One minute | Dong Sicheng

Two

A rainy weekend. 

I was sat at my desk, which was placed directly in front of the window, watching each raindrop fall gracefully down my windowpane. I watched as some raindrops would connect into one, and continue their journey to the eventual stop, which was the wall of my home. 

My parents were both at work, so I chose to spend the beginning of my day at home. My mother worked as a cleaner at the local nursery, and my father had your typical office job. There was simply nothing interesting to add about their lives, as that's how life is sometimes. Bland, and uninteresting. 

The rain was beginning to calm down as less and less droplets were added to the array of raindrops scattered on the glass. All I could do was rest my head on my crossed arms, watching as the grey clouds passed by, gradating to smaller, white clouds, and a bright blue sky. 

I sat up, stretching my arms, and picked up my phone. Despite knowing that nobody would contact me, I had to calm the small hope that was growing in my chest. I pressed the familiar icon for 'Instagram' and was greeted with the familiar arrow, with no indications of me having any messages.

I then went through each person's story, watching as they documented their experiences in life. Seungwoo had his 16th birthday yesterday, Jaeyoung was on a date with his girlfriend, where they shared an ice cream cone, and seemed to be at the park, and Taeseob was having a family get-together to celebrate him getting his first job.

I couldn't help but look at each and every photo, imagining myself with them in those moments. Applauding Seungwoo after he blows out his candles, taking the photo of Jaeyoung and his girlfriend for them, helping Taeseob's parents bake his celebratory cake; but, it would always just be in my imagination. 

The envy began creeping inside of me again, and I switched off my phone, putting it into the drawer of my desk, before heading to the bathroom. It was 12p.m, and the skies had completely cleared up, meaning I was able to go out with my camera to take my first shoots for the project. I had saved up enough money over the years to buy the NIKON D5600 camera, and a 70-300mm lens. The camera was like my best friend, and I couldn't even imagine replacing it.

After freshening myself up, I placed my beloved camera bag over my shoulder, and made sure my replacement batteries were in the pockets. I chose to not take a tripod, as I had always preferred to take my photos free-hand. It made me feel more free to do what I wanted, and it was much easier to change angles. 

I made sure that I had locked my front door before beginning my walk to the park just outside of my town. The walk was about 40 minutes with a simple route; straight forward, with two turns.

I was going to this park to take photos of the Fallow Deer. This was the only place where I could find the Fallow Deer, unless I wanted to go on a 3 hour car drive. But I did not have the license to do that. Anyway, the nearest was spacious enough, and people would only stick to the paths so I did not have to worry about anyone disturbing the beautiful animals.

The fallow deer were by far one of my favourite animals. The way they moved were graceful, and I found every aspect of their appearance absolutely beautiful. Especially the antlers. The way they bend and curve was so, so beautiful to me.

And so there I spent my afternoon until 5p.m, both admiring and photographing the greatest animal I had ever seen, all my previous thoughts completely washing away.