The G.A.S. attack continues

Posted on June 23, 2009 by 2yen

Click HERE for today’s photos.

The GAS attack strikes again.

What do I mean by gas attack? The G.A.S. stands for Gear Acquisition Syndrome.
It all started back in 1999 before I came to Japan when I bought my first digital camera, the Olympus D340r. A fantastic little piece of kit, 1.3 megapixel, no zoom, AA batteries, and SmartMedia cards. And at that time I was spending about $100 for a 64 MB memory card. Hard to believe that I recently picked up some 16 GB memory cards for about $38 each.
Unbelievable!

From the D340R I progress through quite a few different cameras sticking with Olympus for a while: C3000, then an E-10. But then I believe in 2004 I got my first digital SLR, a Canon 10 D.
And Man that I love that camera!

But it was was then that the gear acquisition syndrome or really started to affect me. Because the beauty and at the same time curse of digital SLRs is all the fantastic lenses that go along with them.

As the years rolled by I traded my 10D for a 1D Mark II, a great camera with loads of functionality, but also unfortunately loads of mass as well.   So after getting tired of lugging that brick around, I “downgraded” to the Rebel XT. (Which I ended up just loving due to its diminutive size)

Then Canon released the 5D which I immediately bought, selling the XT to help fund the purchase. IN the meantime I continued to acquire new gear, an Epson R-D1, then a Leica M8, and more film cameras, mostly medium format, than I care to admit.
A

bout a month ago I was trolling around on eBay. Not really looking for anything in particular, just window shopping. But what did I come upon, but a Mamiya AFD with a Kodak DCS Pro back!
The Kodak DCS Pro back was one of the original medium format digital backs that did not need to be tethered to a computer for shooting. And since I do absolutely no studio shooting, this was the optimum shooting solution for me.

I did not plan on buying anything, but the “buy it now” price was less than 200,000 yen for teh camera boody and back, along with a box full of batteries, memory cards and the like.
An added bonus was that the seller was from Japan so the camera was delivered to me very quickly. The camera did not come with a lens, so I went to my favorite camera store, Map Camera in Shinjuku, and picked up a couple of Mamiya AFD lenses: a 45 mm f2.8, and 55mm F2 .8. They’re both pretty close in focal length, but the price was right so i got both of them.

So far I am enjoying the 55mm more, but I’ll do some more shooting before I decide if I want to get rid of the 45mm.

I had heard how great medium format digital was, but to be honest I wasn’t expecting entirely too much from a digital back built in 2001, which is literally eons ago in the digital camera world. And the rather crappy LCD screen on the back of the pro back did not serve to further increase my confidence about the output quality of the camera.

But once I dumped the file onto my computer and viewed them on my 24 inch monitor I was absolutely blown away by the image quality. It absolutely blew the doors off of any digital camera I had shot with so far; The 5D, the 700, the Leica M8, all of them. The dynamic range was incredible, and the sharpness was truly breathtaking. Straight out of the camera the files look great, and in many cases no post processing is needed.

Just this past weekend I was up in Shinjuku shootings pictures with the Tokyo Cameras photo club. And I brought my brand-new used camera long to put it through its paces. We started shooting in the late afternoon. So by the time we’re finished the light was gett9ing pretty feable so I pushed the ISO up to 200, and shot the 55mm wide open at f2.8. But even still, the picture quality was amazing, due inpart no doubt to that fantastic mamiya glass.

It does focus really slow, but with such a big bright and beautiful viewfinder is relatively easy to do manual focus with the camera as well. I am also pleasantly surprised at how well I am able to handhold this camera at slow shutter speeds. It’s a relatively big and heavy camera and has a big beefy handgrip. Very comfortable ergonomics, but I do wish it was a little bit smaller.

I could go on and on about picture quality, but I think the pictures from today are the best explanation of what this camera is capable of producing.

Filed under: gear talk | 5 Comments »

Omens?

Posted on May 28, 2009 by 2yen

Click HERE for today’s photos.  Its a small set of images that I took during my most reent trip to Kyoto (November 2008).

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I REALLY didn’t need to read this news story today.

I’ll be flying to Chicago for a business meeting next week, and could very likely be flying on that same plane.  In all likelihood that Air Force Sgt saved the lives of everyone on board.  The flight crew might have diverted based on the fact that they did recognize that they seemed to be loosing fuel, but then again they might have chalked it up to a gauge malfunction and pressed on.  We might have all ended up watching this on an episode of “Air Crash Investigation”.

I shudder to think how it could have worked out differently had it been a plane full of Japanese people, with no gaijins around.  I’m not bashing Japanese people,  and it is a very gross generalization, but I am also thinking that it just might have turned out very differently.

After more than nine years in Japan I can’t remember how many times I have seen Japanese people do their best to ignore a situation that they either did not want to get involved with, or thought that someone else would or should handle.  Granted, any person does who is riding an airplane has a vested interest to make sure that plane continues to fly, and not drop out of the sky like a stone.  But Japanese people, more than any other culture I have seen, are extremely good at ignoring things.

Those of you who have experienced the culture know exactly what I am talking about.  Especially when it comes to people in positions of power or prestige.  Doctors for example are treated as all-knowing gods.  A second opinion is basically unheard of in Japan, with patients taking their doctors word as gospel.    I don’t know about you, but it does not instill a great amount of confidence in me when, no matter how long a doctor has been working, you still refer to it as “Practicing” medicine.  The same thing holds true for lawyers.

Again, I know I am making some gross generalizations.  I guess that’s just the kind of mood I am in today.

Filed under: others | 10 Comments »

Castaway

Posted on May 16, 2009 by 2yen

Click HERE for today’s photos

Since I have been so busy lately, I have not been able to make it to the past two meetups of the Tokyo Cameras Photo Club.  That’s why I decided to organize a small get together  in Kamakura last weekend for some of the members.

Weather-wise, we could not have had a better day, and we capped the afternoon off with a stop-off at n Izakaya near Kamakura station.   It was exactly what I needed, and even though Kamakura is a very well beaten path for me, I still enjoyed myself.  Same place, but different light.  That’s what makes photography such a continued passion for me.

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Currently I am in Diego Garcia.  If you don’t know where that is, then draw a line between Madagascar and Sri Lanka, and at the point directly South of the Seychelles you will find Diego Garcia.  I arrived here last Tuesday and will be staying through next Thursday before flying back to Japan.

And while the work is keeping me very busy, I do have this weekend to relax and explore.  Today I took a long bike ride down one arm of the atoll and spent the better part of the day on a deserted beach, all by myself.  It has been a long time since I last experienced solitude like that, and it was an entirely cleansing experience.

I found a great spot, just up from the high tide mark that is shaded by palm trees leaning out over the beach.  Looking out over the lagoon I could neither see nor hear any indication of human presence.  No power lines, no roads, nothing.  Not one single thing to make the place appear to be inhabited.  The only indication of human activity was my own footprints on the beach.

It was there that I smoothed out the seashells and sand to form a bed where I could take a nap, for how long, I have no idea.  You see, I did not take a watch, as that would have been totally counter productive to the reason I was there.  I drifted off to sleep with the waves softly lapping at the shore, and the rustle of the palm fronds in the sea breeze as my only company.

Upon waking I noticed that the water had ridden the incoming tide and had crept up a bit closer to my own private paradise.  I then proceeded to have a light snack and packed up my impromptu camp so I could wander my way down the coastline, taking in the sea birds, crabs, sea turtles, and the occasional black tipped reef shark or stingray as they cruised the shoreline in pursuit of schools of fish who were in turn looking for their own next meal.

It is a complete privilege to experience a place like this.  There are not too many truly unspoiled places remaining on this earth, I feel very lucky o be able to experience one of them.

I love my job.

Filed under: cool | Tagged: | 3 Comments »

Source of swine flu discovered

Posted on April 30, 2009 by 2yen
Source of swine flu discovered

Source of swine flu discovered

 

Completely off-topic, but I just HAD to share this with you all.

Filed under: funny | 7 Comments »

Razor Phone

Posted on April 21, 2009 by 2yen

Click Here for todays photos.

I have always been amazed at the features that have been added to cell phones over the years.  

You have GPS navigation, electronic money, pedometers, video and still cameras, mp3 players, mp4 players, calendars,…   yes, the list seems endless.  And then with the introduction of the iPhone things got even more interesting and it seemed the days of the famous Star Trek communicator had finally come true.

But just when I thought they could not cram any more useful features into a cellphone, here comes the Razor Phone.  

No, not  This Razor, I’m talkng about a true  Razor Phone, as in a cellphone with a built in electric shaver.  

Be still my beating heart!  

As strange as this concept first seems, I can see this being pretty popular with the salaryman set here in Japan.  It will be great for those office workers that get their five-o’clock shadow at 1 in the afternoon, or those salarymen that want to spruce themselves up before a last minute late in the day meeting.

I’m just not sure if it has a vibrate mode.  

My guess is no.  

Because if it did it might be easy to mistakenly (and quite literally) jump out of your pants if the thing started vibrating while you had it in one of your front pockets.  Nothing like the threat of imminent (re)circumsize by Razor Phone to get the heart going.

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It looks like I will be taking part in another episode of Cool Japan sometime soon.  I’ll keep  you all posted as things firm up.

Filed under: cool, technology | 8 Comments »

Kamakura by bicycle

Posted on April 6, 2009 by 2yen

Click HERE for todays photos.

Last Friday, a normal workday for me, I took the day off just because it’s Sakura season.  It’s a wonderful time of year, the cold of winter is over, the days are getting longer and it’s starting to warm up. But it’s not yet sticky and humid like summer so the skies are still brilliant blue.

It had been a long time since I took a day off from work just to go to take photos, usually I spend my weekends doing that, but the weather has just gotten so nice recently I couldn’t help myself.

And this trip to Kamakura was a little bit different than others that I had taken in the past. For the first time in my nine years of living in Japan I did the tourist thing and rented a bicycle, at Kamakura station.  I can’t believe it took me this long to get around to doing that. Probably the main reason is because since I live here, I have plenty of time to see Kamakura and I don’t feel the need to rush, thus I never felt the need to rent a bicycle. I was content just to spend my time walking, wandering really.

I was pleasantly surprised not just at how much ground that could cover by using a bicycle but just how much more “concentrated” the place felt when I was using a bicycle. Instead of spending 80% of my time walking between locations, that was cut down to maybe 15% or 10% of my time so it really felt like I could see a lot of things in a relatively short period of time.  And as a result, I think I was able to get a higher percentage of good photos.

I didn’t rent a bicycle as soon as I got to Kamakura because it was too early in the morning and the bike rental shop was not open. I do like to get there early in the morning because I can feel like I have the place to myself.  The only other people around are maybe one or two other photographers such as myself and the people who work at the temples and shrines.

By the time I was done shooting near Kamakura station, the bicycle rental shop was open. So I rented my single speed Mama-Chari with the requisite basket in front, # 47 to be exact,  and proceeded to peddle my way over to Hokokuji, otherwise known as the bamboo Temple. Three of today’s photos were taken at Hokokuji Temple. The first one being the temple bell, the next one being the green ojizou, and the third one being the entranceway showing the path, gravel rock garden, and the cherry trees in addition to the temple buildings. It was a beautiful morning really, and seeing as I got there right before the place opened at nine o’clock, as I got to the bamboo grove in the back I had the place completely to myself, which is always a nice thing.

From there I pedals to Ankokoronji Temple, that’s in the southeastern side of Kamakura city.  And it didn’t take me very long to get there, and seeing as it was still pretty early in the morning there were not a lot of people there so it was nice to not have to jockey for position and instead have the photographs just present themselves to me for the taking.  Two of today’s photos were taken at that Temple, the first one with the maple leaves with a red background.  The red background was the felt covering of a bench where people can sit down and have tea at the temple. The second picture is of the worshiper chanting and hitting the drum in front of the temple.

After I got my fill of uncle Ankokuronji I then peddle down to the ocean near Yuigahama beach and headed west.  I then circled my way around stopping off at Hase-Dera, and then looping my way back to Kamakura station.

Not the most exciting day, but exactly what I was looking for.

Filed under: wanderings | Tagged: | 3 Comments »

Bottom feeders need love too

Posted on March 9, 2009 by 2yen

Click HERE for today’s photos.

I was recently notified that someone has been offering a couple of my photos for sale on eBay.  After I contacted eBay the seller did remove one of the two images  (The one that they had neglected to remove my copyright statement from) but so far the last one remains for sale.

There are a few things that really chap my ass about this situation:

  • The seller was so stupid that they left my copyright statement on one of the images.  I’d call the seller an idiot, but that would be a put down to all us idiots out there.  I’d also like to call the seller a  ”slug” but that would be giving garden slugs  a bad name.  After all, slugs do serve some valuable purposes: They provide  many people in the chemical pesticide industry with an honest living, and they also do an amusing little jigg when you sprinkle salt on them.  (Kind of like seeiggn a politician dance his way around a  direct question, with the added beenfit of seeing them die at the end of it)
  • The photos themselves were stolen from my website, so they are only 72dpi in resolution, thus any prints made from them will look like utter crap.  The only photos I upload at full resolution are the ones that I place on my smugmug page, and that is why that is the only place where valid prints can be ordered.  The fact that my name will be on an image that looks like crap really pisses me off.  It does not bother me in the least when someone does not like my photos.  It’s art after all, and totally subjective.  But even if someone thinks my photographs are crap, I want them to be finely printed crap.
  • The seller is asking bargain basement prices for the photos.   This is an insult to artists everywhere.
  • I only had two o my phtoso stolen.  From looking  at the sellers eBay page it is obvious that a lot of other people have been ripped off as well, and a lot worse than me.
  • Mel Brooks hasn’t released any new movies recently.

OK, maybe that last one is a bit off topic, but is has  been a while since Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, arguably two of the finest films to ever grace the silver screen.

But I guess I should feel sorry for such a no-talent hack (The person who stole my photos, not Mel Brooks).  I can’t imagine going though life stealing other peoples work and trying to turn a  profit from it.  Heck, that sounds a lot like being a rapper; stealing real musicians riffs and hooks and polluting it with their own words.

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I have recently discovered the new lenses that Cosina/Voigtlander has produced for both Nikon and Pentax mount cameras.  SO far I have the 58mm f1.4 Nokton, and 40mm f2 Ultron, and I absolutely love them.   You can see the results in today’s photos as most of them were taken with my new Voigtlander lenses.

I’m not sure if I will go for the new 20mm f3.5 Color Skopar since I don’t do a whole lot of super side angle shooting, and my current Nikkor 20mm f2.8 adequately handles any wide work I currently shoot.

Filed under: copyright, gear talk | Tagged: | 14 Comments »

NHK Cool Japan TV show

Posted on February 24, 2009 by 2yen

Click HERE for today’s photos.

I have a friend who works for NHK producing television programs, and in a classic case of life being all about who you know and not what you know, I was recently asked to be on an NHK television program.  

Called Cool Japan, it is a program that explores what, from a foreigners perspective,  makes Japan cool.  It touches on a wide variety of subjects;  fashion, anime, alcohol, etc., as well as other cultural aspects of Japanese society.

The particular episode that I took part in looked into the aspect of “Mottainai” culture in Japan.  It will air at the following times:

  • March 18th (Wed) 19:00-19:44 on NHK BS Hi-vision
  • March 29th (Sun) 0:10-0:54 on NHK BS-1

It was my first time in a television studio, and I’m glad I was able to absorb the experience.  It was also a lo of fun.  At first I thought I would be a little bit nervous, but I guess I am too old to get nervous about things like that anymore.

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Most of today’s photos are from Kamakura, and if all goes as planned when you click on the “map this” button within Smugmug you will see a map showing the location where each photo was taken.  More GPS madness. :)

While I was shooting photos I could not help but notice that of all the other photographers at each of the locations I was stopping at, they all seemed to be shooting the same scenes, usually from the very same vantage point.

It got me thinking about how we all usually see the world.

What I mean by this is that in our haste to digest and understand the world around us with the least amount of effort, we usually rely on those around us to provide clues.  I think this is where a lot of prejudice and bias stems from.  After all, its a lot less mentally taxing to take what someone else says at face value, rather than cogitate on your own and seek your own truths about the world.

And I’m not saying that is all bad.  I can’t image trying to get through event the most mundane of days if I were to have to think everything through on my own, just to make sure I understood what was going on., and that I was doing it in the best manner.  Taken to this extreme, even a simple trip to the local combini could end up being a sojourn of epic proportions: What route should I take, and why?  What is the most effective mode of transport, and what on earth should I buy once I get there?  The choice of say, potato chips alone could cause one to spend eons weighing the merits of one brand versus the other, and lets not even mention serving sizes!

So what am I really blathering about here?

I’m nowhere near arrogant enough to think that I am immune to falling into this trap. But the great thing is that when I am aware of this danger, I do find that I take better pictures.  And, I also happen to enjoy the world around me a bit more when I see it through less filtered eyes.  

It’s kind of like what I was talking with some of the other people that were on the Cool Japan show with me; when you go to a place for the first time (like when I first came to Japan) there are no bounds.  It feels like anything is possible, and you never know what the next day will bring you.  

I think this is what usually makes travel so exciting, it’s the thought that something new could happen.

But invariably, the longer you are in one place, the more artificial bounds you place upon your own existence.  And while these bounds can serve a very useful purpose, and allow you to make a lot of assumptions so as to more smoothly  operate, they also invariably rob you of some of that mystery and wonder that even the most ordinary of circumstances can hold.

Yes, the tightest, most secure prisons are the ones we build for ourselves.

That is why it is so important to remember to not take anything for granted.  Not one single moment of the time we are given will ever come again.   Moments rush towards us and then are gone  in a  flash, never to repeat.

So make the most of it by slowing down to really observe what is going on around you.  Stop just looking at things; categorizing, tagging, and blindly rushing through life with too many preconceived notions.

It’s amazing what you will find if you instead take the time to really “see”.

I hope I am able to do this more than I currently manage.  Life itself is just too interesting and varied for me to want it any other way.

Filed under: philosophy | Tagged: , , , | 9 Comments »

This is just… Cool.

Posted on February 19, 2009 by 2yen

I don’t usually do this, but this update is just the posting of a link.  

But it’s a really cool link.

It shows what Tokyo would look like if all the pavement and asphalt was replaced with grass. 

Kind of like a dream….

Filed under: cool | Tagged: , | 5 Comments »

A day in the life

Posted on February 17, 2009 by 2yen

All of todays photos were shot on 15 February, ranging from very early (past midnight) to very late (right before midnight).

***CLICK HERE for todays photos***

I had ended Saturday night after attending a live event in Yokosuka where some friends were playing some music at a bar called Moai & Capy, located pretty clsoe to Shioiri station.  Then on Sunday I spent the day up in Nakano shooting pictures with a photo club I belong to.

The D700 continues to amaze me.  The low light shooting at Moai & Capy was an absolute breeze with the incredible autofocus and high ISO capability it has.  The main lens I used was the 50mm f1.4G which oerfomred admirably.  ON Sunday the lens of choice was a Nikkor 20mm f2.8D that I picked up used at Fujiya Camera in nakano, right before the photo club met up to start shooting.  

The theme for the days shooting was “Unusual Perspectives”, thus the large amount of odd angles for most of todays shots.  I really enjoy the photo club as it places some structure on the shooting, and depending on the theme we are using, it can really stretch you and make you think.

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I was woken up this morning by a mild earthquake.  Not enough to really worry about, but enough to remind me that I have not yet set up an earthquake disaster kit.   The contents of a typical kit include things that can get me through the first few days of an emergency in the event of THE BIG ONE and I have the good fortune to live through it.   

So now that I am thinking about it, I guess I’d better get around to building my own kit.  

I think I will add the following to it, and keep it in a  handy place:

  • Water – 5 gallons (enough for 5-days)
  • Food– ready to eat or requiring minimal water (MREs work great for this, and have the shelf life of a brick)
  • Manual can opener and other cooking supplies
  • Plates, utensils and other feeding supplies
  • First Aid kit & instructions
  • A copy of important documents & phone numbers
  • Warm clothes, rain gear, sturdy footwear
  • Heavy work gloves
  • Camera (no problem for me there…) and plenty of charged batteries and empty memory cards
  • Unscented liquid household bleach and an eyedropper for water purification
  • Personal hygiene items including toilet paper, tooth brush and paste, hand sanitizer and soap
  • Plastic sheeting, duct tape and utility knife for covering broken windows
  • Tools such as a crowbar, hammer & nails, staple gun, adjustable wrench and bungee cords.
  • Blanket and/or sleeping bag
  • Large heavy duty plastic bags and a plastic bucket for waste and sanitation
  • Beer (preferably Strohs as it is the only beer I know that taste just as bad cold as it does warm)
  • Flashlight (hand crank type)
  • Radio – hand crank or battery operated
  • Whistle
  • Pocket knife
  • Emergency cash in small denominations
  • Permanent marker, paper and MORE duct tape  (You can never have enough duct tape)
  • List of emergency points-of -contact phone numbers
  • Extra prescription eye glasses
  • A few good (long) books 

I think that should about do it.  

Can anyone think of anything I forgot?

Filed under: gear talk, lists | 10 Comments »

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