easter sunday

was out in shinjuku after attending an easter vigil. didn't realize the time (it was already around 2:30 am). this is right when you get out the tunnel connecting the east exit (from alta) and the west exit (going towards omoide yokocho (思い出横丁)). it looks very different when the shops are all closed and there are no people on the street...

sunset

same park as in my previous post. was trying to do some post-processing but gave up. i still like how the original jpeg came out. i also don't remember which lens i used here... either 35mm or 50mm...

90mm

last sunday, we were only supposed to go to a nearby restaurant to have lunch (at 3pm!) then head off to shinjuku. the local theme park was doing a sakura festival until that day, and entrance to the park was free after 4pm. it was already past 4pm by the time we finished lunch, so we decided to have a look inside the park since we were already there, plus it's free.

we found several sakura trees where they usually have the ajisai (hydrangea) festival. it was a nice quiet place away from the main festival area and away from the rides. there were only a handful of other people there, so there was no need to fight any crowds or think of a way to frame a shot so that people's heads won't be in it.

i finally found a nice quiet place in tokyo to enjoy the sakura.

anyway, this was shot using a 90mm lens. the R-D1s only had frame lines up to 50mm, so i have to guess what gets in the frame when using this lens. i also found out i couldn't focus properly with a canon 85mm f1.9 using the R-D1s (it front-focuses). while that lens is brighter, i am stuck with the 90mm to get proper focus.

桜

went to chidorigafuchi last night to check out the sakura (cherry blossoms). the sakura were still in full bloom. didn't take much since there were still a lot of people. was on the way to yasukuni shrine and found this couple looking at the sakura at the edge of the moat. didn't have time to setup/focus properly, but this is what i got.

new year

april 1 marks the start of the japanese fiscal year. as with all things new, i welcome a new member to the family.

profile

just to give proper credit, my profile picture was taken by danny griffin.

btw, i think he has a really cool name ;-)