All posts filed under: Japan
Zakimi Castle – Film and Digital
This morning I got up early and drove over to Zakimi Castle. I decided to get a shot from the same place I took one of my favorite photographs of Okinawa. Although it was 7.30AM the sky was a little hazy, and even with a polarizer it didn’t pop. When I came home I compared the image to the “original” taken with the Pentax 67II, a 45mm lens, a polarizer and Fuji Provia. The detail in the first shot is fantastic but I prefer the wider angle and the saturation of colors in the original. Unlike today, I had managed to catch the castle under glorious clear blue skies. However, I did get an interesting new image of the stonework. It’s a simple “detail” shot that says a lot about the construction of the castle.
Kishiwada Danjiri – The Action
It’s the job of some men to drag the danjiri through the streets, while other men get to ride along. The above photo is clear evidence that I was standing where I shouldn’t be standing! The large group of men in the left of the image are just about to stampede past. The man on the roof of the danjiri jumps from side to side and performs something similar to YMCA as they hurtle through the streets.
Kishiwada Danjiri – The Kids
I’ve done this before, but here’s another tight crop of a portrait. This one’s interesting as it shows the fish-eye type of distortion you get in the reflection due to the curvature of the eye.
Kishiwada Danjiri – The Men
Kishiwada Castle, Osaka
Before we get onto the mayhem of the Kishiwada Danjiri Festival I thought I’d post a mellow “postcard” image of Kishiwada Castle.
Rapi:t Train, Osaka
The Rapi:t are express trains running from Kansai International Airport to Namba Station in Osaka. I’d describe their design as retro-futuristic as they look like they were thought up in the 50’s as “trains of the future”. I wonder if the architect actually did aerodynamic testing or based his design on something else…. Depending on the number of stops, the train is the named either rapi:t α and rapi:t β. A quick tip for anyone naming products (or indeed children) – please stick with your basic letters A to Z. Otherwise hardly anyone can spell your product or find it on Google. (Even Pentax made this mistake naming its first digital SLR the unpronounceable *ist )
Gate Tower Building, Osaka
The Gate Tower Building in Osaka. A fine example of what happens when you can’t decide whether you should build an expressway to the left or to the right of an office block. I believe the road does not actually make contact with the building but squeezes through the hole. Odd, very odd.
Rooftop Shrine
I happened to spot this scene from my hotel window. It says so much about life in modern Japan. Concrete and steel fill the scene, but a small patch of greenery and spirituality remains. Not sure if this image is tragic or uplifting.
Umeda Sky Building, Osaka
Umeda Sky Building is one of my favorite examples of exciting modern architecture. Hopefully from these shots you can see why the night image in the previous post (no matter how detailed) doesn’t really do justice to the building. These were both shot with the 645 35mm lens, an extremely impressive piece of glass.
