Sony A7R 2 – Stuck in Customs
22
Apr 2019 : Monday
filed under  Camera Gear, Japan, Kobe, Sony A7R 2, Travel

Kobe, Japan

Next Trip to Japan

I’m in the middle of planning one right now! This time I’m going to try to visit more places in the deeper part of the south… I may start with Hiroshima. I’ve heard it’s really beautiful and there are a few interesting things to see from the war. I wonder how long the radiation stayed around… it could not have been that long because it’s totally clear now. I thought radiation would hang around for hundreds of years, but it wasn’t that big of a bomb. Well, I mean, it was big, but not like the ones we have today. I need to look this up!

Daily Photo – Kobe, Japan

I had one extra day at the end of the Japanese tour, and I decided to visit a new place I had never visited before: Kobe. It was another awesome Japanese town, although I didn’t get to spend a lot of time there. You can see another town there in the distance across the way. That’s actually Sakai, which is near Osaka, and I was there a few weeks early to watch a blacksmith craft swords and knives using the old traditions.

Kobe, Japan

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2017-11-12 10:16:01
  • CameraILCE-7RM2
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time1
  • Aperture6.3
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length122.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
16
Apr 2019 : Tuesday
filed under  Camera Gear, Italy, Rome, Sony A7R 2, Travel

The Pantheon

#1 on Amazon!

Hey thanks everyone for getting the new book! You helped get it to #1 in its category!! 🙂 It’s officially released now, and you can get the paperback version if you want that too. 🙂

Jim Gaffigan Comedy Special

Make sure you check out his new special on Netflix. This guy cracks me up…

Daily Photo – The Pantheon

Here’s the Pantheon in Rome. It’s hard to believe this building is 2,000 years old! I edited this single RAW photo using Aurora HDR 2019. This is an old photo, from probably over eight years ago. I still have SO MANY unprocessed photos, and it’s fun to go back to them now and process them using new tools.

The Pantheon

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2016-01-19 19:20:31
  • CameraILCE-7RM2
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time1/60
  • Aperture4
  • ISO1600
  • Focal Length11.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias-0.7

Comments
31
Mar 2019 : Sunday
filed under  360, Camera Gear, Dusky Sound, Insta360 One, Moscow, New Zealand, Passport, Russia, Sony A7R 2, Travel

Afternoon Walk in Moscow

Russia Highlight Video

Below is the highlight video from our photo walk in Moscow… it was a great way to end the event. If you look closely, there were two undercover marines following me for protection.

A Week in Dusky Sound

Here’s a fun video that shows a boat I was living on for about a week with some friends down in the fjordlands of New Zealand. What a great time we all had! I also recommend this a fun guy trip to anyone. I think everyone pitched in around $800 bucks or so. You get a captain and a chef and basically an unlimited week of freedom!

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Daily Photo – Afternoon Walk in Moscow

We were all pretty tired by the time we made it to the last stop in our 10-country tour of Europe a few years ago. But there’s something about being a new city that gives me a little boost of energy! So I tried to use every possible calorie left in my body to see as much as I could… this is the view from one of the bridges as you approach the Red Square.

Afternoon Walk in Moscow

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2017-06-03 11:56:44
  • CameraILCE-7RM2
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time1/1250
  • Aperture4.5
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length44.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
30
Mar 2019 : Saturday
filed under  Camera Gear, New Zealand, Sony A7R 2, Travel

The Nunatak

Train Journeys

I don’t really make New Years Resolutions because if I decide to make a change in my life, I go ahead and make it immediately. But, I do try to set aside generalized goals for the next twelve months. One of them was to have more long train journeys. I did a few in Japan in a few weeks ago, but I want to do more where I actually live on the train. So far, I’ve scheduled zero of them. Maybe that’s a good thing for me to spend a few hours on this afternoon.

Daily Photo – The Nunatak

Now here’s a word you may not know: nunatak. I sure didn’t know it until a few years ago, even though I briefly had a double-major in geophysics. I was at a retreat at Aro-Ha in Glenorchy and one of my fellow retreaters was a geologist. Each day, we would go on long hikes, and he told me about this word. Even though that looks like a perfect pyramid, almost volcanic in shape, it’s actually formed when two glaciers come together and carve out that particular shape. It’s one of many forms of a nunatak and the only Greenlandic word I know.

The Nunatak

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2016-10-20 02:24:37
  • CameraILCE-7RM2
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time1/2500
  • Aperture3.5
  • ISO200
  • Focal Length24.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias-1.3

Comments
29
Mar 2019 : Friday
filed under  Camera Gear, Istanbul, Sony A7R 2, Travel, Turkey

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul

Fleabag Season 2!

One of my favorite comedies is back on the air with Season 2. I think this gal Phoebe Waller-Bridge is a genius. She also wrote Killing Eve, which I recommend as well.

Daily Photo – The Blue Mosque in Istanbul

As far as religious buildings go, I tend to enjoy taking photos in mosques rather than churches or cathedrals. This is not a blanket rule, of course, because a few cathedrals can be rather stunning. They all get a little boring after a while, though… kind of predictable. But as you can see here, inside the Blue Mosque, the level of design and color blows away most of the rather dreary cathedrals in the world.

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2016-10-02 16:05:55
  • CameraILCE-7RM2
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time1
  • Aperture8
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length12.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
26
Mar 2019 : Tuesday
filed under  Austria, Camera Gear, Sony A7R 2, Travel

Austria

Toast of London Voice Acting Highlights

Here are some highlights of the voice acting bits from the first two seasons of Toast of London. This is the sort of inane malarky that makes me laugh.

Daily Photo – Austria

Before I went to Austria, all I knew about it was that the country birthed Arnold Schwarzenegger, so I had high expectations. But, it turned out to be pretty much like every other central European country. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just right there in the middle of the bell curve. And if there’s one thing that bell curve does well, it’s museums. as you can see in this photo. The actual exhibits were mind-numbingly dull, but that’s more a function of my taste than that of the curator’s.

Austria

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2017-05-28 12:01:55
  • CameraILCE-7RM2
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time6
  • Aperture16
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length12.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
20
Mar 2019 : Wednesday
filed under  Camera Gear, Japan, Sony A7R 2, Tokyo, Travel

Midnight in Tokyo

Little Drawings from Around the World

I follow the really fun Recomendo newsletter and I recently got this little gem. These are ten nice drawings of small rituals around the world.

Daily Photo – Midnight in Tokyo

I’ve recently had quite a bit of insomnia. This is strange for me, because I’ve always been an epic sleeper! I don’t sleep much… maybe 6 hours a night, but sometimes I just can’t get to sleep. Rather than toss and turn in bed, now I just get up and work. There are always photos to edit or new photos to take. When I have insomnia in Japan, I go out and take photos! I took this one around 2 AM in the middle of Tokyo… it’s probably the safest city in the world to wander the streets in the middle of the night. I basically walk 5-10km until I am exhausted and then barely make it back to the hotel before crashing.

Midnight in Tokyo

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2019-02-10 06:02:39
  • CameraILCE-7RM2
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time0.8
  • Aperture7.1
  • ISO200
  • Focal Length16.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
18
Mar 2019 : Monday
filed under  Camera Gear, New Zealand, Sony A7R 2, Travel, Wanaka

Sunset in Wanaka

The Quantum Garden

I found this on Reddit and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I wish he was selling them or something! He just built it for a fun project… If I had one, I have no idea where I would put it… It might be fun on the front door.

Daily Photo – Sunset in Wanaka

This is one of my favorite sunset situations… pastel pink clouds on top of a pastel blue sky. When I see this, it reminds me that I need to get over the hill more often to Wanaka. It’s only an hour away, so I really have no excuse!

Sunset in Wanaka

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2016-05-14 03:39:30
  • CameraILCE-7RM2
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time1.6
  • Aperture11
  • ISO50
  • Focal Length14.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
13
Mar 2019 : Wednesday
filed under  Camera Gear, Ginzan Onsen, Japan, Sony A7R 2, Travel, Tutorials

Bridge Crossing in Ginzan Onsen

New How-To Video!

Want to see how today’s photo was made? Watch the video below! Here are some links I mention to get Aurora HDR 2019 and to join our Facebook group!

Daily Photo – Bridge Crossing in Ginzan Onsen

My original plan was to stay here for two nights, but I ended up just staying one night. It was actually a very small little town and you could easily see the whole thing in just half a day. I am glad I stayed the night though because everyone really clears out around sunset to get the bus back to the main town.

Bridge Crossing in Ginzan Onsen

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2019-02-18 21:48:00
  • CameraILCE-7RM2
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time1.6
  • Aperture8
  • ISO250
  • Focal Length24.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
12
Mar 2019 : Tuesday
filed under  Australia, Camera Gear, Sony A7R 2, Sydney, Travel

The Sydney Opera House Before the Storm

Check out my whole Kit

I’m always making big and little changes to my Kit.com so head over there to see all the latest goodies!

Daily Photo – The Sydney Opera House Before the Storm

We spent an amazingly fun day out on a yacht sailing around the Sydney harbor. It’s tough to take a bad photo out there! We did have a bit of an incident with the quadcopter, though. It got so far away from us that we were unable to figure out how to get it back. It was just a tiny white speck, and you could tell if it was moving forward or backward or right or left. After quite a bit of panic, we finally figured out the right orientation and brought her home!

The Sydney Opera House Before the Storm

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2016-06-20 11:48:02
  • CameraILCE-7RM2
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time1/160
  • Aperture7.1
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length41.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments

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