I took this photo today of a chunk of wood about the size of a footstool, but not a footstool. It has a very specific use. Unlike many of my "What am I?" quizzes, the image Exif data will likely be of no use for this one. What is it?

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".

Like I said, the whole "street photography" thing doesn't really do it for me, so I found myself gravitating to a small park [...]

We tried a bit of grass skiing the other day, at a mostly-deserted ski resort in northern Hyogo Prefecture, about three hours away by car. It was a bit of déjà vu for me because like the last time I tried to go skiing in Japan (with a former girlfriend 20 years ago), we found that even if I cut off my toes my feet were way too big for the rental boots, so I couldn't do it. That time, I spent the day in the lodge while others skied, but the next day we did an activity that I [...]

We were driving around the very-rural countryside of Toyooka, Japan the other day at dusk, when the beauty of some hills rising out of the mist caught my eye, and I stopped to snap some pictures.

The first picture shows the slightest hint of the sunset glow still remains...

I ended up chatting for a while with a farmer preparing his field for rice (it's his white truck in the center of the second photo). By the time I left, it was very dark, but the D700's low-light prowess brightens everything up. The lead photo is the last one I [...]

I took this photo today, and thought to use it for one of my "What am I?" quizzes. As if often the case, the image metadata will give a strong hint to those who know how to read it (that is, to those who know how to click on the "map & image data" link under the image 😉 )