Category: Seasons

Photo of storms over Japan

Summer Storms Over Japan

Last night I took an impromptu trip to check out the Chiba Port Tower with my daughter. It’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and in Japan that means lots of humidity, heat, and otherwise fatigue inducing weather. As a photographer, that’s not especially inspiring to go out and shoot, but it has been several weeks at least since I really went out just to shoot last, so I figured a nice indoor observatory would be...
Photo of Shiraito Falls Japan

Movement of Shiraito Falls

Today’s photo comes from the lovely Shiraito Falls in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. I posted several photos from this waterfall several months ago, but I had a lot of work to do on this one before it would be ready for sharing. The main reason it took so much processing is that I didn’t expose for the shot as I should have. Check out the three exposures I used for today’s photo: As you can see,...
Les Taylor Photography

A Yomiuri Giants Game at Tokyo Dome

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to a Yomiuri Giants game at Tokyo Dome with my oldest daughter and some good friends of ours. We had a blast! As both a photographer and a baseball fan, I thought I’d share the experience through photos and talk about a few of the differences I noticed between American and Japanese baseball. This was actually my first ball game at an indoor baseball stadium. I...
Fireworks in Japan

Photographing Summer Fireworks

Everyone loves fireworks! They’re beautiful, bright, and just generally awesome. And no matter where you live, you’re likely to have at least one day during the year when your town hosts a grand fireworks display. In Japan this is certainly the case, particularly during the month of August, when fireworks festivals are held across the country. As a photographer, a fireworks display is lots of fun to shoot, but it can also seem a bit...
Photo of dancing Japanese man

Narita Gion Matsuri

This past weekend I went with fellow photographer Anthony Wood to the Narita Gion Matsuri. Since coming back to Japan in 2012, I haven’t been to that many festivals, so when Anthony invited me to join him at this one, I was excited to take him up on it. And this one did not disappoint! From the crowds to the floats, the atmosphere is a wonderful mixture of playful and traditional. I could say more,...