Green Creek

Green Creek
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

When I took this shot, framed everything and started shooting, I did not know what would come from the exercise. However, when I sat behind the workstation after downloading the photos from my camera, this fairly blaise scene blossomed into a beautiful picture from all the green surrounding.

This photo goes to show that the creative parts of our minds does not necessarily cooperate rationally with the logical side. The logic in me was saying that this shot would probably be a waste of time, so I was just going through the motions on-site, but the creative side was telling me to set the tripod up, position the camera and take the shot... which has turned out to be a good catch.

Please comment directly onto this blog, or visit my Flickr page and post a comment. Please.

Ths Shasui Falls Challenge - A Lesson In Waterfall Photography

The photo to above is my first attempt at photographing a raging waterfall from the very bottom. Everything setup beautifully on a tripod, wired remote connected, wide angle mouted, and all composed - except that I forgot to wipe the water mist off of the lens. This is quite a let-down when we downloaded everything from our camera (which only has a 2.5" screen) to the 17" Hi-Res MacBook Pro. The water spots on the lens are very visible.

Well, this picture (above), while an improvement is not very much better! This was the second trip out to the wild on the other side of Kanagawa Prefecture. I setup, then wiped, wiped, shot, shot, wiped some more, then shots as many as fast as possible - and this was the best I could get.
I ran into the same challenge at a second trip to Hiryu Falls this past week-end. At the top of the falls, the wind is blowing from the falls right at the lookout point.

This time I did not put the camera on

a tripod and had the sun in front of the subject/waterfall, so I just metered the light, dropped the shutter speed slightly and increased the f stop by one, then faced the waterfall with a dry lens and started shooting, then wiped with a lens tissue, and shot a couple more photos. I have also learned not to use a lens cleaning cloth, but lens tissues. This is because lens cloths do not absorb water very well.

Green Dam Falls - Hakone

Green Dam Falls - Hakone
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

This was a nice scene found off of the normal path yesterday in Hakone. We did a really slack version of the trail that I took a couple of weeks ago. Instead of climbing a mountain at the outset, then walking down the other side, we caught a bus to the top, then walked most of the way down.
Between the rains this time of year is the best time to capture the royal lushness these forests offer.

Lush Path

Lush Path
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

This photograph really snapped when I applied HDR and adjusted some of the color settings on the final HDR. Tomorrow morning I am heading up to Shasui Falls again to take some morning photos of the temple up there and get another shot of the waterfall - this time to make sure that I wipe the mist off of the lens before shooting. Need to prevent this from happening.

Have registered and setup, for the most part, all of my domain names. This blog is now linked to http://blogg.ingina.com . I have a gallery at kirt.cathey.us.com and another gallery that I am using for ongoing projects and new stuff here . Then to make sure all is simplified just a little more, here (kirt.us.com) is a web page that has a links to all this with a link to my Flickr page, which is where I am initially releasing all photos for comment. Please comment here too!

What Have I Been Doing

Sincerest apologies for the recent lag in postings.... No! I haven't given up on the security metrics movement. In starting with Deloitte recently have had to prioritize time a bit differently. Also, have been spending a lot of leisure time working on photography and hiking projects. Check out http://kirt.cathey.us.com for more information. Anyway, stay tuned for more postings in the near future.

The Old Tokaido Hakone

The Old Tokaido Hakone
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

I had a hard time processing this photo, but I have found a photo processing and HDR style that I really like. This photo is my version of that processing style. This particular process went a bit overboard on the green, but the rocks in the trail still maintain some degree of brown, while maintaining the moss highlights. Click here for a large image and visit my personal photo gallery.

Shasui Falls - 洒水の滝

Shasui Falls - 洒水の滝
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

This photo was extremely difficult. in the online hiking guide that suggested this venue, they failed to update the page to explain that the look-over area right in front of the falls has been closed for the past year. There was a rock slide at that time and the path up to the falls have been closed. Having rode the trains and buses for two hours to get to the closest station, then walking another hour to get on-site, I decided to jump the barriers and get right up to the waterfall anyway.

Well, everything was perfect. I got past all the barriers and right up to the falls. Then positioned myself just under beyond the protective railing. Composed the shot, set all the exposure details, took the shot. Awesome! I thought.

When I got home to where I could see the image on my Mac, I realized that if I had wiped the mist off of my lens the picture would have been much better.

Eight-Sided Pagoda At Kawasaki Daishi

Eight-Sided Pagoda At Kawasaki Daishi
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

A gentleman at the temple yesterday was kind enough to explain that this was a rare eight-sided pagoda not found anywhere else in Japan. All the other pagodas are four-sided.

With this photo, I finally have come close to mastering post-processing in Aperture, and think that I will stick with that tool. Capture NX is nice and the face that it may access more RAW information (still confirming) than Aperture make it appealing, but the interface and performance are not very good. Workflow is much smoother in Aperture, and it is very responsive when trying to make photos 'snap'.

Please comment!

On Explore! - Steel Maze

Steel Maze
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

This picture was featured on Flickr explore last week. A whole week had passed before i realized this great honor. It seems really hard to compose something that meets Flickr 'interestingness' requirements, but looks like I finally did it!

Want to take a few more like this with the Zenitar or the Sigma 10-20 mm while I am off of work on Friday. Probably do a tour of some of the orange temples. Stay tuned! And please comment!

Glogster - Town and Country

Green Falls - Above 飛竜の滝@箱根

Green Falls
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

I went for a long day hike in Hakone this past weekend, starting out in Yumoto Onsen and climbing Sengen Mountain then walking a full circle back down the old Tokai Road back to Yumoto. Altogehter it was about a 20 kilometer trek. I started the trek from Yumoto at about 7:45 a.m. (leaving home at about 5:45 a.m.!!) and ended back up in Yumoto at about 14:30. Of course, after completing the course, I got into the hotsprings and relaxed with a good one hour bath and some food.

This part of the river is just above Hiryu Falls in Hakone. I was walking down the trail and just as I started to hear the falls, and the trail took a left turn, I looked to the right and saw a very narrow trail. It looked like a fox or rodent trail. I followed that trail down and found a small reclusive opening, where I proceeded to remove my backpack, relax, and take a few photos. It was very dark and surrounded by trees, so I had to do timed exposures to get anything of good quality - sorry Ken Rockwell, the tripod is not dead!! I pulled out the Manfrotto tripod and took a couple of shots. The hard part about this shoot was trying not to wash out the whites in the water, which I even managed to do with this shot, but limited the wash out area with some creative post-processing.
If you have any tips or ideas for taking a photo like this, please comment. 日本語でも大丈夫です！

Gotham Tower And The Zenitar

Gotham Tower
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

The title to this blog sounds like a cross between Batman and Godzilla! Not quite, but close. To take this picture, I laid flat on my back just under the causeway that goes across the old ship repair facility next to the Landmark Tower. This photo gets really sharp at the top of the glass windows and around the triangle designs in the lower middle of the photograph, then goes soft everywhere else.
Based on some tests and slight adjustments this morning, it appears that this is simply a depth of filed issue. This photo and just about all the photos I took with the Zenitar yesterday were stopped wide open at 2.8! However, when stopped down to about 5.6 or 8, the results and detail is very impressive for the price.
More to come - when the weather breaks. It's raining again today. If I have a chance, will try and take a picture of the wind generator over by Costco in Kanazawa.

Daisy and Butterfly

Daisy and Butterfly
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

This was a brave butterfly that kept flying around us until I decided he was worth photographing.
Good news! Got the Zenitar and took some test shots... no soft infinity for the lens I got! Just took a shot and even at 5.6 aperture and focused to infinity, then blew up 200%... everything looks fine to me.
When I received the package I was afraid something had gone awry. The box had been cut open that was inside the USPS envelope. However, the lens is tough! When you hold it, you notice the difference with all the glass and steel - no plastic.
Going to Minato Mirai. See ya!

Flower Power

Flower Power
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

Another day gone without the Zenitar in my hands. Would have really liked it for Sports Day at Hannah's school this morning, but, oh, well... If I get it this afternoon, will trek right down to Minato Mirai for a few quick shots to see how it performs, or if any adjustments will be necessary.

This flower has some harsh shadows to the right that I worked on smoothing with D-Light for some time last night. This should be done with D-Light, correct? Please comment or question.

Purple Flower Cluster

Purple Flower Cluster
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

While walking the dog yesterday morning, I stopped by Kurumi's house and took a few more photos of the flowers. This lady works hard on her garden and the flowers are beautiful.
Still waiting on the Zenitar.... hopefully today just in time for a break in the weather.

Keikyu Line At Yokosuka Chuo

Keikyu Line At Yokosuka Chuo
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

This is another shot that I would like to try and shoot with a fisheye. Compose so that the platform line goes straight through (or close to) the center of the frame, and shoot from the front of a parked train. If anything to frame the shot. Then get another picture with some action (and maybe clearer than this).

Just got word from good ole USPS that my 16mm/2.8 Zenitar lens package has the following status: "Your item left the United States from SAN FRANCISCO at 3:50 AM on June 4, 2008." That could mean that it left the runway at about 19:50 Japan time on the same day; which means that I very well may have it in my hands for the weekend!

If so, I'm going to take a trip to Minato Mirai late afternoon for some fisheye shots. Here is a quick list of things I want to get pictures of:
1) Landmark laying on my back.
2) Grounds or the building of the Yokohama Fine Art Museum
3) Minato Mirai Ferris Wheel
4) That stainless Steel Weird Thingy Sculpture Between Landmark and Queens Towers
5) Fisheye shot of where the ships used to get repaired place next to the Landmark...

Feel free to take any of these ideas and shoot'em yourself.

Minato Mirai From Bay Quarter - Night

Minato Mirai From Bay Quarter - Night
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

I've found a better vantage point and will return tomorrow. I can't wait to get the Russian wide angle lens, so I can get much closer to the subject and change themes next week.

I sat on this photo wondering how I would do the post-processing for a while. This was my first night skyline DSLR shot, not to mention the first such shot I had taken in about 12 years. In the old days, we would pull out a light meter and take an incident reading and adjust an exposure forward or backward, depending on where you were standing. This time I had to rely on the camera light meter which was pointing directly at all the lights, which produced a picture that was slightly under-exposed in the foreground and slightly over-exposed in the background.

With the help of a light meter, a couple of medium-good exposures, and a little photoshop adjustment, this picture came out quite good! Over 50 views on Flickr in a single day.

Please ask a question or comment on the photograph.

Marunouchi North Exit

Marunouchi North Exit
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

This picture really presents a contrast between old and new Marunouchi. Back in the days, Marunouchi was know for old, established Japanese businessmen - the establishment. The Japanese term for old man - 'oyaji' - and Marunouchi were a classic association. However, the recent developments in the area have turned it into a posh, hip place to be after work and on Friday nights.

Here Are A Couple More Pictures - Feel Free To Comment

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This is the daytime version of the night skyline photo above, but this came out much better than I originally thought. It is a single RAW shot that was cut up in Capture NX (while still working with RAW) with three exposures -1, 0, +1. The result was exceptional and kind of like a super-detailed painting, but download the full size and take a look at the detail. That way you'll also see that it is clearly not a painting.

The homeless person sleeping by the bridge was take last Sunday (2008/5/25) right after a day and a half of rain. In the original shot, the homeless person was not exposed and only a silhouette was visible and dark. That too was a nice effect and conveyed the original view and atmosphere very well. However, when I cut this RAW up in Capture NX, the detail came out so nice across the whole range.
Below are a couple more photos to comment on. Please do comment, since that is how we all refine our technique. Or, ask a question.

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Minato Mirai Sunset

Minato Mirai Sunset
Originally uploaded by kirtcathey

This is one of my first HDR photos, but spent quite a bit of time pre-processing and cutting the different exposures from RAW in Capture NX.

Capture NX leaves a lot to be desired in the user interface - it's obviously a Java application, so also tends to be sluggish. But not too bad on the 17" MBP, of course, thanks to 4 GB RAM.

One comment from a friend is to take out the single floating cloud in the top and mid-left portion of the picture.

Please leave your comments.