Old Lady

Lovely weather again this morning. Walking from Akihabara to Hongo after treating Charlotte to a birthday Starbucks breakfast, the air was crisp and the streets full of life. A bright, crisp morning is a very welcome way to start the day. Must be my British colours showing, as I find this kind of weather absolutely ideal. Speaking of colours - Autumn is in full swing and I intend to get to a park this weekend and take some photos of leaves (probably sounds more boring than it will be).

Apartment hunting. Well, that's stopped. We visited a decent place on Saturday, but as there was no deposit, we were expected to pay a guarantor company a fee equal to one month's rent. That's on top of the one month's rent agent fee, 1 month's rent err.. rent, and insurance. Then come moving costs, and.... time. Lots and lots of time. The weather was utterly insane on Saturday. Huge amounts of rain (one pair of shoes ruined) and generally miserable. I'd woken up feeling as if I had drunk 10 vodkas due to the dryness in the air overnight (I'll be buying a humidifier soon - a departure from the damp Autumn and Winter in the UK!), and then after seeing the apartment, we were in two minds over what to do. After much deliberating and discussions, we decided to stay put and sign the contract to remain where we are, even though Charlotte's commute is almost 2hours one-way (not that uncommon in Tokyo).

Anyway, we'll be staying where we are. That means I'll continue to walk this same path most evenings, seeing the different characters inhabiting this corner of Tokyo. This old lady (no disrespect intended) was walking towards the greengrocers behind me, as I was walking to work. I had my camera at waist height, and set to 5m focus, aperture of f/2. I was amazed at the result. This is a crop of the original photo, as I wasn't holding the camera as level as I thought, and there was an unsightly cone further to the right, but I'm rather pleased with the result. There's something about the older generation - especially in Japan - which makes them extremely photogenic. There's a whole tapestry of life on her face, as she one-eye squints at my camera, wondering what on earth this foreigner is up to.

Mt. Takao

Mt. Takao │ NEX-7 & Voigtländer Nokton Classic 35mm F1.4 │ 35mm, ISO 100, f/2, 1/800 On Saturday morning, we took a train from central Tokyo to Mt. Takao at the western edge of Tokyo. We walked for a few hours to the summit of the mountain, at around 600m, where I took this picture showing the dramatic topography that comprises Japan. It's something one cannot see in the UK, as the land back home is either rolling hills or reclaimed flatlands. It's also very pleasant to have such a few just an hour or so from central Tokyo, where only a few square metres of skyline can be observed from ground level due to the imposing skyscrapers.

It's a pleasant walk, and one of the few times one will walk around Kanto area saying "konnichiwa" to passers by. Though a popular and relatively busy route, people out for a walk always have a "hello" to say. Of course this couldn't happen in downtown Tokyo, otherwise we'd lose our voices!

Roughly in the centre of the photo, one can make out Mt. Fuji. Sitting flat-topped above the clouds, Mt. Fuji's 3776m summit is often visibile on a clear day. Very soon the mountain's familiar snow-cap will return, as temperatures at the summit plummet to below zero. Typhoon 17 (台風１７号) hit Tokyo yesterday, bringing heavy rain and severe winds. Today is the day after the storm; beautiful blue sky with not a cloud in sight.

From Wikipedia:

Mount Takao (高尾山 Takao-san) is a mountain in the city of Hachiōji, Tokyo, Japan. It is protected within Meiji no Mori Takao Quasi-National Park.

Standing 599 metres (1,965 ft) tall and located within an hour of downtown Tokyo, it is a popular hiking spot, with eight hiking courses and more than 2.5 million annual visitors. The Tama Forest Science Garden is also located at the mountain's base.

Mount Takao is closely associated with tengu, minor kami from Japanese folklore, and the daitengu Naigubu. A Buddhist temple, Takaosan Yakuōin Yūkiji, is located on the mountain.

Meiji Shrine

Lens: Voigtländer Nokton Classic 35mm F1.4 Camera: NEX-7, ISO 100, f/1.4, 1/800, Hi-contrast JPEG

My parents arrived in Tokyo a couple of days ago, and I took a few days off work to help show them around whilst they recover from jetlag, and to slowly familiarise themselves with Japan. They were kind enough to bring with them my new toy, a Sony Alpha NEX-7. I've had its predecessor, the Sony Alpha NEX-C3, for little over a year now (thanks Charlie for the wonderful birthday present!), and have committed to the brand through lens purchases after being pleased with the portability and quality of this little camera system. The NEX-7 builds on the C3 in a few key areas. It's got a larger grip, which is useful for using larger lenses, such as the SEL18200LE zoom recently added to my arsenal. It has an electronic viewfinder (EVF), which is similar to the viewfinder on a DSLR, except that it overlays a swathe of information to assist you. It has more menu functions, more dials, is made from magnesium and has a 0.02s shutter "lag". The sensor is still APS-C, but is up from 16MP on the NEX-C3 to 24MP. The ISO range is boosted, and the overall quaility of the camera has a semi-pro feel about it.

So, yesterday I whipped my manual focus, fast Voigtländer lens onto the NEX-7 and took it to Yoyogi Park and Meiji Shrine. The above photo is of the sake barrels donated to the shrine. The light was peeking through the trees surrounding the path, and reflected strongly off the barrels, giving a stark contrast.

Here's some history of the shrine, ripped from Wikipedia:

After the emperor's death in 1912, the Japanese Diet passed a resolution to commemorate his role in the Meiji Restoration. An iris garden in an area of Tokyo where Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken had been known to visit was chosen as the building's location.

Construction began in 1915 under Itō Chūta, and the shrine was built in the traditional nagare-zukuri style and is made up primarily of Japanese cypress and copper. It was formally dedicated in 1920, completed in 1921, and its grounds officially finished by 1926.^[3] Until 1946, the Meiji Shrine was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha (官幣大社), meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines.^[4]

The original building was destroyed during the Tokyo air raids of World War II. The present iteration of the shrine was funded through a public fund raising effort and completed in October, 1958.^[5]

Meiji Shrine was brought into the flow of current events with the 2009 visit of United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. After arriving in Tokyo on her first foreign trip representing the newly elected President Barack Obama, she made her way to this shrine in advance of meetings with Japan's leaders to show her "respect toward history and the culture of Japan."^[6]

In January 2010, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle demonstrated the same respect when he concluded his visit to Japan with a visit of the shrine.^[7]

Call Me Maybe

Lens: Voigtländer Nokton Classic 35mm F1.4 Camera: NEX-C3, ISO 200, f/1.4, 1/125, RAW

The weather in Japan is in that strange transitional phase between the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. The temperature has dropped by about 10 degrees or so from last week (it's just 21℃ today), and there are frequent heavy showers, lightning and echoing thunder.

I spent the majority of my day off walking to various camera shops around Tokyo, marvelling at the intricate designs and high prices. I took a bit of a detour between shops and thought I would check out the Robert Indiana sculpture I've not visited so far this year. I noticed this old chap reading a mail on his phone, and I rather fancied it was from someone special, and perhaps he'd call them.

Maybe.

Day off

Lens: Voigtländer Nokton Classic 35mm F1.4 Camera: NEX-C3, ISO 200, f/1.4, 1/640, RAW

It's my fourth day off in 2012, the last being when my brother came to visit. Tomorrow, my parents come to visit. It'll be their first time to visit Japan (or Asia for that matter), and I still can't quite imagine them being here. They're being kind enough to bring over a little something I ordered last week, which will be explained in more detail when it's here ;)

Why the photo of my MacBook Pro? Well, the damn video card has packed in, or something. I can only basically see in 256 colours or some other kind of awful inverted hell. Only just about bearable for text, completely useless for any photography. Arse. I snapped this photo and then used the iPad camera connector to import the photo onto my iPad, from where I could upload to Dropbox and sync to my laptop instantly. Had I the recently announced NEX-6, I could have sent the photo wirelessly. However, though the NEX-6 is a significant step up from my current NEX-C3, there are features other than wifi which I desire in my next camera :)