Back in Tokyo

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Hotel Life | A7R & Carl Zeiss Distagon 28mm F2.8 | 1/160s ISO100 28mm

I have returned to the UK from a frantic 7-day trip to Tsukuba, some 70km Northeast of Tokyo. I arrived in Tokyo on Sunday afternoon following a 12-hour flight from London, and fell asleep almost as soon as I entered my hotel room in Shinjuku. I woke up at about 5am due to jetlag, and decided to make the most of the glorious light outside.

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Morning Read | A7R & Carl Zeiss Distagon 28mm F2.8 | 1/100s ISO100 28mm 

I wondered how it would be, to return to my “second home” after a year away. I wondered if I would remember Japanese [language], and if I could still remember the backstreets I once knew so well. In short; I could. It was like putting on a pair of old shoes. Your favourite shoes.

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Gingko | A7R & Carl Zeiss Distagon 28mm F2.8 | 1/500s ISO100 28mm

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Reflected | A7R & Carl Zeiss Distagon 28mm F2.8 | 1/250s ISO100 28mm


Mini |  A7R & Carl Zeiss Distagon 28mm | F2.8 1/320s ISO100 28mm| 

I’ve missed this light,

so strong and white,

with nary a cloud in the sky.


Cleaning | | 1/125s ISO100 28mm | A7R & Carl Zeiss Distagon 28mm

I had 30 minutes to kill before I needed to get back to the hotel for breakfast, and meet our Japanese agents, so I decided to hop on over to Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower and take a snap (which I’ve done many times before, but never at 28mm).

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_Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower_ | A7R & Carl Zeiss Distagon 28mm | 1/160s ISO100 28mm 

I was rarely on my feet at this hour of the morning when I lived in Japan, and on weekdays I’d be in too much of a hurry to photograph most of the time. And with no twilight period of which to speak, the photographic chances in the evenings were mostly shot after sun-down. At weekends I would usually be recovering from the previous week, and would take my camera with me in the afternoon. So, in some ways, I was seeing this morning in Tokyo through very different eyes.

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Early morning commuters | A7R & Carl Zeiss Distagon 28mm | 1/80s ISO100 28mm

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Lexus | A7R & Carl Zeiss Distagon 28mm | 1/400s ISO100 28mm