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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/250 sec, f/8, ISO 6400 — full exif
Can-Suck-In-Anything Fish
crafted with care by Anthony in first-grade crafts class
The entrance to our home is currently graced with an objet d'art that Anthony made in crafts class last month (pictured here at a bright window in the living room). Assigned to make something that they each thought would be great if it actually existed, he made this なんでもすいこまれるさかな!!! (“Can suck in Anything!!! Fish”).
I asked whether it was actual size, to which he replied “No” (you silly daddy!), “It's as big as Kyoto Tower”. Kyoto Tower is fairly big – more than 100 meters tall – as can be seen in many of my blog posts, such as this and this. As big as it is, still, you wouldn't think that it could suck in the entire world, but it can. I asked how, when it's not even as large as the short mountains around here, and he looked at me as if I was the dumbest person on earth (which may well be the case) and noted that things get smaller as they get sucked in.
Luckily this fish uses its power only for good, for sucking in something to protect it. For example, Anthony told me, if a truck is trying to get someone, and someone is almost going to be smooshed by the truck, the fish can come very quickly to suck the person in, protecting them from the bad truck.
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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/500 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Snow Bunny
So, after a fairly relaxing four-hour drive (three hours plus stops) in beautiful weather, we arrived at the lavishly-named Omaki Onsen Spa Garden “Waen” (おまき温 泉スパガーデン和園). I actually never bothered to parse that full name until now... here's what it means: “Omaki” is the name of the area with a few natural hot springs (onsen). “Spa Garden” is their description to try to sell you on it being a nice place. All those are adjectives to the real name, “Waen”, whose characters in this case mean “Peaceful Garden”.
Anyway, the attraction for us was that it was in an area likely to have snow for Anthony to play in (it did), and offered a “lodge” type accommodation....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — 1/100 sec, f/8, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lodge Duplex
we had the half on the right
There's another lodge duplex to the right, and restaurant/hotel/spa buildings to the left, so the setting is not rustic or anything, but the view is nice. The previous two shots were taken from about the same location, facing opposite directions. The lodge faces the small Omaki Dam, half a mile away....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 60 mm — 1/125 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
View of Omaki Dam, and Beyond
Of course, Anthony doesn't care about the view or the lodge... just play, so he dove right in... literally...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
First Forage into the Snow
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 29 mm — 1/1000 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Falling, Mid-Fruumph
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/1250 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
The snow was maybe eight inches deep, but was heavy and icy. He was thrilled because he didn't know any better, but it was snow that had been sitting out in slightly-above-freezing days for some while, so it was quick to become slushy.
At one point he wanted me to throw snowballs at him... he was quite some distance away, so I lobbed one gently in a high arc, and he deftly stepped out of the way while screaming in excitement, thrilled with the close call. (He really enjoys it when things get a little out of his control... such as the “Equal Parts Fun and Terror” mentioned in my post about sledding on a warm summer day a couple of years ago).
So, I lob another at him, but instead of stepping aside, this time he puts out his hand to block the snowball. Clearly this child has had little experience in the snow, because blocking a snowball with your hand is a little like cleaning up spilled baking flour with a hair dryer. But even in this he failed, and the snowball proceeded on an undisturbed path directly into his face.
Now, I'll remind you at this point of two things: the snow was wet and heavy (and thus so was the snowball), and he was screaming in glee.... right up to the moment when the snowball impacted his face in his mouth (hey, I'm a good aim), cutting the scream off mid glee.
This silence lasted the few moments it took him to process what had happened, until he understood that his mouth was completely filled with snow and ice, and in a scene that somehow reminds me of something in Ghostbusters 2, he started to slowly disgorge the snow and replace it with a decidedly non-gleeful kind of scream.
And so ended our snow play....
... for about two minutes, then right back at it, except I started aiming for his knees.
Attentive readers will be feeling a sense of déjà vu. Several years ago the same thing happened to Fumie. Like I said, I have good aim.
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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/250 sec, f/7.1, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sports Day
“beanbags in the basket” competition
I'm really swamped with Lightroom plugin stuff this week, so I just don't have the energy to address all the photos from our recently-completed short snowy New Year's trip, so I'll dip into the photo archives for some low-hanging fruit.
I attended an event at Anthony's school in November, and noticed his drawing on the wall, of his favorite event from his school Sports Day the previous month: tamaire (玉入れ). Teams stand in an area littered with beanbags and try to get as many into a basket held high up on a pole before time runs out. This event had the kids and dads paired up, 30 pairs to a team, so the bean bags were really flying.
Elsewhere on a wall were stacks of display papers the kids use to practice good penmanship, the most recent being “スポーツ” (“sports”). With f/1.4 at 85mm, it was easy to isolate just Anthony's effort....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/160 sec, f/1.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony's Penmanship Practice
The event was a Christmas-Tree lighting ceremony, held at dusk, in an internal courtyard of the school.
Nikon D700 + Sigma 30mm f/1.4 — 1/80 sec, f/4, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Early Preparations
The vignette here is a natural one due to the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 (a DX lens) being used on a full-frame body. You'd normally crop it out, but even though it's pretty rough and abrupt, it's still sort of interesting, so I left it.
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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/100 sec, f/13, ISO 2800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Just Getting Started
The trip we came back from yesterday could be summed up with one word: Snow. The first day (a travel day) was clear and bright.... and that was pretty much the last of the sun we saw for the rest of the trip. This was my first photo on Day 2.
Posts with photos from this trip:
- Back Home After a Short Trip
- First Taste of Snow on Our New Year’s Trip
- Driving Snow
- Some Kind of Snow & Face Picture
- Introduction to a Snowy Gokayama Village
- Japan’s Deep-Rooted Ethos of Fire Prevention
- Rosy Cheeks
- Shutter Speed’s Effect on Falling Snow
- Snowy Mountains
- Snowy Gokayama Village, Part II
- Hot Noodles in Gokayama
- Steep Steps in Gokayama Village
- Deceptively Clear: Snow-Covered Mountains in Exquisite Detail
- Snowy Farewell to Gokayama Village
- Snowy Quiz of Questionable Appeal
- First Look at Snowy Shirakawago Village
- Clearing Roof Snow in Shirakawago
- Snowy Goodbye to Shirakawago Village
- Snowy New-Year Trip: Start of Day Three
- Stupid Tone-Curve Tricks: A Half Dozen Develop Presets for Lightroom
- Bridge Over Icy Water
- Snowy New Year Trip Day Three: Dam Snow
- Crossing the Komaki Dam
- Going Vertical: Portrait-Mode Desktop Backgrounds
- A Bridge, and a Couple of Non-Bridges, in the Snow
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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 36 mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — full exif
Back Home
from a four-day trip by car
We just returned from a four-day New Year's outing. 550+ emails are waiting in my mail queue. At least that many pictures in my camera waiting for me to process.
We don't travel all that often, but when we do, wow, it always seems to be to a place that's photogenic, or provides for interesting stories, or both. Will have many blog posts for months to come from this trip...