Japan – 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
14
Apr 2019 : Sunday
filed under  Camera Gear, Hasselblad X1D, Japan, Passport, Tokyo, Travel

The Chaos of Tokyo

For Passport Members, as special Tokyo Travel Vid Full of Tips!

If you’re a Passport member then today you get one of the coolest videos I’ve ever made! It took about a week to make this, shooting all over Tokyo, and I hope you enjoy it!

Awesome Tokyo Video!

Here’s a special treat for you! You get to follow me around Tokyo for a while and find out more about my mission there, creating order from the chaos!

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Daily Photo – The Chaos of Tokyo

Here’s one of the photos we’ll be releasing in Series 2 of the fine art collection. It’s one of my favorites of Tokyo because you can’t really tell it’s Tokyo!

The Chaos of Tokyo

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2017-11-03 01:10:21
  • CameraX1D
  • Camera MakeHasselblad
  • Exposure Time6
  • Aperture8
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length45.0 mm
  • Flash
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias-4/3

Comments
13
Apr 2019 : Saturday
filed under  Camera Gear, Japan, Kyoto, Sony A7R 3, Travel

Autumn in Kyoto

Red Dead Redemption 2

I still give this game my absolute highest recommendation. I’ve played a ton of video games on consoles, and this one may be my absolute favorite!

Daily Photo – Autumn in Kyoto

Japanese people tend to be very close to nature. That’s part of their Shintoism, which basically equates nature with being closer to the eternal. I certainly don’t disagree with that! And this is why you see so many Japanese people out in nature, spending times with trees. During the cherry blossom season, whole families will stake out a Sakura and sit under it all day long.

Autumn in Kyoto

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2017-11-07 17:18:50
  • CameraX1D
  • Camera MakeHasselblad
  • Exposure Time1/180
  • Aperture3.5
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length30.0 mm
  • Flash
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias-1/3

Comments
7
Apr 2019 : Sunday
filed under  Japan, Passport, Shirakawago, Travel

My Favorite Image from Shirakawa-go

Fun Passport Sunday Behind the Scenes

If you’re a Passport Member then today you get to see about a 10 minute video of my time here in Shirakawa-go, Japan. I talk about the shots I’m trying to get, my travel pains, my travel pleasures, and other various tips and tricks. I hope you enjoy!

A Walk Around Shirakawa-go

This was a last-second idea to make this video in Shirakawa-go, Japan. I was having so much fun… I was totally alone, and then I thought, hey, why not bring the Passport members along with me on this little adventure! Anyway, here ya go… a lot of stream of consciousness in here, but I hope you like it! 🙂

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Daily Photo – My Favorite Image from Shirakawa-go

Here’s my overall favorite photo from this area! If you watched the Passport video, then you’ll have a bit of perspective on what went into the shot.

My Favorite Image from Shirakawa-go

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2019-02-14 21:26:17
  • CameraILCE-7RM2
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time1/6
  • Aperture7.1
  • ISO200
  • Focal Length24.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias+2

Comments
3
Apr 2019 : Wednesday
filed under  Camera Gear, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Sony A7R 3, Tokyo, Travel, Workshops

I’m 99% Sure this is Hong Kong

India Photo Adventure?

We’re just about to start planning one of these, and I’m quite excited! We’re trying to figure out how many people can go on it with me. I think we’ll keep it pretty small, but pay attention to the Workshops page to see when it goes up.. and don’t forget on that page to sign up for our newsletter! 🙂

Daily Photo – I’m 99% Sure this is Hong Kong

…with a 1% chance it is Tokyo. I have a ton of photos like this from Tokyo, and I don’t exactly remember taking this photo. I mean, I know I took it because it ended up on my camera. It might have been after one of those long nights out with the guys, taking photos and then having a long dinner with a lot of wine. I usually like to take a long walk back to the hotel and take photos along the way, and maybe this is how this photo came to be!

I’m 99% Sure this is Hong Kong

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2018-03-13 23:55:57
  • CameraILCE-7RM3
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time30
  • Aperture14
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length26.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias+2

Comments
1
Apr 2019 : Monday
filed under  Camera Gear, Hasselblad X1D, Japan, Tokyo, Travel

Night in Tokyo

Weekly Hikes

I’ve taken to doing three hikes a week in the mountains around Queenstown. I usually do 8-12 kilometers while listening to audiobooks or podcasts on a Bluetooth speaker. I don’t see a lot of other people on the hikes… maybe five or so. They always give me a confused look because they can hear Christopher Hitchens blaring from my speaker about 30 seconds before they see me. The confusion is often them trying to work out exactly what they are hearing compared to what they see.

Daily Photo – Night in Tokyo

This is the view out of my window at the top of the Ritz-Carlton in Tokyo. Almost every night, I would go sit by the window with a blanket, my camera, and a glass of wine and take photos while listening to music. I know a lot of people like to read before bed to allow the day to wind down a bit, but this was my Tokyo routine and it worked like a charm.

Night in Tokyo

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2017-07-14 14:41:58
  • CameraX1D
  • Camera MakeHasselblad
  • Exposure Time91
  • Aperture4
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length30.0 mm
  • Flash
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • 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
19
Mar 2019 : Tuesday
filed under  Camera Gear, Hasselblad X1D, Japan, Osaka, Travel

Night in Osaka

3 Things About Japan You May Not Know

Here’s a fun little video I made while I was in Osaka with Tane. It’s just a bit of quirky stuff that we found while there!

Daily Photo – Night in Osaka

Here is a view of Osaka, a very underrated city in Japan! I’ve been here twice and the city has a crazy amount of energy. People in Osaka area also very proud of their city and how it is quite a bit different than Tokyo. Each time I was there, I was pretty swamped with work, so I didn’t quite get as much time to explore as I would have liked… that’s okay – another reason to go back!

Night in Osaka

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2017-07-18 10:39:32
  • CameraX1D
  • Camera MakeHasselblad
  • Exposure Time0.5
  • Aperture5.6
  • ISO200
  • Focal Length45.0 mm
  • Flash
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
17
Mar 2019 : Sunday
filed under  Camera Gear, Japan, mavic 2 zoom, Passport, Quadcopters, Tokyo, Travel

Over Tokyo

Book Re-Recommendation

Be sure to check out my Kit.com and see the section on books! I wanted to recommend, once again, “How to Change Your Mind” by Michael Pollan. Of all the people I recommend it to, 100% of people come back to me with very interesting thoughts!

Experimenting with a new Photoshop feature…

The 2019 Version of Photoshop has a few new features. I like to play with all this stuff just to keep my brain a bit “plastic” and always trying new things. Most of the features in Photoshop are not that useful to me, but these new content-aware options are pretty slick! Check ’em out!

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Daily Photo – Over Tokyo

Here’s one of my new favorite kind of drone photos: a photo of a city where you can’t see the skyline. I like this because you can’t quite work out what city it is. I notice when people look at my portfolio, they are always quite ready to guess (or know) what city it is. Actually, I’d probably be the same way… but now I find it interesting to purposefully confuse people.

Over Tokyo

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2019-01-26 19:27:46
  • CameraFC2204
  • Camera MakeDJI
  • Exposure Time1/8
  • Aperture2.8
  • ISO400
  • Focal Length4.4 mm
  • FlashNo Flash
  • Exposure ProgramProgram AE
  • Exposure Bias+0.3

Comments
16
Mar 2019 : Saturday
filed under  Camera Gear, Google Pixel 3, Japan, Tokyo, Travel

Pixel 3 Phone for the Win!

Night Sight

If you have the Pixel Phone, be sure to try out the new “Night Sight” option that is under More. The photos it takes are just incredible. I think what is happening is it takes a little movie with like 100 frames and then combines them all into a noiseless, bright, colorful wonder!

Daily Photo – Pixel 3 Phone for the Win!

I mean, come on… how great is this low-light (taken around midnight) shot in Tokyo. I actually had my big Sony A7r with me, but I didn’t have the best portrait lens on. This guy looked so radical and I didn’t want to miss his photo. He was very confused about why I held my phone instead of the huge camera in his other hand… that is, until he saw the final result!

Pixel 3 Phone for the Win!

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2019-02-11 20:35:38
  • CameraPixel 3 XL
  • Camera MakeGoogle
  • Exposure Time1/25
  • Aperture1.8
  • ISO127
  • Focal Length4.4 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramProgram AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments

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