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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Flight School at KidZania
Anthony and Gen are first and second from the right
Anthony's school had a day off last Friday, so I took the opportunity of him having a free school day to bring him to his third visit to KidZania (the amazing kid place that I introduced in this post). Anthony's friend Gen joined us, for his second visit.
I had Gen decide which would be the first event, and after considerate consultation with Anthony, flight training won out over what was apparently a close contest with being a police officer. Anthony was excited by both options, though both had done flight training before: Anthony's prior flight-training experience.
This little girl standing with the tall boys in uniform was too cute to pass up:
A quick reminder about KidZania and these pictures (and all the pictures in posts on my KidZania category): all the kids wear ugly but hygiene hair nets when the job uniform involves headgear. Also, everything is set up for the kids, and parents are left with poor vantage points from which to watch or take pictures. Photographic challenges involve poor lighting, mixed lighting, and vantages often blocked by fingerprinty glass. I didn't want to be weighed down this time, so brought only three lenses (Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 and 50mm f/1.4, and a Voigtländer 125mm).
That being said, the next event was the easiest to photograph...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/200 sec, f/4, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Checking The Gear
freelance photojournalists
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pre-Assignment Group Photo
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.2, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
On A Photo Hunt
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.2, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony Grabbing the Action
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/100 sec, f/1.4, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Gen's Steady Eye
After a few minutes out in the “city”, they come back and pick one photo to print...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/100 sec, f/2.5, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Modern Darkroom
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/160 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anticipation
waiting in the rent-a-car line for their turn to drive
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Cool Kids
have their driver's license
Anthony got his KidZania driver's license last year, but had yet to put it to use here at the KidZania rent-a-car shop, so he was excited.
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Gen's Full Service Fill-Up
at the gas station where Anthony did his first KidZania job last year
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Merging Traffic
Each kid got two turns on the figure-eight street track, passing through the gas station each time but getting a fill-up only once. The cars are not on tracks like at Disneyland so the kids bump into the curbs or each other fairly often, but max speeds are very, very slow. Anthony later said that if he goes again, he wants to do this again, first thing.
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Being Silly
while waiting in line
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Making Flash-Frozen Rice Balls
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1800 — map & image data — nearby photos
About To Press Rice In Molds
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Smelling the Sauce
After basting with sauce, the rice balls all went into the oven for several minutes, then while they were piping hot, it was time to flash-freeze them with a blast of dry-ice powder, made more dramatic by special lighting for the event.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Flash-Freeze Blast
a split second later, the chamber was a filled by a billowing churning cloud of dry-ice powder
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Thermal Check
comparing a just-frozen rice ball with a just-cooked rice ball
Each kids' two rice balls was placed into a take-home container, which each kid promptly gave to the parent (because the kid didn't want to carry them for the rest of the day). Anthony and Gen ate theirs in the car on the way home, filling the car with appreciative and satisfying sounds of “ummmmm, tasty”.
After cooking the rice balls, the kids took the opportunity to get some banking done...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Cashing Their KidZo Traveler's Checks
More about KidZania baking in this earlier post.
Anthony decided that he wanted to deposit his KidZania cash into his account, so immediately stopped by the ATM...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/160 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
It turns out that this particular ATM doesn't accept deposits (perhaps because it's right next to the bank), so back to the bank for a quick deposit...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wandering around looking for something that didn't involve a 45-minute wait, they got lucky to find the dental clinic was about ready to admit the next shift, so they went for that...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/160 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Checking The Employment Details
To be continued....
I like the shots of the photo journalists. The best part are those baseball caps… cocked to the side. -And the girl with the expression that says, “Yeah, I’m rockin’ this freelance photo-journalist look”.
So the secret to great photography is revealed… its the UNIFORM: a roll-film vest and a mesh baseball cap. Who needs $2000 lenses?
I love Anthony as photographer. Lord knows he’s seen it demonstrated enough. My favorite is “Anthony Grabbing the Action”
As I scrolled up to double check the name of that photo for this comment, I noticed something. Is he taking a photo of a girl with no pants?
He’s taking a picture of a sign above the doorway, out of frame, behind the other kids. The blue-shirted kid are working as EMT, and I guess the long blue shirt covers the one girl’s pants, or maybe she has none. Hadn’t noticed, but glad you’re paying attention to these things. —Jeffy
Hello from Australia,
Loving your work J, a couple of questions.
Do you use a polarising filter for reflections @ kidzania?
Does Anthony get to keep his ‘Paparazzi’ images? (as digital?)
Cheers.
No polarizer at KidZania… it’s much too dark to give up the light. And no, the kids get to print one photo and keep that, but otherwise that’s it. —Jeffrey
I think that is a great way to teach kids . If that was used here in the us . I think are kids would know more of what is out there in the world and how it all works . I love seeing kids learn
I was happy when i seen these photos on here . if only the usa would learn this kind of thing to teach our kids .
Good Job thanks for shareing this ……..
We’ve been there three times too, crazy difficult to take decent photos. And the waits are so long that we only get 3 or 4 activities completed each time, and the last 90 minutes is usually a scramble to find an occupation that is still available. Still much better than trips to USJ or Disneyland. My daughter enjoyed the sushi-making and the manga drawing 🙂