The “Miniature Calendar” project by Japanese miniature photographer Tanaka Tatsuya has offered us a new perspective to view the world through a series of photographs featuring his collection of miniature figures amongst familiar everyday scenes. In Hong Kong, a post-90s girl Cherry Choy who sees Tanaka Tatsuya as her idol also fell in love with miniature photography 4 years ago after a homework from school. She creates interesting and heart-soothing photographs by fitting miniature figures into everyday life objects and food, with a wish that her photographs will bring some positive energy to Hong Kong people.

The subjects of Cherry’s photographs are a collection of 2cm tall miniature figures. Cherry puts herself into the shoes of the figures and explores the world around us from their perspective. “I like to observe and imagine what everyday life objects can be in the eyes of the miniature figures. For example, a small flower can be a home to them. Besides, every miniature figure is dressed differently and has their own postures. We can create a little story for each of them by giving it some imagination.”

The tiny size of the photography subjects makes it challenging to frame and focus. Cherry said, “I encountered problems like framing not tight enough and failing to achieve the right focus. I have once spent too much time on framing and focusing causing the miniature figure to melt on the food! Luckily EF-M 28mm f/3.5 Macro IS STM offers a Super Macro Mode which supports as close as 1.3cm focusing distance. This facilitates the shooting process and provides more compositional flexibility.”

Due to the close distance between the lens and the subject when taking macro shots, there are chances that the subject is being shadowed by the lens. Also, the ambient lighting may not be bright enough for the shooting especially when shooting indoor. To this end, the built-in ring-type Macro Lite of EF-M 28mm f/3.5 Macro IS STM can come in handy. “I prefer using natural lighting when shooting in outdoor environment to achieve more natural colors for the photos. However, when shooting at home or other indoor environment, we need to pay attention to the direction of light and use white paper as reflector to provide fill lighting for the subject when necessary. The built-in ring-type Macro Lite of EF-M 28mm f/3.5 Macro IS STM can illuminate the subject evenly, making it more convenient to take a macro shot.”

Cherry has a Facebook fanpage named “Infinity Journey” in which she shares the little adventure and everyday life of her miniature figures. She explained, “Life is like an Infinity Journey. I see myself as the miniature figures who explore different places everyday. I find a lot of joy in the creation process and it’s my wish to spread this positive energy and message through my photos.”

In addition to taking the photos, Cherry would also print them out to make postcards or calendars for friends as a kind of heart-soothing gifts. SELPHY CP1200 compact photo printer which supports 6 print types makes it easy to print square-size labels and postcards, create handmade gifts, household ornaments or albums.