Green Pond - Karuizawa

Green Pond - Karuizawa
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

Karuizawa is a very photogenic location with a couple of venues for taking great photos. The area right around the cottages at the Prince Resort presents scenes such as the one in this picture - right near the front entrance of the west entrance. The older part of Karuizawa township is also great for location photos, similar to Sausolito in the Bay Area or Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture. The last part that I found most interesting for shutterbugging - besides the kids and family - was the nature. Some of the best hiking in Japan is right in your backyard here. On the second day of the trip I hiked up Koasama-san (1655.1 meters), then trekked back down toward Kyu-Karuizawa, visiting Sengataki waterfalls and Ryugaeshi Falls on the way back. Then, of course, called the wife who was ready for lunch by then, and arranged a pickup at the Old Mikasa Hotel.

If you have any comments or questions about Karuizawa, Japan, phtography, or hiking, please post.

Rainy Season In Thailand

Rainy Season In Thailand
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

Got back from Pattaya on Friday evening last week, then had to immediately pack for a short family vacation up in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, so have not had a lot of time for post-processing pictures and blogging.

But here I am! Back in the saddle, hopefully, this time to never lose control!

Pattaya was a great training experience with my employer, but a horrible photo experience. Every morning was dreary and clouds were an opaque white, then right in the middle of training when the sun was straight up, the sky was totally clear. Then when training completed at about 5 p.m. every day, the clouds had rolled in to block any chance of a sunset. This went on for five days in a row while in Pattaya!

Anyway, this is a gem that I pulled from the mass of dreary photos while there. I am particularly proud of this photo, since I managed in an adverse lighting situation to pull the detail from the inside of this little temple. Take a close look. Or, go to the Flickr page to see a bigger photo.

Next couple days will post a series of photos from Karuizawa.

Road Mirror Self Portrait - Off To Thailand

Road Mirror Self Portrait
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

This may be my last blog posting for a couple of days, since I will be on a business trip to Thailand from tomorrow. Every time I tell somebody I am going to Pattaya Beach for corporate training, they laugh and say something like, "Yeah, right." Well... I am going to training!

Already have a couple of sights researched that would make for some decent sightseeing and photos. Pattaya Beach faces west on the bay, so there should be some neat sunsets in store for the next couple photo uploads. If anybody out there in readerland knows of a good, undocumented sites, please post a suggestion in the comments.

These street mirrors offer many avenues for creativity. This is the second such photo I have posted on Flickr. While this photo is a fun portraiture, I think this photo is my favorite.

Please post a comment or question.

Composition

River On The Trail - Hakone
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

When post-processing photos in Aperture or Photoshop, I sometimes get into a conflict about whether to straighten an image or leave alone. This was one of those images where the subject was not straight, and the tripod and camera were.

When I took this photo, I distinctly remember using the level on the tripod, because when I composed it to appear level in the viewfinder, I could clearly see that the body of the camera was crooked on the tripod. In this case I definitely leveled the camera, but the subject was a bit crooked.

This Sunday morning I will be headed off to some training in Thailand. The hotel will be in Pattaya, so I have gone online and looked up a couple of sites around that area. I am still fretting about which camera to take, and how much equipment I really need. While in Thailand, I will not have much free time, since this will be a company-sonpsored training event, the best shots I will get will probably be sunsets and night lights. So to make sure I get some sightseeing in, I have downloaded a small list of places around the Pattaya area that I think may be photogenic, and make sure to visit those on the first day when I arrive.

Hyperfocal Distance

Oyama - Last Stairs Before Second Temple
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

I have been reading quite a bit about photography both online and from texts lately. During this studying, I have since noticed that some of my photos, especially landscape shots taken with longer focal lengths, would 'snap' quite a bit more if determined and set the hyperfocal distance. I have had a couple of good settings and very nicely framed shots come out with blurry foregrounds and/or soft backgrounds like this picture. More about hyperfocal distance, along with pre-calculated charts, is available here.

This is a picture of the last staircase that ascends to the second temple on Oyama Mountain. I like the greens and the way that the trees cover the stairs. It's soft, cool, and quiet. Soft is because I did not calculate and set hyperfocal distance. Cool is the weather up here, despite having sweat every drop of water out of my body by the time I arrived this far. Quiet is something that these mountains offer in return for the exhaustive ascent and putting up with the city at other times.

Kenchoji Temple Tea Garden

Kenchoji Temple Tea Garden
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

About a 1.5 KM from Kita Kamakura Station, the walk to Kenchoji Temple was riddled with interesting gardens, shops, finely presented traditional Japanese houses, temple gates, and characters such as the one shown below.

Lately I have been looking into new hiking and camping gear. I started a couple days ago with boots. I have been using a pair of trusty Timberline boots that I picked up a couple years ago, and have finally managed to break in nicely, but found that there are a couple of hot spots in the boot when I do a lot of downhill walking. Upon analysis, discovered that the boot is actually about one size too large! I immediately went shopping and found The North Face Jasper Canyon GTX to be fairly well rated and at a modest price.

The next thing on the list is a new tent and backpack that I have already sourced and purchased. For a tent, I basically replaced what I had in a three-season tent with a four-season tent - Eureka! Alpinelite XT. This too was well rated for its ease of setup and durability.

Wadaiko-San
Originally uploaded by kirtbird

For a backpack.... well, I love my Millet. But my Millet is now riddled with patches, totally faded to a light blue (from a distance some people think it is made of denim), and ready for retirement after a lot of use. So I replaced it with the Peuterey 35 and accidentally purchased the ladies version. But what's the difference? If any of you out there know, please chime in with a comment.

The next big challenge is staying patient while waiting for the new equipment to arrive, and staying focused while I do some real work for the next couple weeks (in Tokyo and a business trip to Thailand next week) until I can hit the mountains for a long weekend again.

Photogenic Kita Kamakura

Kenchoji Temple - Kamakura, Japan
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

Visited Kita Kamakura yesterday and discovered the Kanto's version of Kyoto. One temple lined after the other, which make this little pocket a very photogenic location. I will definitely be visiting this place quite often until I get most of it chronicled. The best way to get there is to catch the JR Tokaido Line down to Ofuna, then switch to the JR Yokosuka Line and get off at the next station going south. The station is very small, but exit on the same side that you debark the train, and you will be on the temple trail.

This picture is of the path to the inner-temple area of Kenchoji Temple in Kita Kamakura.

Pond At Oike Park - New Week, New Project

Pond At Oike Park - Futamatagawa, Yokohama
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

Last week was a relaxing close. Won a job that had been competitively bidding on, and knew that this week would start with a lot of work. Well, here I am ready to hit the field and work away. Knowing this ahead of time, I took my free Saturday morning and spent a couple of hours walking around a nearby park.

With camera in hand, and my kids running around having fun, it dawned on me that this park - Oike Koen near Futamatagawa - is a very photogenic place. The pond at the very entrance of the park (pictured) would probably provide some great reflections early in the morning, so will make sure to find my way down there again next Saturday.

On Sunday afternoon, I went down to Kita Kamakura and discovered a jackpot of temples. Alot of temples (mostly Buddhist, and a couple Shinto) lined up next to each other, with directional signs all over the place. That will be tomorrow's blog... stay tuned.

Ask a question or comment, please.

Minato Mirai Night Lights

Minato Mirai Night Lights
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

Last night I went down to Sakuragi Station and walked over to Bankoku Bridge. Good thing I had the super wide angle sigma along to squeeze in this incredible wide angle shot. The Landmark looks crooked but I still like the photo with everything all the way across the skyline. I got the information for this night lights setting and many others here in Japanese. I dislike web sites that put music in the background without giving you the option of turning it off, but this one offers good shooting (photo not sniper ;-)) information.

Planning a late afternoon trip to Kamakura for some sunset shots. If anything turns out decent, will share. Please comment or ask a question.

Quiet Temple

Quiet Temple
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

This temple is along the path to Shasui Falls in Tanzawa. I was taking several photographs of the colorful small statues in front of the temple, then stepped back to take a broader look to realize that this was a quite colorful photo opportunity. Sometimes it just works out that way.

I was reviewing some of my photography basics yesterday and come across something that I never considered in framing my shots recently - hyperfocal distance! When I was taking photography classes in high school and an enthusiast in college, I exercised hyperfocal distance in a lot of my photos, but forgot completely about it. Here is a great article on the topic with a pre-calculated chart here and an Excel version here.

Please comment or send any questions about hiking in general, hiking in Japan, or photography.

Climbing Mt. Oyama

Oyama Hiking - Old and New
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

This is the temple on the very top of the mount - at the very final small ascent to completion of climbing this mountain. The mountain is only 1,252 meters above sea level, but the hike up to the top is historical. Each rest stop along the way has old Shinto relics, the path/stairs up the mountain are obviously very old. The path is largely huge rocks embedded into the slopes. The journey up the mountain is regularly trekked by locals for exercise.

This picture is an interesting contrast. Just beyond the tip of Mt. Oyama, there is a huge NTT Docomo transmission station with a lot of antenna and microwave dishes. This is another Japan - old and new - picture.

Self Portrait In A Traffic Mirror

Self Portrait
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

I have taken many of these photos while hiking or shutterbugging along the streets in Yokohama, but this one turned out nice. The mirror is embedded in bushes and everything reflected in the mirror is lush. The tree unfolds nicely in the background.

Over the past couple of days have been looking at the PB-6 bellows attachment from Nikon. It is sold out everywhere, and Bic Camera says it is a two month wait. What is up with that? Well, I researched on the internet and the PB-6 gets very mixed reviews, but it looks like a lot of micro photographers are using it. I want to use it for infinite depth of field in landscape photography.

With a two-month wait.... I'll keep on shooting stock and wait for the bellows. Or, go buy a field view camera and learn a bit before buying.

Please comment.

Interesting Subjects (Green Dam Falls - Hakone)

Green Dam Falls - Hakone
Originally uploaded by typh00nrider

Didn't know what title to give this image, but the angle (actually, not quite in front exactly) and the way that the trees cross in front of the top of the falls - thanks to the super wide angle, all come together to put this image in Flickr Explore! Whoo hoo!

It feels good to get a photo in Flickr Explore. It's the ultimate form of Flickr recognition, I think. But what do people like this guy who have 315 photos in Explore? I bet the whole 'recognition' feeling is probably gone. To this guy it's probably like, "Geez, I gotta move that photo in the organizer to Explore set. What a pain!"

I am in no way comparing myself to Lars. He is in a class of his own, but have also noticed that he has awesome subjects. Lars processing is also very consistent and his style is mature.

This photo was taken off of the regular path while taking a casual walk down the hill from Hiryu Falls. Just a few minutes down the path, after going across a wooden bridge, there are a couple of falls like this that are hidden by the vegetation next to the path. A small amount of climbing around is also required. With a little effort, this gem became visible and my prize subject this week. A nice gallery layout of this image can be found here.

Also, I was hiking with smugwimp. Please visit his site and leave a comment or two, or fave some of his photos.