Tamagawa Autumn

Every year in early November, I walk the 20 minutes or so to the Tama River specifically looking for this type of scene. It usually happens around 4-4:30 on a certain part of the river just as the sun's angle gets low enough to backlight only parts of the river and vegetation. It's an indication for me that fall has really begun in Tokyo.

River Dance

With apologies to the musical...

There are certain times that folks don't want to see reality. One might be walking along the Tamagawa for instance and want to ignore the fact that what appears to be nature or natural---if you use a very selective focus---isn't really. It's all man-made, or at the very least, man-altered.

We can't expect much more many thousand years since mankind arrived on the planet, and we certainly cannot expect much more in Japan, let alone the huge metropolis of Tokyo where man-altered nature is considered more natural than virgin nature---is there such a thing in 2010 anywhere anyway?

The reluctance to see reality is a natural human tendency; I think it is a form of self-defense, for if one were to take a strictly logical, realistic view of the world and life, we'd all be in a constant state of depression, habitually intoxicated, or both.

What does this have to do with anything? Not much, I suppose, but when out running around with a camera and trying to capture what is my view of a real Tokyo, I never seem to capture it. Such a thing is impossible no matter how many words a photo is supposedly worth.

This was taken last December on a walk along the Tama River. There are stands of small trees along the river around Tamagawadaikoen/Tamagawa Station areas. I was playing around trying to find something that I could look at and sorta become lost in a fantasy that it was something more than what really existed. It ain't perfect by far, there are flaws that cannot be fixed with Lightroom, it doesn't look right on blogger or Firefox, and the technique is said to be overdone nowadays, but I don't care. I can look at it and pretend that what is not is something that is. That sort of thing seems to have become much more important...

自分勝手ですけど。。。

An afternoon walk along the Tamagawa

I don't know how to describe the weather in Tokyo this year, but I would call it unusual to say the least.

The sky was beautiful yesterday after 2-3 days of wind and some rain which made for some interesting light and conditions. So I took a walk along the now intimate-to-me Tamagawa near my home.Lovers near Shinmaruko bridge.

This young fellow and I kept running into each other---literally.

"I can ride it myself, ma" he decided a little further up the river.

As he continued to ride, I went back to looking for photos in the amazing light.

And as I did, the young fellow with the unjustified-self-confidence circled around to where I was. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him approach and then topple off his bicycle-with-training-wheels at my feet.

"Excuse me," I said. He got up and said nothing while looking at me with a bit of concern in his eyes.

"Are you OK?" I asked as I handed him his mother's hat which had dropped out of the basket on the front of his bike.

"I'm OK," he said, relieved that I would not eat him. As I handed him another bag that he had dropped, his mother ran over and said "Thank you" in English.

I didn't know exactly what she was thanking me for, but since such events are never simple matters in Tokyo, I replied, "You're welcome." Thus ended this encounter between the young guy and his ma and the forever-foreigner.

Jogging along the river.

I got back to Denenchofu station a little earlier than planned, and the light was still excellent. In a month or so, there will be one main type of weather. Rain.

Friday Night in the World's biggest city

I guess it ain't really accurate to call Tokyo a city, as it is actually a prefecture made up of numerous---what should I call them?---towns.
Under an almost full moon (this year's "Wolf Moon") Friday night on the Tama River just across from Kanagawa prefecture's Shinmaruko.

Tamagawa mizubenotori

For the last 2 years getting close enough to the egrets or heron along my part of the Tama River has been getting more and more difficult.

Not only are the birds very wary of both humans and their dogs, the habitat has changed. The river has been high enough that it almost always covers the small basalt island behind the homeless camp where many of both species---along with cormorants---would spend much of the day.

There are a few other "islands" which are slightly isolated from the majority of human/canine interlopers where the birds can get a little peace, but last summer one of those "sanctuaries" disappeared. It disappeared not because of nature, but because of man. I spotted a fellow damming up part of the river and thought perhaps he was doing it to catch fish. I wondered if it was legal to do so, but I suppose that it makes no difference.

The "dam" that he built has now been built up to the point that it has become a bridge to the island, resulting in it becoming a playground for parents, children, and dogs. Frankly, these folks appear to be either unaware of, or have absolutely zero concern for the pitiful remnants of wildlife there. Contrast that with some of the older guys I meet in the early morning who seem to know every species of bird along the river as well as the details---to the point of trivia---about the history of the river itself.

This egret was first one I have gotten within 30 meters of in over a year. Amazingly, it hung around as two families with dogs off-leash came down to where I was photographing and began running, screaming, and throwing rocks in the river. It wasn't until one of the dogs crossed the "bridge" to the island and came up behind the egret and started barking that the bird wisely left. So did I.

Summer in the long grass

A bit of an oasis in Tokyo---at least the more urbanized part. If ya can't get out, the river is as good a place to go as any. On weekdays it isn't especially crowded, but on weekends and holidays, things change quickly. Look for weather---cold, rain, very hot and humid days, snow, high winds all drive a lot of the more dainty-types indoors. Nights are nice too...

Fly over

Shinmaruko in Kanagawa prefecture from the Tokyo side of the Tama River.

Bad weather brewing

You just knew that something was coming. One never bothers with weather forecasts when looking out the window is a more accurate way to tell the weather. Tama River, not far from Tamagawa Station, Tokyo side.

From April Showers

Along the Tamagawa. Most of the herons and egrets have made themselves scarce to care for their young I suppose. Anyway, they aren't hanging around the river near my place. Perhaps some rain tomorrow which is good, because I plan to be out in it to try to get a photograph of tree in the rain. Maybe it will even work out like I hope. Or not.

300,000 years old

The island that this heron (called a blue heron in Japanese, but looks like a grey heron) is said to be about 300,000 years old. Formed of lava, it is often underwater. According to an old guy I spoke to, it is believed to "have been the basis of the Tamagawa."

Spring is near

And the plumage on egrets is nearing its most attractive for mating season. This one is hunting fish on the Tamagawa in Tokyo. They especially like to kick around the rocks in order to stir up something to eat.

This is directly from jpeg and is much grainier than it would have been from NEF. Tokina 200-500mm Nikon D300.

D300 problems start to appear?

Sunday evening after an afternoon of waterfowl photography on the Tama River. As you may notice in the upper photo, the birds were leaving at this time and so was I.

Unfortunately, I experienced an auto-focus failure with the D300. It stopped focusing with my Tamron 200-500mm while I was taking photos of an egret. First I noticed that the AE/L button suddenly started focusing my camera when I pushed it to lock exposure. I had turned off the auto-focus lock feature for this button in the menu. (It is possible that I accidentally hit the AF lock button)

Then the lens would try to focus---I could hear the motor---but nothing happened. I put in a fresh battery. Nothing. I removed and reattached the lens. Nothing. I put a Nikkor 18-70mm on and after failing for a few minutes it began to focus again. I tried with my Tokina 12-24 and it worked. I put the Tamron back on and it was working again.

There have been occasional reports on the internet of this problem. It doesn't seem to be widespread but it exists. I am hoping mine was just a one time fluke, but since I have been having a few other problems with it too, I wonder.

February "Blizzard" in Tokyo

Or as close to one as we get in Tokyo. It was quite cold for the area that morning. I actually got numbed fingers even though I was wearing mittens. I have not been that cold in the Tokyo area in years.

Northern Shoveler on a winter afternoon

On the Tama River. Incidentally, this was taken at ISO 1600 with normal noise reduction with the Nikon D300. Nikon makes good cameras, but terrible software, and as noted below, less than helpful support. (Nikon would claim otherwise though which shows you what they consider good customer support on the software side.)
Nikon D300, Tamron 200-500mm@500mm. 1/200@f8. Tripod used.

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