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I've just published a new plugin for WordPress, the “time since” plugin that handles the relative-date display on my blog (the “... ago” seen with post and comment timestamps).
For details and download, see the plugin page; “A Non-Stupid 'Time Since' Plugin for WordPress
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Like any kid, I suppose, Anthony certainly loves getting new toys. He turned 7 years old recently, and enjoyed opening presents at his little party. But a present from my baby brother and his wife arrived later, and we kept it secret for a while until Anthony's busy school schedule allowed enough time to enjoy it.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.5, ISO 5000 — full exif
What's This Squiggly Line?
I was impressed again that he actually looked at the card. At this age I don't think I ever did, except perhaps to look to see whether it contained money. 🙂 He could read his name, but didn't know what the squiggly underline was for, which is what he's asking about in the photo above.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 28 mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.5, ISO 3600 — full exif
Getting Past the Bubblewrap Defenses
Aunt Natalie is an art teacher, so he's got a sense of what might be coming, and is excited....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 26 mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.5, ISO 5600 — full exif
That “I'm Excited, But Don't Know What It Is Yet” Look
These turned out to be Blendy Pens, which he thought were “cool”.
He has a small set of iron beads like this, but this pegboard is much larger, so he's excited about the possibilities it opens up.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 5000 — full exif
It's a Beanbag Banana!...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 4000 — full exif
...That's Filled with Letters
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 5000 — full exif
Catching His Attention
This engraving thing really grabbed his attention. It's like a cross between tin foil and carbon paper... you use the enclosed tool to scratch lines in a black-covered silver sheet. This one has a sea-horse image printed lightly on the black; when you trace over a line, the resulting scratch is very shiny and bright.
It's a bit beyond his age to do it properly, but he wanted to try. I fetched a high-intensity light from my office and set him up on the kitchen table...
He wasn't in the mood for photos anymore, so I stopped at that point, but he was at the etching the next day, and I tried again...
Thanks Alan and Natalie! He wrote a thank-you note the evening he opened them, and I'm proud to say that I finally got it in the mail today, so it's heading your way now.
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I mentioned yesterday that I had taken a short late-afternoon stroll to photograph some old Machiya houses nearby. They overlook the little river that runs by my place, a short walk downstream.
Here's the first...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/200 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
With Mini Balconies Jutting Over the River
This is right across the river from where “Rare Shinto Shrine-Closing Ceremony” was photographed (two years ago to the day, now that I think about it).
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 110 mm — 1/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Reverse Angle
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/80 sec, f/4, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Close Up
I look at the overall design and suspect that they were originally meant for stepping out to enjoy the cool river air, but in looking at their construction, I can't imagine how they could support the weight of a person, so their intent remains a mystery. Maybe they're just architectural styling.
Pulling back a bit for a wider view, you can see the mishmash of old construction and modern patches that make up what look to be the neighboring houses, though I'm hard pressed to identify exactly where one house ends and the next begins...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mishmash
I'd love to visit these with a Japanese Architectural version of Stewart Ainsworth, for the story these buildings could tell. (In a way, it reminds me of my “History Written in Brick” post from a couple of years ago.)
I love these kind of old dilapidated houses, but unlike those I've posted before (“Abandoned House Returning To Nature” and “Abandoned House in Hokkaido”), these are still occupied. I do suspect that they all have the same owner, due to the similar nature of their gutters (such as the “quality” of the installation).
Oh, and as you can tell, the red berries that mark Kyoto's colder seasons are out in force.
Moving a bit further downstream there's another old, long machiya house that I suspect holds multiple units....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
The first one has a set of doors that are often open, at which I often see someone sitting quietly with a cup of tea....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/125 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Peaceful
simple table with a small vase, in front of the open window by the stream
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 125 mm — 1/80 sec, f/4, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Self Portrait Across the River
Further down the same building, a reed mats covering a second-floor window were blowing briskly in the breeze...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/200 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Under the windows was an area missing its wood veneer, showing the mud, bamboo, and twine wall underneath...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mud & Bamboo Wall
I imagine that the interior looks similar to the Old House of Bamboo and Mud that I wrote about once. This kind of construction (heavy mud walls and heavy tile roof, supported by a timber frame) is extremely dangerous in an earthquake. Kyoto doesn't get many big ones, though.
By the way, these pictures are all a bit fuzzy because I'm an idiot, and forgot to reset my D700's auto-ISO feature when switching to the big zoom lens I used on this photo stroll. The “auto ISO” feature is wonderful in the D700, but I can't for the life of me figure out why they didn't take the one small extra step to make it really useful: allow a focal-length-multiplier mode, one when VR is on and another when off. This would be trivial from an engineering and UI-design point of view, and would make it vastly more useful, so it's baffling that it hasn't been done.
Anyway, the river then crosses under a small street; here's the view from the bridge back upstream....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/800 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looking Upstream
Looking downstream from the same position yields an entirely different view...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/80 sec, f/4, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looking Downstream
You're on a street with buildings all around (a museum, a doctor's office, a tall apartment building, etc.), and less than 70 meters away in the center of the frame passes a major four-lane thoroughfare with a subway line under it. But it's all hidden in this view, and I sort of like that. 🙂
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Nikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f/2 — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Positively Glowing
A wall near where Anthony has swimming lessons is covered with these purplish flowers. Again, my D700 seems to want to overexpose everything, and I ended up using -2½EV exposure compensation to stop the petals from blowing out. One side effect of the relative underexposure is that it makes the scene look dark (it was in fairly bright shade), but I didn't want the rich colors to be lost (as happened in this flower, due to an effect described in “Why Does “Brightness” Wash Colors to White?”).
Another effect of the underexposure is that the central, lighter portions of the petals seem much brighter, relatively speaking, than they really were, giving a pleasant sense of glowing from within, or, perhaps, from the stamens.
( And is it just me, or do others think that “stamen” sounds like it should be both the singular and the plural? )
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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Waiting for a Taxi
in front of some stupid bike illegally parked the front entrance to my place
Okazaki area of Kyoto, Japan
Returning from an errand today, I liked how the late-afternoon brisk autumn sun was hitting some old cozy (read “dilapidated”) Machiya houses near my place, so I grabbed the camera and headed out for a short photo-hunt stroll.
I'll share the pictures of the houses another day; in this post, just a few “mood” pictures from the day, which was sunny and brisk, much nicer than the overcast gloom of yesterday (which was photogenic nevertheless).
The picture above was the last I took of the day, just as I was returning home, of two ladies (likely a girl and her mom) about to get into a taxi that was doing a U-turn just out of frame to pick them up. I was immediately struck by their beautiful kimono, their obvious class (compare against the low-class garish display or the unbridled cuteness seen in other posts), and the splash of color provided by the background.
Unfortunately, with all the foot traffic going past and the taxi about to pull in frame, I didn't have much time to set up and execute a shot, and the picture above was the best I could do (with, unfortunately, the girl having noticed me and my big lens, just starting to form a perplexed “why is someone taking pictures of us?” look on her face).
But I really like their seasonal kimono, so here's the only other shot I got, which shows them a bit better.
D700 + 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm, cropped heavily — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
As I walked by them heading into my place and they into their taxi, the girl, still with a perplexed look on her face, I smiled, and the girl gave a tentative little “I don't know what's going on” wave. It was sort of funny. I would have liked to take a proper portrait.
Here's the first photo I took of the stroll, from pretty much the same spot, but looking back the other way....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 150 mm — 1/320 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
The little posts sticking up in the middle of the river have slots in them, and many years ago, apparently, the townsfolk used to put boards in them to block the stream, creating a public swimming pool for the kids. This practice apparently ceased a few generations ago after some kind of fatal accident, but vestiges of the practice remain.
A couple of unrelated photos:
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 155 mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Alone and in Groups
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 110 mm — 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Moving Day