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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Banquet Reception Entrance
Shogo and Namiko

Continuing from my earlier posts about my brother-in-law's wedding on Saturday, after the hors d'oeuvre reception, there was the full-on banquet reception.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Oops
no idea what was going on here, but I somehow like the result

Nikon D700 + 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 135 mm cropped — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Shogo Standing at the Head Table
those flowers were my nemeses for the day

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Namiko Seated at the Head Table
with much better behaved flowers

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm cropped — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Father of the Bride
across the way

Update: the crop above was suggested by reader Parv, and indeed it's better of the FOB. I'd also wanted to share a sense of the room, but perhaps there's not much sense gained (so to speak) by avoiding the crop, so I'll use it. For reference, the original version I posted, sans crop, follows...

( Originally-Posted Uncropped Version )

I was seated at the back end of the front-left table, so again I was happy to be at the edge out of everyone's line of sight, so I could get up and move around in my area fairly freely, without bothering anyone.

There was a welcome speech by Shogo's uncle (Shogo's dad's sister's husband), who having been a large-company CEO, was quite good at giving speeches....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Welcome Speech
by Shogo's “Uncle from Yokohama”, which is how he's always called within the family

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 175 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pro At Work
even her hair scrunchie is formal black
( though her flash gel seems to be CTO )

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 28 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/4, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
More Speeches
this one by an ikebana master who had taught Namiko since she was a little girl

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 116 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Preparation for the First Toast

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 105 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
His Turn

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/4, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Everyone Had 17 Glasses, Each
and 24 forks, but only 15 spoons
( or so it seemed )

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/4, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Table Nearest Us
Shogo's childhood friends
( the man at left ended up giving the first toast )

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 190 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/4, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Something About This Smile
reminds me of Zach Braff

The girls at the table in the background saw my big Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 zoom lens pointing their way, and did a peace sign for the camera. (Pretty much all Japanese reflexively do a peace sign at the first sight of any camera pointed their way.)

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/4, ISO 5000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Peace at 200mm

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Toasting the Couple

Then the food started....

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/125 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
First Appetizer
the salmon-based pink stuff was out-of-this-world delicious

Shogo and Namiko also started to eat as well, which I thought was impressive, since couples tend to not get to eat anything at their own wedding. But it was short lived, as friends started streaming up to honor the couple by pouring them a drink...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Kanpai!”
( cheers! )

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/125 sec, f/2.5, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
And Another...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/125 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2800 — map & image data — nearby photos
... And Yet Another....

In theory each man in attendance could pour Shogo a drink, which would quickly lead to one comatose groom, so I was reminded of a story I heard in grad school from an American guy whose wife was Japanese. At his wedding in Japan, everyone had been pouring him drinks... it's a common social convention in Japan that pouring a drink for someone shows them honor... and he was quickly getting drunk. He didn't speak much Japanese at the time, but his new father-in-law sitting nearby, eventually realized that the groom had actually been drinking all the drinks, and motioned to the big potted plant next to the groom: take a ceremonial sip of the drink, then quietly ditch the rest into the plant. Aaaaaaaah, this made it much easier!

I didn't notice any plants near Shogo, except for those blasted flowers right in front of him (in a clear vase, no less), so I'm not sure how he handled it. As far as I know he doesn't even drink alcohol — at all — but perhaps that's just another example of how I didn't know him.

Continued here...