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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Family Portrait
on the day Anthony starts first grade
Photo by Fumie's Mom
Anthony officially started first grade today. Today was just the entrance ceremony; tomorrow, he starts class.
Before heading off, we asked Fumie's mom to take a picture of us in front of the cherry blossoms next to our building.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Eager to Get Going
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — 1/1600 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Bit Bright
looking directly into the sun
Photo by Satori-chan's Daddy
The sign welcomes us to the elementary-school entrance ceremony. This was at the front gate of the school, which was a common spot to take pictures. The layout of things placed the sun directly into your eyes, so the results were pretty bad all around.
Once inside, the Anthony switched to his inside shoes (and we switched to slippers that we'd brought), and a “big kid” (a sixth-grader) lead Anthony off to show him his classroom....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 66 mm — 1/320 sec, f/5, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sixth-Grade Helper
leading Anthony off to show him his classroom
The parents waited in the auditorium...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Parents Waiting For Kids To Enter
By the way, the symbol for the school (the three triangles) was adopted in 1893, 68 years before a similar symbol was adopted by the United States to mark civil defense fallout shelters, and I'm sure that the similarity is unintentional.
Anyway, I didn't take any pictures during the ceremony and speeches and such, but afterwords everyone lined up for classroom pictures. The 90 kids of this year's first-grade class are divided into three classrooms, so I could snap a shot while the kids and parents of one of the other classrooms were setting up for a class picture....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 58 mm — 1/160 sec, f/4.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Preparing for a Class Picture
That's a Nikon D700 at left, and a Canon SLR with an attached vertical grip at right
After the ceremony and photos, the kids returned to their classroom where the teacher explained some things, eventually being joined by the parents trying to squeeze into the doorway to see their kid sitting at a school desk for the first time.
The kids got books, notebooks, badges, this, that, and the other... tons of stuff that was probably information overload. After it was over and Anthony was getting ready to go, he was checking out a name tag...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Checking Stuff Out
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony's Shoe Spot
H1-18
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 40 mm — 1/2500 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Post-Ceremony Play
they're still just six years old, of course
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 62 mm — 1/2000 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Minor Adjustments
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 60 mm — 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Cherry Blossoms and Starting School
go hand-in-hand in Japanese culture
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 36 mm — 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mommy and Daddy
Photo by Anthony
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm — 1/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
New First Grader
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 36 mm — 1/3200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Like Out of a Catalog
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Like Reality
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/800 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heading Home
not too old to still want to hold Mommy's hand
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/1600 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
View From Anthony's Return Bus Stop
currently flowing a river of cherry-blossom petals
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/500 sec, f/9, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Finally Home
well, just about
Congratulations! We have a 4-month old so first grade still seems impossibly far away for her, but you must be very proud. I’m jealous that you get all the sakura as backdrop for pictures, here in SoCal there aren’t nearly as many…
Best wishes to Anthony for first grade. Everything is so neat and clean and so organized. It must make the whole school experience so pleasent. I like the school uniforms and wish we had that in US schools. I love the view from school bus stop. It must be really cool to be living in the middle of such natural beauty.
Thanks for the kind words, but one point of clarification: other than the shoes, the school has no uniform. Fumie bought that suit for his recent kindergarten graduation and for this ceremony. —Jeffrey
This is a fun post. I loved the family photo at the top, and of course the “reality” shot of Anthony. Congrats on starting first grade, big guy. And Jeff, btw, nice suit! – Mikey (from Southern California “The OC”)
The photos are very nicely taken …. 🙂 Keep up the good work !
Congrats Anthony on your first day at school. I am seeing a photo of all 3 of you in formals for the first time. It looks very good, especially with the cherry blossom background.
At a first glance I thought 入学式 [nyugakushiki] is probably not “entrance ceremony”. Then when I looked up in the Japanese dictionary, I found out that it was in fact “entrance ceremony”. I searched the web and understandably most of the websites with “entrance ceremony” were Japanese 🙂 …
Great shots – what a big boy, Anthony!
I really like the photo Anthony took of Mommy & Daddy. Fumie looks lovely (as always – how does she manage to not age?!). You look pleasant enough, for a brother, I guess. But you can see your eyes measuring the distance between your camera and the hard pavement. And your fingers seem to be ever so slightly twitching; ready to lunge to the rescue should slippage occur.
Congratulations, Anthony! I’m sure you’ll like your new school ( and its awesome playground!).
Congratulations! I remember last year when my daughter started first grade. These memories will always be with us. Now you get to look forward to PTA and field days. I don’t know how much other places in Japan deal with PTA but it’s a pretty big thing here in Amami. Sometimes it’s fun, but other times I absolutely dread it.
How long have you lived in Japan now? The answer is probably posted somewhere, but I was just wondering.
Neat, beautiful emotional pictures, like a movie secuence. A 5 years old boy journey to a new phase of life. As a mom myself, I love the picture of Fumie and Anthony Heading Home. I wonder if she feels the sadness that comes when you realize that your little baby is gone.
Gris. Arlington, TX