Tokyo Motor Show [2013]

November 24, 2013 in Blog

I like cars very much, and jumped at the chance to attend the "special preview night" of the Tokyo Motor Show before it opened this weekend. Tickets were limited to 10,000, and the event lasted just 2.5 hours. We managed to see everything we wanted, from potential purchases, to dream cars, to actual dreams conceptualised.

The New Honda NSX Concept (Video)

I've just put a selection of photos here, but for those interested, I have put an album of all 111 images from the evening onto my Google+ page here. All images were taken with the RX1, as OOC JPEGs - I didn't fancy editing all of these photos and just wanted to document the evening.

Turning

November 20, 2013 in Blog

Central Tokyo is just starting to turn. The trees are turning an amazing mix of red, yellow, and green. It's a beautiful time of year, and it seems such a shame to have to work in an office during daylight hours so bright and vivid as this.

With a polarising filter, the sky is really vivid

In around a week, autumn will be all around us. The above tree, central to the campus here at the University of Tokyo, turns an amazing yellow by the end of the year. I estimate that in the first week of december, this area of the campus will be yellow, if previous years are anything to go by.

However, next week, I'll be in Okinawa for work - when I return I think it'll be impossible to walk around Tokyo without rustling in leaves!

Leaves weren't the only thing turning — Leaves weren't the only thing *turning*

Aroma

November 18, 2013 in Blog

I made the transition from instant coffee to real coffee during my PhD. The difference is so dramatic, that they're essentially different drinks, and should be treated as such. I used to drink copious amounts of instant coffee, with milk and at least two teaspoons of sugar -- a PhD does strange things to a person!

These days I enjoy so much about coffee. Its preparation. The smell after beans are freshly ground and roasted. The aroma of a freshly poured, strong, black coffee.

Komachi on the left, Kamote on the right — *Komachi* on the left, *Kamote* on the right

Super sweet potato

November 17, 2013 in Blog, photo-journal

Quite a few people showed interest in my "University Potato" post, and I agreed that perhaps I didn't give this rather interesting and utterly delicious snack its proper 15 minutes. So here we go. We went back...

We ventured back to Ueno-okachimachi in the northeastern quarter of Tokyo, so I could take a few photos, and we could scoff a few potatoes. The proprietor was waiting behind the counter, in the usual unassuming manner associated with Japanese shop-keepers. When I snapped this photo, I believe he supposed that I may have just been taking photos of the area. His face lit up when we made a bee line for the shop entrance.

The top-photo shows the main two types of 大学芋 (daigaku imo) on sale. Komachi and kamote. Upon entering the shop, I conversed with the shopkeeper and enquired what the difference was between komachi and kamote. To our surprise, he tried to answer us in English! The gist of it was, that komachi was a little drier, a little more fluffy, and kamote are more dense and juicy. He also explained a little in Japanese, and then rushed over to grab two wooden forks... so we could taste the difference!

500g of your finest kamote please!

(▰˘◡˘▰) (｡´∀｀)ﾉ

There's no such thing as too much sugar syrup — There's no such thing as *too much* sugar syrup

500g wasn't enough for him; he added two extra chunks! After handing just a few hundred yen in exchange for a half-kilo of carb-goodness, he then said "ahh, service! service!", and quickly picked up his tongs. Top tip: If you're in a Japanese restaurant, or food establishment and hear the word "service", it means for free. He quickly filled another bag with 200g worth of komachi! We couldn't believe it! We won't be needing dinner tonight...

By this point, there's not much left to say. We sustained a huge sugar-high, which lasted until bedtime! If you're in Japan in autumn, be sure to track down some daigaku-imo!

Firmly rooted | NEX-7 & Tamron 90mm SP Macro 72B F2.8 | 90mm f/4 1/160s ISO500 — Firmly rooted | NEX-7 & Tamron 90mm SP Macro 72B F2.8 | 90mm f/4 1/160s ISO500

A walk down the Tama River

November 14, 2013 in photo-journal, Blog

I'm not sure why, but I always love to see paths, walls, and other man-made features "disrupted" by nature. The irony is that it is the man-made structures which are disrupting nature, not the other way around. I've noticed this kind of thing many times in Japan, but there's not always consistency. I don't know why this amazing tree (which looks more like a set of fingers emerging from the crust of the earth) was spared, but I am glad all the same.

NEX-7 & Tamron SP 90mm Macro 72B F2.8 | f/4 90mm 1/160s ISO160 — NEX-7 & Tamron SP 90mm Macro 72B F2.8 | f/4 90mm 1/160s ISO160

These days, it's rare that I take more than the RX1 out on a walk. When you own a pocketable full-frame camera with a super-sharp, fast, versatile 35mm lens, it's hard to use anything else. It's very easy to get all swept up in the new shiny shiny, but my trusty year-old NEX-7 is still pleasing to use and has fantastic output. Don't get me wrong, new cameras and technology are a passion of mine -- but I'm not going to let the NEX-7 gather dust in the meantime. Anyway, I decided to bring a camera bag and use the NEX-7 for close ups and telephoto shots. Upon return to the house, after looking through the photos, Charlotte was praising the great colours of the RX1, when I pointed out that the photo was actually from the NEX-7...

NEX-7 & Tamron SP 72B 90mm F2.8| f/4 90mm 1/250s ISO100 — NEX-7 & Tamron SP 72B 90mm F2.8| f/4 90mm 1/250s ISO100

These days I use my cameras in full manual mode. That is to say, I manually set aperture, shutter speed, focus, and ISO. I find the procedure of image capture very satisfying that way. However, operating in such a manner certainly highlights the relative simplicity of taking a photo of a tree, compared to the taking the above photo of a butterfly, a butterfly in flight, or a pond-skater.

This photo was taken right next to the pond-skater

These photos were all taken near the Tama River, which is for the most part, less than an hour by train from central Tokyo. I recommend a visit here if you'd like to escape the skyscrapers for at least a few hours.

Pond-skating | NEX-7 & Tamron SP 90mm F2.8 Macro | 90mm f/4 1/160s ISO160

Surface Tension

November 12, 2013 in Blog

I've always been fascinated by pond-skaters. They seem to defy the laws of physics, though they are perhaps merely ambassadors. The overcast skies made for an almost liquid-metal backdrop for this photo. Was this photo easy to take? No. He was up there with the butterfly shot in terms of difficulty.

He was very fast, and rested for a second or two between darting to the next position. I had my manual focus 90mm F2.8 lens attached to my NEX-7, and though focus peaking is helpful, I really had to zoom in to be able to make my best guess. The photo above is almost a 100% crop from the ISO100 NEX-7 file. I was quite happy with the result!

A continued theme of surface tension woke us up early on Sunday morning, with an M5.5 earthquake (epicentre just north of Tokyo). As always, it's a humbling reminder of our place in this world, and we're treading on thin ice.

Reflected | NEX-7 & Canon FD 50mm F1.4 | F4 1/125s ISO100

Upon Reflection

November 11, 2013 in Blog

Sometime last week, though I can't remember when, the clouds briefly parted and a few rays of sunlight burst through the gap.

I ventured out with my NEX-7 and Canon FD 50mm lens, to the pond next to my office building. Some of the trees have started their descent into fall colours already.

It had been raining not long before, an there remained a significant amount of water on the leaves of the numerous trees surrounding the lake. I didn't have to wait long to take the below photograph, though perhaps upon reflection I should have waited for another drop, more central to the frame.

Spiralled

November 08, 2013 in Blog

I'm not sure what species of flower this is, but it looked pretty interesting from this angle.

University Potato / Daigaku-imo / 大学芋

November 06, 2013 in Blog

There's a strangely translated name for you: "University Potato".

Traditionally enjoyed by students in autumn, these easy to make, candied sweet potato bites are known as Daigaku Imo in Japan. A traditional Japanese treat made from sweet potato pieces coated in a flavourful blend of sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce and mild vinegar they make a great sweet-savoury snack as the nights draw in.

I'd have snapped a photo of them in their little bag, if we didn't devour them within a couple of minutes whilst hiding from the rain underneath the train tracks.

Sunrise | DSC-RX1 | 1/2000s f/3.2 ISO100 35mm

Sunny Sunrise

November 05, 2013 in Blog

It seems that I'm forever saying that the weather will improve, only for the weekend to be a wash-out. This last weekend was, again, a damp and dreary affair. We're wanting to go on the long walks we so enjoy this time of year, but the weather just doesn't want to cooperate.

We woke up this morning to bright sunlight coming through the skylight, birds tweeting, and a clear-sky forecast. Typical! A day inside an office until sunset (at 4:44pm!), and it's glorious outside. Oh well. I snapped the above photo through the condensation-covered window, pictured below.

Still raining | Nokia Lumia 920 | 1/366s f/2.0 ISO100

Uncharacteristically wet

October 29, 2013 in Blog

The weather forecast for the next 7 days alludes to more rain, cloudy days, and generally a rather British-style autumn. It'll be November soon! October last year was much nicer, and I am hoping that this rain system dissipates in the near future, as I want to take photos of the amazing autumn leaves.

Tire-phoons

October 28, 2013 in Blog

A double-typhoon last week has summed up quite a tiresome October. The strong wind coupled with the opening of the heavens, along with a few other factors, has meant that we've spent most of the week, and weekend indoors.

It's been a week since I last posted, and we've had two typhoons in that time. That's more than "normal" for this time of year.

Of note, I made a slight change to the way in which I operate my camera. All of my cameras to date, including my current phone, activate autofocus upon the half-depression of the shutter button. This means that if the autofocus point is set to the middle of the frame (as it typically is) then I have to keep the focus button depressed if I want to slightly reframe the image (e.g. move the focal-point/focus of the image slightly out of centre). No problem; it's what I'm used to.

The change I've made is to have my camera always in manual focus mode, but with the AEL (Auto-Exposure Lock) button set to Autofocus (toggle/hold). This means that I can manually turn the focus ring, and fire off a shot... or I can have autofocus as the press of a button. A side effect of this setup is that if I take multiple shots of the same object, e.g. a car moving through the frame as it drives past me, the camera will not reset its focus position (and I will not have to worry about half-depressing the shutter). The result is that photographs can be fired off much faster, without hunting autofocus. It takes some getting used to, but it's been an enjoyable change so far.

An all-time favourite of mine, the R34 Skyline GT-R

The internet is full of chatter regarding the upcoming Sony A7(R) cameras. I have updated my "camera musings" page on the gear section of my website, with some recent thoughts on the matter.

The weather seems to have improved, and this marks the end to this tedious and tiresome tyranny of typhoons.