Nikon D700 + 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/5, ISO 3200 — full exif
Super Cool Rocket Plane
made from recycled helicopter parts

I've been so busy of late that I haven't posted much from Anthony's birthday when he turned six years old, but since my primary intent for this blog is to give me something to remember when I finish going senile, I'll go ahead now and put some more memories from his birthday.

Anthony received a helicopter that he had picked form himself, but as an extra surprise, he received another helicopter from Mommy and Daddy, a Lego helicopter with a bazillion parts...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000 — full exif
I have no idea why this shot is so grainy, but the blurriness is because I missed focus horrendously

During our trip to The States and back, Anthony received a number of small Lego car sets (like this) and impressed us with how he mixed and matched the parts and creatively made all kinds of new contraptions. We wanted to encourage that kind of exploring/imagination/building, so we got this huge, complex helicopter. (He seems to have added interest in helicopters since he rode in one last month.)

He started putting it together right away...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2500 — full exif
“Some Assembly Required”

Lego products are pretty good (and should be for their ridiculous price), but the instructions.... really, I don't think I would be able to make instructions as bad as they do, even if I really really really tried to be evil. Their instructions are gratuitously bad. They show progressive views of the object being built, with an arrow or two pointing to the pieces that were added in the step. That's all fine and dandy except they point only to some of the added pieces. It's up to you to figure out everything that needs to be added in each step, so you have to stare at each pair of steps like one of those “find the differences” visual puzzles.

Every once in a while, you come to a point in the construction where you realize that you just can't complete the current step because your contraption is missing some piece that's suppose to already be there, so a bit of headache-inducing forensics ensues to try to find the step (or steps) that you missed something.

In the end, though, you'll have a few random pieces left over that you'll have no idea where they were supposed to have gone.

Anyway, so we finished building the helicopter the next day, and he played with it for a day, but I woke up one morning to find that the roter blades had been repurposed as a rocket jet's wings and fuselage....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/100 sec, f/2.5, ISO 900 — full exif
Ready For Takeoff (Blastoff?)

When I first tried to take a picture of it, Anthony jumped to get into a position to peek at me while I did, as evidenced in the first picture above. He did that once before, but it'll lose its cuteness really quickly if he does it much more.

I went a bit overboard on the whole “thin depth of field” thing, so you can't actually see much of it. The best shot is this next one, I guess. I really just appreciate the detail in his imagination...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/100 sec, f/5, ISO 3600 — full exif
Details

And so ends Post #1,000.

A few more shots from yesterday evening's visit to the Eikando Temple's lightup event....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/60 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Glowing As If From Chernobyl
because they're backlit with a high-intensity floodlamp
— Eikando Temple, Kyoto Japan —

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/60 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
First Touch of Color

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/100 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
No Color Yet
( in autumn, green is not a color )

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/60 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Backlit
but less intense

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 40 mm — ¹/100 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos

In the shot above, you can see a lady in a kimono slightly left of center, holding up her cell phone to photograph the red leaves. She's the one in this shot from yesterday. I tried to include her in my pictures while she was taking pictures, because generally speaking, I like the kimono. I realize now, though, that you can't really see the kimono in the closer shots (some taken at 1/20th of a sec handheld as ISO 6400!)...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — ¹/20 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 28 mm — ¹/40 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/100 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lotsa' Orange

Nikon D700 + Sigma 24mm f/1.8 — ¹/8 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looking Straight Up

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — ¹/20 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looking Back Toward the Entrance

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/100 sec handheld, f/3.2, ISO 5000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wall Corner Detail

D700 + 1.7×TC + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8@ 210 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/4.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony and Gen and a Richard Scarry Book
Photo by Zak Braverman

Anthony had a short day at school today, so while he was there, I spent half an hour at the Heian Shrine again for all the 7-, 5-, and 3-year-old kids dressed up in fancy clothes for the “7-5-3 festival”, as I mentioned earlier in the week (and followed up on yesterday).

D700 + 1.7×TC + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8@ 270 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/4.8, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Behold My Cuteness

D700 + 1.7×TC + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8@ 340 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/5, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
as it is with so many photoshoots...
Hurry Up and Wait

Of course, there is the occasional pretty leaf...

D700 + 1.7×TC + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8@ 290 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/14, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Twisted

After school, Anthony and I visited Zak so Anthony and his son Gen could play, and Zak and I could make boring small talk about cameras for a few hours.

Zak lives on the 15th floor of a building with nice views...

D700 + 1.7×TC + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8@ 120 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/4.8, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ojigaoka Park
Otsu, Japan

Under those trees are the huge set of monkey bars briefly shown here, as well as other fun playground stuff. The river with the zipper-looking embankments was a place that Gen and Anthony played in last spring.

D700 + 1.7×TC + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8@ 340 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/10, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mowing Saturn
( or, baseball-field maintenance )

D700 + 1.7×TC + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8@ 340 mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/4.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Otsu Mary”
(described here) bathed in the glow of a setting sun

The same golden light of the setting sun hit the frosted wall of windows in his building's “kids room” (an empty room where kids can tear around), filling the room with magical light.... a soft, golden glow. Anthony had been playing with Gen and some other kids, and had worked up a sweat and took his shirt off, so he was “glowing” inside and out. By the time I went and got my camera, it was mostly gone, but it was sort of like this...

D700 + 1.7×TC + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8@ 340 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/4.8, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Glow

After a delicious pasta dinner with Zak's special cooking-since-last-night stew-like sauce, Anthony and I headed home. But on the way, we stopped by The Eikando Temple, where their fall-foliage evening lightup event was starting (and running for the next few weeks). The dad of one of Anthony's classmates, Yoko-chan, told me about it and said that they were going this evening, so we stopped by to see them and the lightup.

It's early in the season, but already spectacular...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 50 mm — ¹/40 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Bright Red Draws Out the Cameras
at the Eikando Temple, Kyoto Japan

The Eikando Temple is one of the most wonderful for fall colors. Most of the photos on this Bonanza of Fall-Foliage Desktop Backgrounds post were taken there, and this Colorful Leaves and Colorful Kimono shot from two years ago was snapped at one of its side entrances.

Kids, of course, couldn't care less, but they had a fun time playing...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 35 mm — ¹/80 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony and Yoko-chan Wrestling Play?

Conveniently, there was an area where they could run around without bothering anyone else, and they (Anthony, Yoko-chan, and her little brother Taro) did...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm — ¹/25 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Silly Dance Play

I continue to be impressed by the low light prowess of the Nikon D700. All these shots are handheld in available light (or, in some cases, the lack thereof).

These leaves were backlit by a bright floodlight, so were less of a challenge... I needed only ISO 2800 for a reasonable shot...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/100 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 2800 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Few Different Oranges and Yellows

All the floodlights here are normal “white” incandescent floodlights (which actually puts a warmish glow on things.... a “white” incandescent light is not actually white, even though it may look that way). No color filters or anything. It's really pretty.

Yoko-chan's daddy suggested that I make a brief stop over at the Nanzen Temple (where I visited last weekend with Thomas) because, he said, the line waiting to enter that temple's evening lightup event would make for a good photograph...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 40 mm — ¹/20 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Waiting to Enter the Lightup Event
The Nanzen Temple, Kyoto Japan

He was right.

So, that was my Saturday. How was yours? 🙂

A few more pictures of kids in kimono, a followup from Kids in Kimono: Cute Enough to Eat earlier in the week. The current forecast is for rain on Sunday (when the kimono-clad-kids should be out again), so perhaps these shots are it for this year...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 105 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Near the Shrine
kids colorful attire competing with the emerging fall colors

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sisters? Friends?
cute no matter how you slice it

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 110 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Bit Different
This looks a lot to me like traditional Korean attire, but it could also be a girl's hakama. I don't know.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 130 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pigtails
common among girls and, unlike The States, women

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 150 mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Blinding
The reds and greens are blinding, at least on my monitor.
( the boy running up is her brother, as I could surmise when he started pestering her )

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
What the?...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 180 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ah, Okay, I See

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Another View
of these kids

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Shoes Part II
( Part I )

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
It Was a Day for Pictures

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Way. Too. Cute.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Touch Overdone
but nice colors

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 160 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Light as a Feather

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 190 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/4.5, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
I See You Too
( if the caption doesn't make sense, inspect the picture again )

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/4.5, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Peace

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/4.5, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/10, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
With Mom and Friend
from a mini festival going on in the park next to the shrine

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 160 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Bit of Color

As I wrote the other day, we're still waiting for the fall colors to really arrive, but some trees have certainly given us a nice preview. Here's Nijo street, which runs in front of the shrine...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/11, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Progressively Oranger

The shrine is just to the left of the traffic light, which is where Jingumichi (“Shrine St.”) dead-ends. That's the street with torii (the big orange gate), thus giving views like this when you stand far enough away and look back toward the shrine.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wooden Teeth
but not the kind George Washington had

My post earlier this week about our weekend trip to Kibune with Thomas ended with us eating dango at one of the many roadside restaurants. In the background of the final photo on that post, you can see a big gear, perhaps four feet across. It's a big, clearly very old wooden gear.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 31 mm — ¹/40 sec, f/3.2, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wooden Gear
(and some lady's horrendously ugly purse)

Even the pegs used to hold the pieces together, and the tapered pins used to hold the pegs in tightly are wood. It's amazing.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 — ¹/50 sec, f/2, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tapered Wooden Pin Holding Fast a Wooden Peg

It was a dark, overcast day of intermittent rain, and an hour before sunset deep in the narrow valley that is Kibune, so ambient-light photography would have been impossible without the D700's amazing low-light prowess. When I got home, I was shocked how well these images turned out.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos

I asked about the gear at the restaurant where it's now being used as decoration, and they had no clue. I shouldn't have been surprised, seeing as they had the two huge stone wheels of an old rice mill (similar to this small coffee mill) set up upside-down as some kind of birdbath/fountain. I explained to them what it was, and they nodded vacantly. I guess they just aren't geeky enough to appreciate old technology like I do. 🙂

As a bonus, here's a shot of the kusaridoi (鎖樋) “rain chain” hanging from the edge of the gutter. When it rains, water flows from the gutter down the set of chained cups, creating somewhat of a waterfall effect.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/4.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Kusaridoi Decorative Chain-of-Cups Downspout

These are fairly common to see around town... especially temples and shrines, but often enough in a private residence or business as well. They're pricy, though: I found a place selling some for about $600 for a nine-foot length.

Yet, as common as they are, no one seems to know what they're called. I have a horrible memory for language (and for many things, as my wife will attest), so often find myself asking around what these are called. I've yet to find someone who knows, so every time I really want to know, I have to look it up.

Kusaridoi. Maybe I'll remember this time.

Continued here...