first Magnesium ever, which was at first canceled and almost never released.
It has been nearly 4 months since Ive been in Japan, and 5 months since I left Toronto. Writing that out makes it feel short but in reality it feels like forever ago. The last launch of the Plastic Peak was an overwhelming experience. I felt so grateful to work with CLYW, a company I grew up with. When the World Yoyo Contest hit I didn't know what to expect, but I had started noticing a feeling of burn out after grinding out so many yoyo related projects and in a weird introverted way I was a bit reluctant to go.
CLYW is a Canadian brand that started in 2006. I was 14 at the time when I watched this new brand unfold on the Yoyonation forums. They released their first yoyo named the "Peak" with 50 pieces retailing for $85. Today, that yoyo has used asking prices north of $2500 making it one of the most insanely rare and expensive yoyos to date. This "OG Painted Peak" featured a custom painted surface by a Canadian airbrush artist named Levi. Overtime as the Peak was impacted or dinged, the paint would chip off meaning there are only a handful of units in the world that survived in mint unused condition. Later versions would be released in more durable anodized finishes, but these first 50 "OG Painted Peaks"cemented CLYW into yoyoing history.
Jeffrey Pang
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