Thursday, March 15, 2007
Gray's Papaya snack!
Beat inflation! Gray's Papaya is the best palce to test your colon and wallet. Two dogs and a papaya drink for $2.75? Come on!
Grand Central Station taxis zoom!
New York is known for its speeding taxis and Grand Central Station is the perfect of example of it. After we had wandered the station for a couple of hours we were greeted outside by an on and off again mix of rain and SNOW!
Street vendors
The local food is something no seasoned traveller would forget to sample. Despite New York's reputation for fantastic "seated" restaurants, sometimes you have to live for the moment and have a famous New York pretzel and a Coke.
South Street Seaport
Another great area to shoot night photography. South Street Seaport is beautiful, but when the shops close and the tourists are gone you better watch your ass. We wandered some narrow, dark streets before we could find safety for a bit in a subway terminal and then somehow manage our way back to Manhattan.
Manhattan by the Brooklyn Bridge
Yet another great shot we risked life and limb for for the sake of "art"?
Brooklyn Bridge
I've always loved shooting at night, especially with moving lights and a slow shutter speed. The flurries of people and cars make the effort worthwhile. Did I mention we had to walk an hour abck and forth to get to this spot? Not to mention...it was at night and the pedestrian crowd was thinning in what was a kind of scary area?
Steel drums
Where else can you get steel drums during the Christmas season in the heart of a major, bustling city of tourists and locals alike? Only in New York.
St. Patrick's Cathedral
Despite the cold and rainy weather droves of tourists came to this famous cathedral. Since we stayed right in Times Square everything was pretty much within walking distance.
Radio City Music Hall ornaments
A cold, drizzly day to see Radio City Music Hall. Christmas season of 2005.
Manhattan from the Jersey shore
My cousins drove us to the Jersey shore to capture this great shot of Manhattan.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Yasaka Lanterns
One the most famous shrines in Kyoto, Yasaka is incredible in the daytime, but beautiful at night. By evening the lanterns were lit, the weather had cooled down and the shrine was covered in tourists and street vendors who were allowed to open up shop right on the premises. It made for some fantastic evening shopping. Most of our souvenir hunting was done right here.
Higashi Honganji Temple
Outside of Tokyo this particular shrine was alot more immense then we were let on to. After strolling the multileveled shrine we realized we had completely left the area we were exploring and already deep into a whole new neighborhood. One of the experiences we enjoyed in Japan was the freedom we had to explore and "get lost" without fear of actualyl getting lost. Once we had figured out how to interpret the rail system and schedule we could easily scour the countryside at our leisure. On most trips abroad we were always bound by bus schedules, excursion schedules, hotel switches, etc. But here we left the hotel EARLY in the morning and explored until evening had well set in thoroughly engrossing ourselves in the culture.
Tori Gates Inari Shrine
Tori gates are very common with the multitude of shrines in Japan, but I think none rival those of the Inari Shrine. Bright red laquered gates are kept up on a daily basis to ensure that they are always clean. This particular shrine might seem familiar to some people as I beleive it was a location shoot for a couple of big Hollywood films.
Field Trip
Japan is one gigantic photo opportunity waiting to happen. I completely love shooting normal day life and the abstract of the countries we visit. While in Kyoto we hiked about 15 miles one day through the city to the more suburban areas just to capture such moments. In other cities it might be dangerous since we couldn't really read the language (most was writen in Kanji), but here we were able to walk unmolested and without fear of getting lost. People were always willing to help, especially the younger generation who knew quite good English.
Conveyor Belt Sushi!
We thoroughly enjoyed the cuisine of Japan. While most people are familiar with Americanized versions of Japanese food (think Kobe or Benihana steakhouses) the old capital of Kyoto offered superior offerings of the local cuisine. Although we spent a week in cities across Japan at that point it wasn't until we got to Kyoto we were able to have sushi. We enjoy sushi, but this was a whole new experience. At the Kyoto train station we fell in love with sushi on a conveyor belt. Packed with locals we were the only gaijins there the three or four days we visited. We couldn't get enough of this. In fact, we actually became regulars and the wait staff knew who were as soon as we walked in and knew our drink orders before we sat down! Biros! Funny how once you actually try to learn and use the language and customs how the Japanese warm up to you. Oyesumi nasai!
Hakone Boat Cruise
In the small town of Hakone we were trying to make a two day stay to see Moutn Fuji, but unfortunately a typhoon had made it's way to the Land of the Rising Sun. While we only caught a hint of Mount Fuji through the fog we were able to salvage our rain soaked hike of the mountain by waking up early the next morning to capture some interesting sights of the empty town - no tourists!
Canon A70.
Canon A70.
Imperial Gardens Waterfall
Set up on a tripod at the Imperial Gardens to catch this motion blur. I forgot how mild the fall and winters are in the Far East.
Canon A70.
Canon A70.
Shibuya Kabuki
Taken outside of Tokyo in Shibuya. Performers dressed as kabuki advertise one of the kabuki shows coming up soon. We were able to catch one act of the show in one of older theaters. Very pricey so we got a bird's eye view in the nosebleed section.
Shot with a Canon A70.
Shot with a Canon A70.
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