Jeffrey Friedl's Blog » Street Photography (Sort of) In Roppongi Hills

Street Photography (Sort of) In Roppongi Hills

by Jeffrey Friedl Sat, May 7th, 2011 12:36am JST (13 years ago)

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So Close -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
So Close

Most “street photography” photos I see make me wonder how they survived the cutting room floor, much less were actually chosen for presentation, so it's an understatement to say that I don't really care for it. But, today I found myself in the Roppongi area of Tokyo, and so I spent a while wandering around with the camera taking pictures in isolation, without any connecting story, so I guess today's post is my version of “street photography”.

Traffic Control -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/3200 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Traffic Control

Required apparently, all “street photography” must contain a shot like this -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Required
apparently, all “street photography” must contain a shot like this

Walking Miss Poh-Poh ( I don't really know the name of the dog ) -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Walking Miss Poh-Poh
( I don't really know the name of the dog )

This Is Not Strange in Tokyo -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/8000 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
This Is Not Strange
in Tokyo

“Urgently Move It, Please” ( that's what the pink tag says ) -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Urgently Move It, Please”
( that's what the pink tag says )

Stroll With Papa park behind “Tokyo Midtown” -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Stroll With Papa
park behind “Tokyo Midtown”

Like I said, the whole “street photography” thing doesn't really do it for me, so I found myself gravitating to a small park behind the Tokyo Midtown shopping center in Roppongi, the site of the really Really REALLY blue light display from several years ago, which is the last time I was there.

Six Months Old -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Six Months Old

Say “Cheese” -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Say “Cheese”

Nice Couple we chatted about cameras for a while -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nice Couple
we chatted about cameras for a while

“My Time” -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/5000 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
“My Time”

Book Photography in the Park? -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/6400 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Book Photography in the Park?

These ladies kept taking turns photographing each other holding books. I have no idea why, but when they're that photogenic, I can't really say that I care. The red shoes in the grass are just a bonus.

Upscale Afternoon -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/4000 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Upscale Afternoon

Five Months Old just woke up from a nap -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Five Months Old
just woke up from a nap

Commuting by Bike you're doing it wrong -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/3200 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Commuting by Bike
you're doing it wrong

“Come to Mama!!” he did, and won an energetic, enveloping hug -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Come to Mama!!”
he did, and won an energetic, enveloping hug

Texting -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Texting

Aftermath of a mass pigeon attack, fended off with a single sock -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Aftermath
of a mass pigeon attack, fended off with a single sock

Crow a particularly boring shot, but this was manual focus, handheld -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/8000 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Crow
a particularly boring shot, but this was manual focus, handheld

Bubbles -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Bubbles

Pretty White Flower Blossomy Thing -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pretty White Flower Blossomy Thing

Gardener -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Gardener

Some People Have No Sense of Humor when I see the dog's coat, I feel I must be one of them -- Tokyo Midtown -- Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Some People Have No Sense of Humor
when I see the dog's coat, I feel I must be one of them

Continued here...

September	24th,	2006	My Photography Tech Posts
January	27th,	2008	Roppongi Hills Dog Boutique, Etc.
May	8th,	2011	More Street Photography at 300mm f/2
May	9th,	2011	Kyoto Station Evening at 300mm f/2
May	11th,	2011	Me and My Little Lens
May	13th,	2011	Big Lens at the River: Focusing on Disappointment
May	24th,	2011	The Unexpected Culinary Delights of Roppongi's Le Grand Soir
May	28th,	2011	Views Near the Top of Wakayama's Mt. Oishigamine
July	1st,	2011	The Very Red Zaobashi Suspension Bridge in Wakayama Prefecture
July	14th,	2011	A Thin Slice of Big Crowds at Kyoto's Gion Matsuri Festival
January	23rd,	2013	Thin on the Depth of Field, Thick on the Cuteness
January	26th,	2013	More Thin Depth Of Field: Retrospective on My First Months with a 300mm f/2

You can submit a comment below | Posted under: Camera Stuff, General, Japan, Nikkor 300mm f/2, Pretty Photos | Comments via RSS | Trackback

All 11 comments so far, oldest first...

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. The isolation effects of that lens are just…awesome.

— comment by Zak on May 7th, 2011 at 12:46am JST (13 years ago) — comment permalink

(from San Diego):

I’m always trying to balance the distance required for candid photography (don’t let them know you’re taking a picture, or they stiffen up invisibly) with the need to NOT look like a stalker and generally fail. Kirk Tuck (http://visualsciencelab.blogspot.com) is someone who’s able to put people at ease and take good candid shots at a normal to short tele range, but I do like these as well.

The Nikkor 300/2 handheld? Have you been working out much then? 😎

Considering the lens and that I had a huge amount of luggage strapped to me, I was much more worried about looking like the idiot I was than a stalker. The lens is the opposite of “for candid use”… it invites smiles and conversation. Yesterday was my workout. —Jeffrey

— comment by Mike on May 7th, 2011 at 1:30am JST (13 years ago) — comment permalink

Hi Jeffrey! Really great shots, I especially like the first one, “so close”, really well done. It’s a compelling, fun, happy image!

— comment by Justin on May 7th, 2011 at 1:43am JST (13 years ago) — comment permalink

If I am correct, isn’t that a heavy lens (~7 kg) to use for “street” photography?

John

In the understatement of the year, I’ll answer “yes”. —Jeffrey

— comment by John on May 7th, 2011 at 4:23am JST (13 years ago) — comment permalink

300mm f/2? That sounds like a monster lens!

— comment by Edgar Bonet on May 7th, 2011 at 6:03am JST (13 years ago) — comment permalink

You have some nice shots here. I particularly like seeing people against those green tones (as in “Gardener” and “Walking Miss Poh-Poh”). I don’t get into street photography much, myself, although every now and then I give it a try. I like what can result from it, but I just feel too self-conscious doing it.

That said, using a D700 and a… 300mm f/2?! There’s a photographer/artist in Japan named Glen (originally from Australia, I think) who’s big on street photography, and he does it with a D700 and a 85mm f/1.4. Not sure if you’re familiar with him – here’s his Flickr photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/glenn-in-japan/

Even the D700 + 85mm f/1.4 seems like it’d be pretty big for street photography, but I looked up images of your 300mm f/2 and the thing is huge! I admire your courage for pointing that thing at people on the street (and if you weren’t using a monopod, for your arm strength)!

They were all handheld, except for #2-#4, for which I used a monopod. Not sure which I prefer, so I’ll have to practice both ways. —Jeffrey

— comment by David K on May 7th, 2011 at 6:06am JST (13 years ago) — comment permalink

Very natural and appealing set of photographs here but, for the record, I think we really need a shot of you in action the street, wielding this amazing lens ! Your manual-focus skills are enviable, mine are hopefully improving…

Here’s a photo a friend took of me with it in the street, although a street in the remote countryside of Wakayama Prefecture, on Saturday. —Jeffrey

— comment by Peter in Wales on May 7th, 2011 at 7:43pm JST (13 years ago) — comment permalink

Wow! The mythical 300 f/2! I’ve seen it only in the Internet…
It should be a nightmare to focus it manually (if I remember correctly, you have a Katzeye…)

Yes, the KatzEye is absolutely invaluable, and makes MF a true pleasure. —Jeffrey

— comment by Gianluca on May 8th, 2011 at 6:59am JST (13 years ago) — comment permalink

I love the flowering Cornus kousa (Kousa Dogwood Tree), its simply beautiful! Great shoot!:):)

— comment by Endre Toth from Hungary on May 11th, 2011 at 4:45am JST (13 years ago) — comment permalink

You rent this or is it yours? Know a couple of places in town that rent it. Awesome piece of glass. I’d be down to Ginza on the weekend if I had use of this. The depth of the street would. I think, give it even more of a workout.

I doubt anyone rents it, it’s extremely rare. But if you’re ever in Kyoto, you can give it a go. (I’ve followed your photoblog for years, so if you break it, I know where to find you 🙂 ) Wish you would write more about each photo, such as why you’re doing B&W in camera these days. Just for the challenge? —Jeffrey

— comment by Alfie Goodrich on May 29th, 2011 at 12:06pm JST (12 years, 11 months ago) — comment permalink

Hi, I’m Pascal from France, and I like so much all your pictures – Amazing and impressive photo work !! Really nice – Best regard – Pascal

— comment by Pascal P. on February 12th, 2012 at 3:39am JST (12 years, 3 months ago) — comment permalink