Last of the fall

Kosagi---little egrets

Salad Included

Grilled meat and pork cutlet restaurant in Okusawa, Tokyo Japan

Kosagi

Little egret before Typhoon 9.

I'm outta here

Little egret (kosagi in Japanese) on the Tama River

Hard Right

About 2 weeks ago there was a very strong typhoon in the Tokyo area. The Tama river area was heavily affected with high water and flooding. The water is still a muddy brown, and the plants near the river have been damaged or destroyed. However, the waterfowl is back....

In the Long Grass

On the Tama River. As soon as I saw this scene, it reminded me of when I was a kid in West Virginia, as well as of the title of a book (Death in the Long Grass---a book about Africa) that I read years ago.

Little egret on the Tama River

kosagi in Japanese

Take off

Daisagi (Great Egret---egretta alba) on the Tamagawa

Red & Yellow

Tama River near Tamagawadai Park, Tokyo

Rainy Season Blues

Japan's rainy season is in full swing now.

Only one

planted beside the river by someone.

A sea of green

前ぼけ

Mae boke in Japanese, meaning boke in the foreground.

Pissed Pigeon

Summer?

First summer sunset

Tamagawa (river) between Tokyo and Kanagawa. So unusual nearly everyone stopped to watch it.

Jiyugaoka rain

Flower Garden

Warm evening on the Tamagawa (River)

Tokyo Fishin'

Takeshi Mizukoshi

I went to Mizukoshi's photography exhibit at in Ebisu, Tokyo today and was quite impressed with his photos. I go to a lot of shows, mostly small, and try to get to the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography (in Ebisu Garden Place) at least once a month and his is one of my favorites. I have seen his work in books before, but as expected, it is completely different when one can see the real photos.

One thing that I have noticed with his and other's photography is how little some of the things we worry about on some of the photo critique sites like photoSIG or equipment discussion/debate sites like the Nikonians, seems to matter. Had he put some of his photos up for critique on those sites, he would have been told that he occasionally had blown highlights, his photos had too much noise (grain, since his was film) and most weren't sharp enough by far. (Black and white photos were all very sharp, but the color photos were not at all.) I am sure that some would have said many of his photographs were too dark. Why, good god, he even had a few corners darkened perhaps from a filter or lens hood. He also failed to list such trivia as the camera, lens, f-stop, ISO/ASA, shutter speed, camera bag, lens cap brand etc.

It made no difference, and I supposed nobody cared except for those of us who spend time looking for such things. None of it detracted from any of his photos. And as for the "noise," I was satisfied to see it again. Now I can stop worrying much about it in photos I take.

His photographs were consistently exceptional because of his use of light. His composition was spot on too, but naturally did not always follow so-called rules. (He does make good use of diagonal lines in most.) Since most of his photos are landscapes, his subject matter is excellent o begin with and he does a superb job of enhancing that excellence in photos.

A lot of the photography forums are more focused on technical details and equipment because that is the easy part. All you have to do is learn it. The actual art is the tough part. Only a select few are really successful as artists. Most of the rest of us just have to please ourselves and be satisfied if a few other people occasionally enjoy something we have done.

Anyway, I liked his show and purchased one of his books with photos from the show. They don't look nearly as good as the prints---most are lighter too, but still an excellent reminder of what is important.

His exhibit runs through July 1, 2007.

Wild Tokyo

or about as close as it gets. Kanagawa from the Tokyo side

Rocky top

Everygreen and not

Mid-May at Utsukushigahara, Nagano

Fujisan from Utsukushigahara

The weather was relatively clear, but the air seemed quite smoky that day. Now if only I do black and white conversions better. This was done using Image Factory software with what is in effect, a red filter and their Ilford Delta setting for color sensitivity.

Big Sky Country, Japan

Returned to Utsukushigahara in Nagano last week. Still freezing or below at dawn. Winds were about 50mph in the morning. It was hard to stand up and my camera and tripod would easily have been blown away if I let go. This was taken Saturday night, just before an unusually unspectacular sunset.

Okusawa, Tokyo. Vacant lot

Fire extinguishers everywhere

Young leaves

Blue & Gold

On the Tama River

Showing a little pink

In case of fire

Osamu Kanemura

Has captured one side of Tokyo with his photos, most of which intentionally include---even emphasize---the jangled mess of exposed electric and telephone lines all over the place. For the most part, unless I am being sarcastic about Japan's unique aesthetics, I try to avoid them. His photos don't look like much of Tokyo, but then again they do. I suppose the interestingly ugly side of the city, especially seen in parts like Shibuya. Some examples here.

Sakura fate

All gone now in Tokyo

Another Japan site

This one from a professional photographer from the U.S. who lives in Zushi, not far from Tokyo. He offers photography classes in English---something tough to find in Japan.
Photospace b

Still Hanging Around

Japan Photo sites

A few sites dedicated to photography and photographers in Japan: Lens Culture, and Japan Photo.

Yakitori Shop, Okusawa, Tokyo

They're hiring if you need a job.

Denenchofu Sakura

One of the streets for the station is lined with cherry trees. Of course these "cherry" trees do not bear fruit.

Ramen Shop, Jiyugaoka, Tokyo

Sort looks like the Japanese shops of myths and legends. Unlike samurai and a unique love of nature, these still exist in Japan

Tokyo Sakura

A bit soft from the 70-300G

Sakura Weekend

Cherry blossoms in full bloom in Tokyo this weekend

Small woods in Hakone

Still waiting for Sakura

but there are other signs of spring in Tokyo

If you can handle Charlie Rose, there is an interview that the had with HENRI CARTIER BRESSON here as well as interviews with several other well-known photographers.

Daily photos from Vienna, Austria

I found this blog recently: The Daily Photography of Andreas Manessinger. His puts up a photo a day, and has some interesting commentary too.

Speaking of black and white conversions, for some reason, many of mine become grainy---oh, sorry, noisy---when converted. Have used various ways, but much of the noise seems to be in the red channel. This one turned out ok as far as grain goes. I can always pretend the noise is like the grain of old TriX film.

Not yet

Supposedly, cherry blossoms have started blooming in Tokyo. Seems too cold for that---haven't seen any yet. These are from last year

Tough to find much wildlife in Tokyo. It's here, but not much. A lot of birds and waterfowl are around the Tamagawa (river) area. Now if only I had a decent long lens...With the Nikkor 70-300G, it takes tons of work and a lot of luck to get a somewhat satisfactory photo under most conditions.

Favorite tree

The blooms only last a few weeks in March, but it is one of the most attractive ornamental trees in Tokyo

Clouds below

As the sun was setting on Feb 18th at Utsukushigahara. D70, Tokina 12-24 aspherical@24mm.
1/160 F10 ISO 200, from NEF. Converted to BW with Photocamel's plug.