Fuji From The Air
During my flight down to Okayama a couple of weeks back, we had the luck of passing by Fuji in clear enough weather to see it. Seeing Fuji from the ground is spectacular enough, but seeing it from the air is something really special. Although I couldn’t see it out of my own window (my seat was on the other side) I was fortunate enough to be on a rather sparse flight, so I rushed...
Kimono Shoot With Yoko
A couple of months ago my family and I had the opportunity to meet a Kimono specialist by the name of Yoko. She actually came over to a friend’s house and dressed all our children up in traditional Japanese kimonos. Being the only photographer present, I ended up taking pictures of all the kids after she had dressed them all up. This also gave me a chance to talk a little about my photography, and...
Death of a Sakura
This photo is one of the first ones I took during this year’s cherry blossom season around Tokyo. I went out early one morning to Shinjuku Park, where thankfully several trees had already begun to bloom quite beautifully. For whatever reason, this full flower had fallen off and landed on the soft green moss beneath. With the lighting it was just perfect! So many photographers were there and all pointing the cameras up into the...
Working The Scene From Tokyo’s World Trade Center
One of the many challenges in photography is what we call “working the scene.” It means drawing out multiple pictures from the same scene, in other words, getting different angles, lighting, subjects, etc. This can be difficult, yet it’s important for a number of reasons. First of all, it can differentiate you from other photographers. For example, Tokyo’s World Trade Center (where I took this photo from) is a popular spot for photographers to shoot...
Another Snowy Day and the Nikon J1
I’m a big proponent of not worrying too much about your gear. Just look around the internet and you’ll see why. There are people who have what would be considered low-end cameras and produce amazing photographs, and there are people who have prohibitively expensive cameras and lenses, and take (at least to me) uninspiring, boring photographs. The fact is, contrary to popular belief, cameras do not create photographs. People create photographs – the camera is...