NOTE: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — ¹/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hello
( this reminds me a bit of the goat seen several years ago in this post )

Here are a few random pictures from the colorful Towel Museum in Imabari Japan, which I covered in a couple of posts last month (part one and part two). The towel giraffe above is a smaller version of the one Anthony is hugging in this photo from part one.

The displays of wares for sale at the many shops were always colorful...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
For Sale

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
What am I?

I was thinking of using this picture as one of my “What am I?” quizzes, but it's probably not challenging enough, so I'll just post it here, and the answer follows later in this post.

The big wall of big thread spools seen at the top of part one, and more interestingly in this photo from the same post, was full of photogenic possibilities....

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wall of Thread

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 3200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Scale

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Golden Yellow

Desktop-Background Versions
Standard: 1024×768  ·  1440×1080  ·  1600×1200      Widescreen:  1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Detail

There were various rooms of towel-related art, including the detail above from the piece seen below. It's not really my cup of tea, but who ever knew there was “towel art”?

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
towel art (seen earlier in this room)

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 5000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Puffy Detail
from the piece seen in this photo

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/80 sec, f/4.5, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Stacked-Towel Art

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/80 sec, f/4.5, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Layered-Towel Art

Vertical Desktop-Background Versions
1050×1680  ·  1200×1920  ·  1600×2560

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Moomin Towel Art
the piece that the “What am I?” photo above is from

And finally, a view of the small floral arrangement seen in the second post.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos

Desktop-Background Versions
Standard: 1024×768  ·  1440×1080  ·  1600×1200      Widescreen:  1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600

Continued here...

NOTE: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Conditioning a Grinding Wheel

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/80 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Business End
( a bit fuzzy here, but it was really dark, so it's not too bad for 1/80 sec at 125mm )

While in Pierre Nadeau's smithy that I wrote about yesterday, I noticed this odd-looking tool lying around, and like many of the odd-looking things lying around the 100-year-old workshop, I had no clue what it was (unlike the majority who answered the “What am I?” quiz correctly the other day).

When I asked Pierre about it, he demonstrated that it conditions a grinding wheel used for sharpening knives and the like. I don't think he uses it when he makes swords, but he also makes various tools on order, so I'm sure his grinding wheel gets a lot of use.

There are actually a couple of different grinding wheels in the small space... here's another one whose pedestal has developed quite a patina of grinding-wheel dust over the years...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/1000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos

Along the same lines, in the 1960s the workshop was fitted with various mechanical tools all run from a single electric engine. Because the engine was the most expensive part, a series of pullies and wheels were used to distribute the energy out to multiple tools, such as the big pounder thinging seen yesterday, which I think is the only thing still hooked up to it.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Source of Power
precariously distributed via pully

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1800 — map & image data — nearby photos
In Action
just waiting to take off a limb or two of anyone not paying due attention

NOTE: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pierre Nadeau
swordsmith
Wakayama Prefecture, Japan

As I noted in last week's “A Little Cold-Forging Metal Work”, I recently visited a craftsman in the art of traditional Japanese swordmaking.

I have no interest in swords as weapons, historical items, or even as pieces of art (such as seen in “A Few Japanese Swords of Note”), but I find how they're made to be facinating. (See this video for a superficial overview.)

Later this month, Pierre, a Canadian working in Wakayama, Japan, will take the test to be an officially licensed Japanese swordsmith. If he passes, he will be only the second non-Japanese in history to do so. My friend Zak Braverman became acquainted with Pierre through a mutual friend in the Japanese arts, and kindly invited me and Stéphane Barbery to tag along on a visit.

Pierre maintains his web site, SoulSmithing.com about his craft, in French, English, and Japanese.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — ¹/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pierre's Smithy
much brighter in this photo than in actual life

Pierre's smithy was, as one might imagine, dark and dirty. The only light was from the windows, a single incandescent bulb, and the glow of a fire and 1000° metal...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/160 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Glowing Hot

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 26mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Basic Instruction

Pierre was showing some basic hot-metal techniques to a visiting cold-metal smith, so he wasn't using his “real” forge, but rather a quick-and-dirty forge he made out of an old cooking-oil tub and cement. He was also using coke (the “pre-washed jeans” version of coal) for fuel instead of charcoal, for the same quick-and-dirty reasons.

Here's a photo of what his immediate work area looks like from his point of view...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — ¹/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 720 — map & image data — nearby photos

... and some markup to show what's what...

The real forge is basically a narrow brick-lined pit in the ground, with a bellows to feed fresh air from underneath. The quick-n-dirty forge is like a simple BBQ (though a cement-lined BBQ) with a little electric blower. For fuel he can use coal, coke, or charcoal. Only charcoal is used for the real stuff, but for quick-and-dirty smithing (say, when he's making farm tools on order) he'll use coke, because it's much cheaper and easier to work with.

You can see his real forge in action a bit in the video at the bottom of this page on his site.

Notice that one removes their shoes before stopping up into the working area. It's a wonderful (and wonderfully Japanese) aesthetic to maintain an area of clean (physical and mental) amidst such harsh and gritty surroundings.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — ¹/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pretending
I'm holding a hammer in my left hand, camera in the right

Anyway, Pierre was showing the cold-metal guy the basics of shaping a sword, using an old hunk of flat scrap metal as a base...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 60mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 66mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 5000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pounding
using a mechanized helping hand

He makes many of his own tools, such as the little straw brush he's using above. He has a blog post on how to make them.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 42mm — ¹/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos

The phrase “strike while the iron's hot” came to life when his mechanical pounder thingie slipped a belt, leaving Pierre in a lurch with some iron that needed to be struck in a particular way before it cooled. Without missing a beat, he instructed that someone should grab a sledge hammer while he prepared the steel on the anvil...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Striking the Critical Blow

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
About To Lop Off a Wedge

They didn't actually lop anything off, but rather, with some heavy blows from the sledgehammer onto the well-placed pointed hammer, indented the hot metal it enough so that with some quick but judicious hammering, he could bend back a wedge at the dent enough to weaken the fold, thereby allowing it to be eventually broken off. It all has to happen quickly, before the metal cools.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/160 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
The Result

Of course, when you're taking pictures, you want to see flying sparks and dancing flames...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/160 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Stoking the Forge

Pierre then went to work on the little slug of pewter as seen in the cold-smithing post, while the cold-smither gave his hand a try at shaping the rough knife blank into something that resembled a knife. This involved many cycles of first heating it to glowing in the forge, then a lot of smashing on a wet anvil...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/40 sec, f/2.5, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos

Desktop-Background Versions
Standard: 1024×768  ·  1440×1080  ·  1600×1200      Widescreen:  1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/40 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1800 — map & image data — nearby photos

Vertical Desktop-Background Versions
1050×1680  ·  1200×1920  ·  1600×2560

Pierre's native language is French, which I suppose he doesn't get to use much in Japan (his smithy in the middle of nowhere, an hour from anywhere), so he seemed quite happy to chat with Stéphane...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/320 sec, f/4, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Stéphane and Pierre

That evening, we all went out to perhaps the only restaurant in the town, for a really great meal....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/60 sec, f/2.5, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Thumbs Up

Right to left: the cold-metal worker Inamura-san, his friend Sawada-san, Stéphane, Zak, Me, Pierre.

NOTE: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/80 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
What am I?

I was hoping to post by now about last week's visit to a traditional Japanese swordsmith, but I've been down with a cold for the last three days. Unfun. So, here's a “What am I?” quiz to pass the time... what is this implement from the swordsmith's workshop for?

NOTE: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 + 1.4X TC @ 420mm — ¹/4000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Getting Your Feet Wet

Having finally obtained a manual for the lens I got last week, I've learned a few things. One, it seems that it actually has a built-in slide-out lens hood in addition to the big detachable hood I'd been using. You're supposed to deploy both.

Also, for some reason, it says that proper focus can't be achieved without a filter installed in the filter holder. It can be simple optically-inert glass, but you've got to have something. I don't know how it could matter, but I'll trust the maker on this. Unfortunately, the only filter holder it came with is for gelatin filters, and it was empty, so I'd been using it improperly. Nobody seems to have the normal filter holders in stock, so for the time being I got a special polarizer filter that fits, as it was both in stock and something I'd want anyway.

So, armed with this new knowledge, I went out this afternoon to the Kamo river to give it a spin, also using for the first time its dedicated 1.4× teleconverter, making a 420mm f/2.8 manual-focus lens.

I'm really disappointed with the results. I don't know whether I was just bad at hitting focus, or whether I need to spend some time calibrating the focus, but none of the photos — none — were well focused.

A bunch of hawks (which I've realized is the normal word for what I've been referring to as “kites”) were swarming across the river as a pair of ladies threw hunks of bread, so I tried shooting that. The birds could catch bread in mid air, but unfortunately, I could not do the same with the focus.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 + 1.4X TC @ 420mm — ¹/4000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Drawing A Bead
the bright spot immediately below the hawk's head is a chunk of bread, soon to be lunch

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 + 1.4X TC @ 420mm — ¹/4000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sort of Pretty
but would have been better in focus

I was hoping for some shots like in “Feeding Frenzy on the Kamo River”, but these were the best I could come up with.

The water was quite high due to rain all week, though nowhere near where it was last year, but the stepping stones across the river (seen here and here) were mostly submerged...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sort of Funny
two unrelated folks build a seemingly-related scene

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Snacking on Dried Beans
focused better than most, but lacking in the not-off-kilter department

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Fisher of Photos

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Missed It By That Much
the white thing in the water in the lower-left is the baseball
that he dove to (try to) get before it rolled over the bank

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Second Team Off the Bench

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Still Trying

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Oh Well
there are other things we can do besides baseball

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/3200 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Like a Boss
he carries himself well
while she carries his camera, his camera bag, her big bag, and his shoes

I'll need to practice.