![Chiba coastline](https://i0.wp.com/lestaylorphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/First-Sunrise-of-2015-From-Japan_smaller.jpg?fit=684%2C1024)
First Sunrise at Chiba’s Pacific Coast
While I believe America definitely has the upper hand when it comes to the Christmas holiday season, Japan takes the cake a week later for New Years. In America, my experience has been that New Years is just an excuse to party. In Japan however, there’s a whole list of traditions surrounding New Years. Since this isn’t a post about Japanese traditions, I won’t go into all of them, but I will share with you...
![small shop in Japan](https://i0.wp.com/lestaylorphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Narita-Meat-Shop_smaller.jpg?fit=1024%2C686)
A Meat Shop In Chiba
Over the course of this year, one goal I’ve had is to capture normal, everyday scenes of Japan. I love a great landscape or cityscape of course, but in a sense those are easy to photograph. It’s a lot harder to share the essence of a place; to really express in photographs the atmosphere or vibe you might experience when visiting a place. At the same time, I had no desire to do typical street...
![Photo of Japan in Autumn](https://i0.wp.com/lestaylorphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Warmth-of-a-Narita-Autumn.jpg?fit=1024%2C678)
Warmth of a Narita Autumn
As I look forward to the coming autumn, I’ve been going through some of my old fall photos to practice and prepare my processing techniques. I’ve learned some different things since last season, so it’s interesting to go back to some old photos with a newer set of processing skills with which to approach each photo. It’s also nice to remember what places are worth going back to visit during the season this year, and...
![Single autumn leaf](https://i0.wp.com/lestaylorphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Early-Fallen.jpg?fit=1024%2C683)
Autumn Is On The Way
The weather here lately has been extremely rainy, almost as if we’re going through a second rainy season. Thankfully, unlike the actual rainy season, it’s not nearly as hot or muggy. In fact, it’s been quite cool, with hints of autumn weather in the air. But the air isn’t the only place those hints are showing up. The ginko trees are slowly sliding toward yellow, although it will be some time before they turn fully...
![Japanese rain chain](https://i0.wp.com/lestaylorphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/D610-and-Rain-Chain.jpg?fit=1024%2C684)
First Impressions: Making The Switch to Full Frame
I’ve been into photography for quite some time. I originally learned on film while taking classes in high school, then bought a DSLR a couple of years after my film camera was stolen in Europe. My first DSLR was the cropped sensor Nikon D70. I bought the D7000 about 6 or 7 years later in 2011, which was also a cropped sensor camera. I’ve come a long way as a photographer since buying that camera,...