We're back from our short (two-night) trip to Awaji Island, about a two-hour drive south. The day started early so I'm glad to be home at a reasonable hour. On the way home, we stopped by a highway rest stop in the middle of nowhere, and were tickled to see a sign that says exactly what Fumie bids Anthony off to school with (as described on this post). We hadn't thought that such a sign would actually exist.

This was the last of the (only 800) pictures I took on the trip.

I mentioned the other day in my post about some drama on Mt. Daimonji that I'd hiked with Anthony. Here are some shots from the first part of the hike.

Unlike the last time we did this three years ago, when I had to carry him most of the way, this time he could handle himself, so I was free to bring my new big lens, and decided to give my little-used monopod a try as well.

To be continued...

We have finally had some short-sleeve weather to go along with the cherry blossoms... no snow for a week, though it was cold enough to snow just three days ago. I had an errand near the Kiyamachi area of eastern Kyoto, an urban hip night-life concrete jungle where I shot much of "Impossible Photography: No Light, No Tripod, No Hope. D700 and a 50mm f/1.2" a year and a half ago. It has a small river lined by cherry blossoms, so I brought along the camera.

I've a great sequence of shots of the two girls launching small blizzards of [...]

I was suddenly struck today by a profound realization that Anthony's "young man" factor has started to encroach on his cuteness as a kid. Until today, I would see his mental and social advances (such as taking the city bus to school all by himself a year ago) as a cute kid doing big-boy things, which makes the kid in him all the more cute.

Today we had an event where he dressed a bit nicer than normal, after which we went to a park for lunch, and I kept doing double takes at how good he looked. Yes he's [...]

Anthony finished first grade on Friday, capping a year of very big events in a little boy's life. The picture above includes self portraits of his teacher and of all the kids in his class.

Can you guess which is his?

The Japanese school year runs from April to March, and so it was a year ago that he graduated from kindergarten in a big ceremony with lots of pomp and circumstance. Then in April he started first grade, and soon was taking the city bus on his own to school in the morning, and home in the afternoon. Unlike [...]