Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 290 mm — 1/125 sec, f/6.3, ISO 8000 — map & image data — nearby photos
waiting to start his shift driving the train
As I mentioned in the previous post, on Friday we went to KidZania, a wonderful place covered in these many posts.
Unlike the first time, which was crammed full of families at absolute capacity, this time was on a school day that Anthony had off, and there were only about half the kids (capacity is 800 kids, and there were about 400, we were told). The breathing room made it much more enjoyable, especially for the parents because you could move easily when you wanted, and sit when you wanted. For the kids, there was a lot less waiting... often, Anthony didn't have to wait at all, and was the only one doing an activity, such as the radio announcer of yesterday (which normally is a task shared among six kids, as seen in this post from last year).
Last year Anthony's must-do-first job was working at a gas station. This year it was driving a train, so when we got in, he made a bee-line directly to the train station. The combination of there being fewer kids and our getting in earlier (we had checked in and gotten our entry number earlier, before having lunch in the mall) meant that he was actually the first kid at the train station, so he could pick the train job he wanted: driver.
Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 78 mm — 1/160 sec, f/5, ISO 8000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 290 mm — 1/8 sec, f/6.3, ISO 8000 — map & image data — nearby photos
waiting for some starting ceremonies to be over
Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 140 mm — 1/80 sec, f/5.6, ISO 8000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 420 mm — 1/30 sec, f/6.3, ISO 8000 — map & image data — nearby photos
with tongue buried firmly in cheek
That's about the most we could see him while he was on the job... the boy working as the conductor stood at the doorway window the whole time, as that gives him the proper vantage to take care of his job of dealing with the train doors when they're at a station (and I have the impression that the distance between each station during their 15-minute shift was covered in mere seconds, to give more station-arrival and station-departure fun).
The train was laid out with three separate driver cabs, so three kids could drive at any one time. Earlier, I had snapped a picture of one of the driver consoles that was more easily visible from the outside, so I could see what he would be working with...
Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 116 mm — 1/160 sec, f/5.3, ISO 8000 — map & image data — nearby photos
As sparse as it looks, it's quite accurate (much more so than the 747 cocpit he was in last time for his flight school). Even the old pre-computer style train console was pretty sparse, as seen in this photo.
Above the two yellow buttons is a pocket watch sitting on a bed of green felt. A real train driver brings his pocket watch with him and sets it in the bed of green felt when he takes his station... I've seen it in real life and thought it was a great personal touch (it's the driver's responsibility to be on time, and there's no blaming the clock when you're responsible for the clock). In this pretend train the watch was sealed behind plastic, which is too bad... it would have made a nice touch here as well.
Looking at your postings I am wondering how much post-processing you are doing in Lightroom… if you are using LR for it that is. Just out of curiosity, apart from the crop tool, what feature are you using most often (sharepning, recovery, ….).
The most common post-processing I do is to ignore photos… “shot selection”. It’s a highly-underrated skill. Most common on a per-photo basis is setting the white balance…. I don’t consider the camera’s setting for white balance at all while I’m taking the picture, so leave it at “Auto” and try to make sure I have something white in the at least one representative shot. Most photos get nothing more than that, but it’s not at all uncommon for me to make minor adjustments in rotation because I tend not to be able to hold the camera straight. Then cropping and exposure adjustments (I tend to use Exposure and Blacks the most). Everything else falls into the long tail… I’ll use fill light sometimes, extra noise reduction, dust-removal tool on occasion. If we’re talking “on occasion”, I guess I use almost everything at one time or another, even if it’s just to experiment. —Jeffrey
Aw, Anthony looks absolutely cute in the first picture, cute enough to pinch his cheeks.
The only thing that would have made this better if the kids had been given white gloves like their adult counterparts. Kidzania looks like a place I would have loved as a kid.
Jeffrey,
I love your photos and stories behind each pictures. Especially Anthony’s daily doings/weekly doings. Please post more!!!! I’d love to see daily updates/ journal with some pictures. It’s just simply fantastic! The japanese culture & your family etc!
Thanks for your kind words. My posting has been severely curtailed during the last month or so due to Lightroom development; I hope to get back into the swing of it soon. —Jeffrey
Western Oregon. I found you’re blog by searching about driving trains and I would like to know what in the heck is Kidzania because their website is ABE (Anything But English) but from the description of you’re blog it looks like a place where kids act out job skills?
We have two museums nearby. Evergreen Air and Space museum in Mcminville which holds the one and only Spruce Goose and OMSI up in Portland. (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) Sadly the two museums are not connected with each other in any way whatsoever or great bargain deals could’ve been had! So much lost potential!