My Buddy aka DSLR

Well 2008 is all but over. Looking back, this was the first year I had a DSLR to play with and I was RicRolled on every other Internet page I came across. What a magical year…

As far as my photos go, I think the following one is my favorite from 2008. I have posted it once already on this blog. It was taken with my 50mm f1.8 and it was a spur of the moment shot as I was walking with Amber and some friends down a street in Tachikawa.

Since I can’t just do a re-post and call it a day, here is another photo I really like from this year, especially against a black background, unlike this blogs white background; and no, I don’t like it just cause of the boobies.. Again it was taken at the spur of the moment without much forethought. Maybe my subconscious is a better photographer than I am..

And lastly, if you have seen my little lost Hixiepoo, you need to tell him to start posting pictures.

Happy New Years everyone!

Scheming

We are scheming to go see the Imperial Palace gardens on the 2nd of January. From what I have heard there are only 2 days a year when the gardens are open to foreigners to explore on their own. What does this picture have to do with the Imperial Palace or gardens? Well I suppose water is useful in gardens, but I kind of like the shot and it is taken across the street from the Imperial Palace. Good enough?

In other news.. I ordered a Nikon D80 which shipped out this Monday stateside time. This wait is going to be worse than Christmas when I was a little kid!

This Guy

I can only speculate why he is so happy… We were in China Town of Yokohama when I took this. I like to think he is happy because he knows that I will be headed to China for a couple of weeks in about 4 months from now. At least that is why I smile a lot!

Deceiving Simplicity

Growing up in Utah I was not exactly exposed to a highway system of massive interchanges and tunnels covering burgeoning metropolises like the complex vascular system of a human body. So I am kind of in awe when driving through some of the interchanges here in Japan. Yet for some reason, this extremely simplistic picture seems to better invoke that awe rather than a picture of the many arteries of road twisting about each other.

Landmark Tower

Since the pictures in my last post were taken from the top of the Landmark Tower– The 69th floor– I figured I would post a picture taken from the base of the tower. The ferocity of the wind and the darkening sky pretty well required me to use my 50mm 1.8 prime lens to be able to stop up enough to increase the shutter speed adequately to eliminate blur. So the shot is a lot tighter than I would have otherwise framed, but it is kind of growing on me.

Merry Christmas!

For some reason we have put off buying a fake tree over the couple of years we have been married. Since we move every couple of years I guess we figured we would try and stay as light as possible. I think we will fix this by next Christmas though. It is getting too difficult getting through the holidays without the bokeh opportunity of a tree, ornaments, and Christmas lights.

Instead I have to post some Christmas bokeh taken from a display at the top of the Landmark Tower in Yokohama which we visited the other day. It happens to be the tallest building in Japan at 295.8 meters. I need to go back with a tripod to catch some neat HDR images of the Yokohama city scape.

Hikawa Maru

While in Yokohama we came across the Hikawa Maru which is a ship that is permanently moored in the harbor serving as a maritime museum. It was built in 1929, so it is a very interesting and photogenic ship.

It has an interesting history as it has served as both a passenger ship and a hospital ship. It was actually the only mainstream Imperial Japanese passenger liner to make it through World War II. During that time it also hit mines on 3 separate occasions. Luckily for the Hikawa Maru and its’ crew, the steel hull was thick enough to insure the lifeboats would stay high and dry for me to photograph in another century.

Pseudo Christmas Tree’s

We were in the Yokohama Landmark Tower mall yesterday and came across a Christmas tree made of glass and multicolored LED lights. Every half hour the same John Mayer song would start playing and the LED lights would put up a vibrant display of light in sync with the song. I only had my 50mm f1.8 lens with me and a tripod I left in the vehicle we arrived in… Since I don’t have auto-bracketing I had to split a single HDR image to get my fix. I am sure a long exposure on a tripod would have looked really neat.

From the Outside Looking In

I am not sure what areas of the galaxy do not celebrate Christmas, but so far, out of the United States, I have lived in Turkey and Japan during the holidays; both places have plenty of Christmas spirit during the holidays. Who doesn’t want presents and an excuse to paint buildings and trees with strings of light?