Tokyo – Stuck in Customs
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
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
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
27
Feb 2019 : Wednesday
filed under  Africa, Botswana, Camera Gear, Japan, Sony A7R 3, Tokyo, Travel, Tutorials

A Cool Rainy Night in Tokyo

Becoming an Artist Day!

Today, we have a new Africa video for you… that’s right! In this one, I get hands-on with some long exposure night images.

Daily Photo – A Cool Rainy Night in Tokyo

I made this one with my Movie Night Presets that are available now. It’s one of my favorite presets, especially for moody night shots. I almost called it the “Blade Runner Presets” but I didn’t want to run afoul of those persnickety copyright lawyers in Hollywood.

A Cool Rainy Night in Tokyo

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2018-02-01 23:16:08
  • CameraILCE-7RM3
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time1/200
  • Aperture4
  • ISO3200
  • Focal Length24.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
31
Jan 2019 : Thursday
filed under  Camera Gear, Japan, Sony A7R, Tokyo, Travel

Lava in Tokyo

A plug for my friend Clayton

Clayton Morris was nice enough to help me out a bit with my new book, so I wanted to plug his website over at www.ClaytonMorris.com – go check it out and his new book!

Daily Photo – Lava in Tokyo

I took this from the window of the Google offices in Tokyo. I was there giving an art talk one evening, and I took this a little bit before that. It was a great evening and I made some new friends. A whole lot of us went out that night and they showed me what salary-men do on a typical Friday night. I can tell you there was a lot of drinking and hilarity involved! We ended up getting Ramen around 3 AM. Man, that hit the spot!

Lava in Tokyo

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2014-03-19 22:02:48
  • CameraILCE-7R
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time10
  • Aperture11
  • ISO50
  • Focal Length70.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
17
Jan 2019 : Thursday
filed under  Japan, shinjuku, Tokyo, Travel

Another Visit to Shinjuku

Two Photos of the Same Place

Well, I’m a bit disappointed with myself, I must say. I don’t know why I returned to the exact same place to try to improve on a photo I already loved. I think the mission was doomed from the beginning. Anyway, here is the first photo I took:

Shinjuku!

Daily Photo – Another Visit to Shinjuku

Yeah, so today’s Daily Photo was taken about six months after the one above. I like the one above better. I very rarely re-visit the same place twice to try to improve on a shot, and now I’m just filled with more self-doubt than ever. I’ll never do it again. Well, maybe.

Another Visit to Shinjuku

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2017-11-02 06:08:48
  • CameraX1D
  • Camera MakeHasselblad
  • Exposure Time4
  • Aperture11
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length30.0 mm
  • Flash
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias+1

Comments
10
Jan 2019 : Thursday
filed under  Hasselblad X1D, Japan, People, Tokyo

Jamming Out in Tokyo

The Creation of Life Raft for a Death Trip

Hey, how about another mesmerizing making-of video from one of my favorite artists, Android Jones. I find his process to be quite inspirational.

Daily Photo – Jamming Out in Tokyo

Shibuya Crossing in the middle of Tokyo is a paradise for photographers. If you enjoy taking photos of people, this place will provide the maximum bandwidth for you. One time when I was there, I saw a live band playing on one of the corners. They were all dressed in gas masks and I have no idea what they were singing about (it was in Japanese). But, they looked pretty awesome, and I grabbed this shot whilst listening to their inscrutable music.

Jamming Out in Tokyo

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2017-07-22 10:50:39
  • CameraX1D
  • Camera MakeHasselblad
  • Exposure Time1/60
  • Aperture3.5
  • ISO1600
  • Focal Length30.0 mm
  • Flash
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias

Comments

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