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Jeremy > June 19, 2009; Day 48. Japan’s Parting Gift. Although Mt. Fuji had been on our short list as a free-day activity, the weather reports suggested that the mountain was not going to be visible on any of those days. So we were surprised to hear the captain announce that the mountain was on the left side of the aircraft. Indeed it was! I immediately started shooting and only later did I lament that my ISO was set for shooting in the cabin, 1600. Luckily even though I’m shooting at sunlit snow, I retained a lot of detail. Shooting through polarized glass at an angle probably saved the day. I arrived home before the sun set and had 24 hours to overcome the jetlag as much as possible before meeting my parents and one sister in Portland, Maine the following day. I will be lucky; the jetlag will not be crippling on this trip. The final day of images from Japan (and the return to the U.S.) start here. Raw: Color Temperature: 5500K; Tint: +-4 Raw: Exposure: -1.0 Raw: Recovery: 9 Raw: Blacks: 37 Raw: Brightness: 0; Contrast: +45 PS: Curves adjustment for additional contrast PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > June 18, 2009; Day 47. Nebraska Boy. Today was the last full day spent in Japan. After departing from work, we made one last visit to the department stores, ready at last to buy that purse for Mom. When the reality of Japanese efficiency sunk in, we descended to the seventh floor where I could assuage my sorrow over dinner. I always worry when I find stores and restaurants so empty, yet again we nearly had this place to ourselves. As usual the waitstaff saw us coming and immediately jumped at the chance to practice English. This lad told us that he was headed to Nebraska in July and would stay there a few months. My guess is that he’s enjoying himself very much right now and that his English is helping him get by just fine. His female coworker had even better English but she’s not coming to the U.S. any time soon. We would waste too much time throughout the rest of the day in a fruitless search for a tatami-style bag. Ultimately we ended up back at the place where Scott bought his hapi and there I found a fairly nice change purse for Mom. For everyone else, I got tatami-style slippers, including a pair for myself. Those luckily were still available. The remaining Day 13 shots from Japan start here. Raw: Color Temperature: 2700K; Tint: +18 Raw: Vibrance: +20 Raw: Saturation: +6 PS: Lab a channel adjustment: “Soft light” at 30% opacity PS: Lab b channel adjustment: “Soft light” at 10% opacity PS: Curves: Linear Contrast preset PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > June 17, 2009; Day 46. Japanese Nightlife. Today was the longest workday of this trip. We didn't mind--travel to Japan on business is a privilege I never take for granted. After returning to the hotel, we worked with Ritch trying to perfect an extremely important business letter. Although I have spent most of my life in the study of English, I became visibly frustrated with the task. Every sentence in the letter was written and rewritten so many times that it became alphabet soup in my mind. At some point we finally achieved something decent and we said our farewells to Ritch who departed for home in Tokyo. Oliver and I then dashed to the Hamamatsu station to grab some dinner—McDonald’s. I just had to know what McPork was like (a little like McRib). Except for the language barrier, waxy napkins, and the fact that your drink is put into its own bag, McDonald's in Japan is just like ours. On our way to the restaurant, we stumbled upon these youth. There’s no open case trying to solicit money. Just friends with their textbooks and guitars. And a backpack filled with Pokemon! The remaining Day 12 shots from Japan start here. Raw: Color Temperature: 3300K; Tint: +29 Raw: Vibrance: +10 Raw: Saturation: +8 PS: Lab a channel adjustment: “Soft light” at 20% opacity PS: Lab b channel adjustment: “Soft light” at 20% opacity PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > June 15, 2009; Day 44. Souvenir Day. Today we began the task of collecting souvenirs for our friends and family. Today’s mission: find a purse for my mom’s birthday. Luckily Hamamatsu has lots of shops. We started at the big department stores near the train station. We’re in the elevator heading up with all of these shoppers. They know something we don’t: The eighth floor of this particular building will be closing for good, tonight. Unfortunately, I will find the perfect gift up there, but I will delay buying it until my sister lets me know that it’ll please my mom. It’s not the bag she would have picked out, but she likes it. Three days later, the entire inventory is gone and a new store is open, but devoid of any worthwhile gifts. And that purse design will never again be seen by me in Japan. Still, when you don’t know what you don’t know, you tend to be aloof and happy amid the turmoil around you. These shoppers will bolt from the door and shop like there’s no tomorrow. Because there isn’t. The remaining Day 10 shots from Japan start here. PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > June 14, 2009; Day 43. Kyoto Station. Our third and final play day was spent in Kyoto, a remarkably well-preserved city spared from the wrath of war and lucky with respect to earthquakes. Oliver and I followed a walking path along the eastern side of the city, through many temples and shrines. This shot was taken at the end of the day, just outside Kyoto Station looking towards the Kyoto Tower Hotel. The remaining Day 9 shots from Japan start here. Camera: Bracketed shots from -3EV to +3EV. Fed the -3, -1, +1, and +3 shots into Photomatix 3.1. Photomatix: Used default settings except for Light Smoothing, which was set to very high. PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > June 13, 2009; Day 42. Nagoya Castle. Today Oliver and I enjoyed a play day in Nagoya. Our two stops were Nagoya Castle (shown here) and Atsuma Shrine. These are the two most popular places to visit in this city. I uploaded 93 images in all just from this day, which is why I'm almost hopelessly behind in my daily. June 14 was spent in Kyoto and I wouldn't be surprised if I upload more than 100 keepers! The remaining Day 8 shots from Japan start here. PS: Smart Sharpening:180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > June 12, 2009; Day 41. Bicycles. Earlier I said that the train was Japan’s favorite way to travel. I should have added, “but only for distances greater than reasonably achieved on a bicycle.” This photo only shows two rows of this bike-park, situated beneath a rail station. I have no idea whether this is a free public service or whether one rents a space here. All I know is that the place looks full to me, top to bottom, front to back, left to right. Remarkably, most bicycles in Japan look the same. There are no BMX racing bikes with shock absorbers and fancy decals. There are very few mountain bikes. Everywhere you look, you find bikes with narrow wheels, underinflated tires, and wheel guards. Bikes like these were popular in the U.S. in the 70s, I think. I shouldn’t be surprised. Gasoline in Japan runs 120 yen per liter. That’s $4.92 per gallon. This bike-park will remain open and lit all night. The reflectors behind the fluorescent bulbs are blue. This will make for some good photography later. The remaining shots from Day 7 in Japan start here. PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > June 11, 2009; Day 40. Happy Hour. This shot embodies all of my favorite aspects of dining in cook-it-yourself establishments in Japan: work clothes, smoke, talking, laughter, and good food. My colleagues fit right in; we were responsible for at least some of this smokey atmosphere. The remaining Day 6 shots from Japan start here. Raw: Color Temperature: 2950K; Tint: +2 Raw: Saturation: +10 PS: Lab a channel adjustment: “Soft light” at 20% opacity PS: Lab b channel adjustment: “Soft light” at 10% opacity PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > June 9, 2009; Day 38. Shark's Fin at Last. In Concord you can order shark's fin at one of the local Chinese restaurants. But you have to give them 8 days notice and the price is $350. I've never tried it needless to say. However, a little bite is cheap in Japan, so I tried it. Sadly, the bite is so little that I still have no idea what it tastes like. But it was pretty and it was served in what I would call a "dim sum" style. This was ordered at a German restaurant called Mein Schloss in Hamamatsu. The Day 4 photos from my Japan trip start here. Raw: Color Temperature: 2550K; Tint: -1 Raw: Exposure: +0.65 Raw: Blacks: 3 Raw: Brightness: +30; Contrast: +50 Raw: Saturation: +8 PS: Curves: Linear Contrast preset PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
June 19, 2009; Day 48.

Japan’s Parting Gift.

Although Mt. Fuji had been on our short list as a free-day activity, the weather reports suggested that the mountain was not going to be visible on any of those days. So we were surprised to hear the captain announce that the mountain was on the left side of the aircraft. Indeed it was! I immediately started shooting and only later did I lament that my ISO was set for shooting in the cabin, 1600. Luckily even though I’m shooting at sunlit snow, I retained a lot of detail. Shooting through polarized glass at an angle probably saved the day.

I arrived home before the sun set and had 24 hours to overcome the jetlag as much as possible before meeting my parents and one sister in Portland, Maine the following day. I will be lucky; the jetlag will not be crippling on this trip.

The final day of images from Japan (and the return to the U.S.) start here.

Raw: Color Temperature: 5500K; Tint: -4
Raw: Exposure: -1.0
Raw: Recovery: 9
Raw: Blacks: 37
Raw: Brightness: 0; Contrast: 45
PS: Curves adjustment for additional contrast
PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > June 19, 2009; Day 48. Japan’s Parting Gift. Although Mt. Fuji had been on our short list as a free-day activity, the weather reports suggested that the mountain was not going to be visible on any of those days. So we were surprised to hear the captain announce that the mountain was on the left side of the aircraft. Indeed it was! I immediately started shooting and only later did I lament that my ISO was set for shooting in the cabin, 1600. Luckily even though I’m shooting at sunlit snow, I retained a lot of detail. Shooting through polarized glass at an angle probably saved the day. I arrived home before the sun set and had 24 hours to overcome the jetlag as much as possible before meeting my parents and one sister in Portland, Maine the following day. I will be lucky; the jetlag will not be crippling on this trip. The final day of images from Japan (and the return to the U.S.) start here. Raw: Color Temperature: 5500K; Tint: +-4 Raw: Exposure: -1.0 Raw: Recovery: 9 Raw: Blacks: 37 Raw: Brightness: 0; Contrast: +45 PS: Curves adjustment for additional contrast PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
June 19, 2009; Day 48.

Japan’s Parting Gift.

Although Mt. Fuji had been on our short list as a free-day activity, the weather reports suggested that the mountain was not going to be visible on any of those days. So we were surprised to hear the captain announce that the mountain was on the left side of the aircraft. Indeed it was! I immediately started shooting and only later did I lament that my ISO was set for shooting in the cabin, 1600. Luckily even though I’m shooting at sunlit snow, I retained a lot of detail. Shooting through polarized glass at an angle probably saved the day.

I arrived home before the sun set and had 24 hours to overcome the jetlag as much as possible before meeting my parents and one sister in Portland, Maine the following day. I will be lucky; the jetlag will not be crippling on this trip.

The final day of images from Japan (and the return to the U.S.) start here.

Raw: Color Temperature: 5500K; Tint: -4
Raw: Exposure: -1.0
Raw: Recovery: 9
Raw: Blacks: 37
Raw: Brightness: 0; Contrast: 45
PS: Curves adjustment for additional contrast
PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
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