You know those “free desktop wallpaper” sites? For some reason this image always appears on them, it’s like it is included in the toolkit used to build the sites it is so frequent! I get nothing from it, usually not even credit but hey… people seem to download it regularly and that hopefully means it brightens their day when they see their desktop.
Sakura is the Japanese word for the Cherry Blossom. I don’t know if I can explain how crazy the Japanese people are about this yearly bloom! For one thing, every local newscast has a big “Cherry Blossom” report that has in-depth descriptions of exactly where the trees are blooming in the country and upcoming predictions. The wave sweeps across the island of Japan and rich graphics cover the screen like a cold front, assaulting the countryside.
I took this photo with the Nikon D3S. Back then I’d recently taken to carrying two cameras with me. I’d take the Nikon D3X with me, and it’s usually attached to the tripod. This is the one that I used for 90% of my landscapes. While I carry that, slung around my neck and shoulder, Chewbacca-style, was the Nikon D3S, which I use for people shots, DOF shots, and videos. Nowadays I’m much more minimalist. I think the advances in mobile photography have very much helped that, and the “pro” cameras are way better handheld than they used to be.
This was taken at F/1.4 with a 50mm prime lens. The shutter was 1/8000 and the ISO 200.
I was walking up and down the tiny streets one night, getting snacks and sake in different places while taking photos. Most of the places there are quite tiny, as you can see here in this image. Everyone is super friendly and it’s easy to make friends, especially because the Japanese people are some of the nicest people in the world!
This came from a single RAW file, which was actually the case with over half my HDRs I processed from Japan. Changed times from the old Nikon 7 exposure days!
A treetop temple silently rests with warm lights as a cool evening falls around it.
Kyoto, Japan
TreyRatcliff.com
I just stumbled across a few images from Asia that I don’t think I’ve shared before. It’s quite awesome when that happens, although not quite as awesome as finding some money in that jacket you haven’t worn in a while. That’s always a good excuse to go spend your newfound wealth on something super unhealthy. Mmmm… donuts…
I’m knee deep in a redesign of the Fine Art site and it’s been a lot of fun to see how we can reimagine it for the new Web 3.0 era while retaining some focus on the physical prints which are just as important. While that’s ongoing, here’s one of my favorites from Series 1. It was one which I loved seeing produced at 2.5meters across. It’s like you can step into it and I love that… even more so when up close because the whole thing almost envelops you.
I’m usually too busy in these cities to go for a swim, since I’m running around with my hair on fire taking photos. I often think, gee willickers, I should really have a swim and a relax. But I almost never do! If I have a little extra time, I try to hit the gym, which I enjoy more than swimming. Now that I think about it, I don’t really like swimming much at all. But I do like playing in the pool with my kids!
Here’s a clip from the recent Joe Rogan podcast with Michael Pollan about his new book called “The is Your Brain on Plants.” Back when I named the new company “Machine Elf” it was a super niche word only known to a few that have ever seen them or at least heard about them. Anyone out there know Rogan or Pollan? I’d love for them to see some of our Machine Elf creations at https://the-machine-elf.com/ Oh, and be sure to check out the full podcast on Spotify, it’s always a good watch/listen.
If you’re ever in Kyoto, be sure to come adventure around this gate area at night. It’s pretty busy during the day, but at night it’s almost empty. It’s also a great time to pick up Japanese girls, if you are into that. I’m not into that at all. They can be very distracting while you are trying to take photos.
The words below are from the YouTube description:
Dr. Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., is a professor of neuroscience, psychiatry, and behavioral science and director of the Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is the author of over 400 scientific research publications and has trained more than 50 postdoctoral research fellows. He has been a consultant to the National Institutes of Health and numerous pharmaceutical companies in the development of new psychotropic drugs.
Dr. Roland Griffiths and I discuss the research with John Hopkins University. We spoke about how he got into psychedelics and convinced ethic committees to approve such research, why he chose the scientific path, specifics about his studies with psilocybin, transformations of cancer patients with family members, the impact of psilocybin in existing institutions, the ongoing studies he is performing with long-time meditators and religious leaders, how the integration of psilocybin into society may look and more.
The best time (for me) to visit these red gates is around sunset and into the evening. It’s open all the time, but there are hardly any tourists there at night. It’s great to walk around the 1,000+ gates and find different compositions and different sorts of lights… It makes me think of all the Japanese anime shows I’ve ever seen for some reason.
