One bit of homework Anthony and his first-grade friends have every day is to write an entry in their 絵日記 (enikki -- Picture Diary), where they fill half of a page with writing about something from the day, with the other half getting a related picture. I assume its main purpose is for practice in writing Japanese, but it also gives them a chance to stop and think about their day, and good practice for expressing themselves in writing.

Today was the first day back after a long five-day weekend and he couldn't think of something to write, so Fumie [...]

French writer and photographer (and Kyoto resident and friend) Stéphane Barbery is an artistic guy, whose artistic sense differs from me in just about every way. Since I have almost no artistic sense away from the camera, this is probably a good thing, but our different ideas about art are clearly apparent in our photography.

Most photos I post on my blog are simply props to tell a story, but the photos I post for the sake of their beauty or interest tend to be full of rich colors and scenes. On the other hand, Stéphane's photo books and photo [...]

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, the participants in the eclectic musical ensemble are all acquaintances of one guy, who thought it'd be nice to get them together. Some of them belong to a camera club together, so advanced amateur photographers were plentiful in attendance, both on stage and in the audience.

The central acquaintance, Nishimoto-san, had a Canon 85mm f/1.2, a beautiful, robust lens, that we all ogled. Nikon has nothing comparable, though there is a Nikon 50mm f/1.2. Zak used to have one, which I've borrowed to good effect to get artsy-fartsy with the shallow depth of field, [...]

Zak invited me to a small musical gathering he was part of this evening, at an old Kyoto machiya house that's been turned into a French cafe, Les Trois Maisons. A common friend had recognized their individual talents, and thought it'd make for an interesting experience to put them together.

The intimate ambiance was supurb for live music....

It was less suited to photography, which is perhaps fine because I wanted to enjoy the music, but I did take a few shots, with the low light pushing the limits of the camera and its user.

That shot of Zak (taken [...]

Earlier in the month I posted about our trip to the Toganojaya Restaurant in the mountains of north-west Kyoto. After having lunch and a bit of play at the river below it, we continued on a drive deep into the mountains. We drove for hours, but never left Kyoto City proper.

At one point we saw a paraglider descending, so we cut off the main road, through a small settlement, and found the landing spot just as one was coming in. We could see a half dozen other paragliders in the air, so stuck around to watch for a while...