Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 75 mm — ¹/350 sec, f/7.1, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Yes, It's 6AM, Do You Have a Problem With That?”
( okay, he didn't really say that, but that's sort of how I felt that early in the morning )

Wrapping up with a few final pics from my five-day camping trip with Anthony two months ago, the shot above is from the Ocean At 6:05 AM point of the morning walk on our first full day.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 31 mm — ¹/250 sec, f/10, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Jumping The “Hot River”

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 170 mm — ¹/750 sec, f/6.3, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Calling for Daddy
The almost-three-year-old little brother of Anthony's new friends

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/320 sec, f/10, ISO 160 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sunset From the Beach
( I like pretty sunsets; this one eventually gave way to some amazing afterglow )

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 24 mm — 181 sec, f/5, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Night Sky From the Cliff
( three-minute exposure )

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 150 mm — ¹/180 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
After-Lunch Snooze
Whoever this is, she knows how to camp right!

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
More Water Play
Chasing a friend

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — ¹/1500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Kotobikihama Beach
Heading for the stream that bisects the beach

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 120 mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Cute as a Button
Three-year-old May

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/9, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Working the Stream

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 22 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Arthur With Monet and Emma

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 125 — map & image data — nearby photos
Monet's Mommy
at Amanohashidate on the way home

The rain on Day 5 wasn't very fun, but all in all it was a great trip, and unless the weather forecast doesn't bode well, we'll likely do it again next year.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — ¹/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
$9 Cup of Coffee
Les comptoirs de La Tour D'Argent
Tokyo, Japan

Fumie and I made a day trip up to Tokyo yesterday for a birthday party for singer Kousuke Atari (中孝介), whom we've seen in concert many times. It was attended by 85 of his closest friends fans.

We ran into a lady we met at his Roppongi Hills, Tokyo concert in January, whom Fumie had really clicked with, so after yesterday's event, we all stopped by a nearby cafe so that they could chat.

The cafe had a nice – although somewhat pretentious – atmosphere. One of the workers was a “non-Japanese looking” guy who greeted me in French, to which I made the mistake of replying in French. I know exactly one French phrase, and I can deliver it with a convincing Parisian accent: Je ne parle pas français (“I don't speak French”). Apparently, he didn't believe that I didn't speak French, because he continued to use French with me the whole time I was there, resisting my efforts to communicate in Japanese. I ended up having to use hand gestures. He seemed to have no trouble understanding everyone else's Japanese, so perhaps it was just me.

I'm proud of myself, at least, for not trying to use English with him. Why, after all, should I expect someone to speak English just because they're white? Frankly, past experience indicates that there's a very good chance that any white men you run into in Japan does speak English, but I try not to prejudice.

Anyway, it turns out that the cafe was a branch of the appropriately-named 400-year-old Paris restaurant La Tour D'Argent (“Tower of Money”).

The coffee was okay.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — ¹/80 sec, f/3.2, ISO 500 — full exif
Origami Water Lily
made by five-year-old Anthony

Anthony's really been getting into origami lately, and most mornings we awake to find new creations he's made before breakfast. This morning he made a water lily (AKA lotus, like the lotus I posted last month).

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 50 mm — ¹/50 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500 — full exif

He can't really read yet, but follows along with the instructions in the book...

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — ¹/90 sec, f/4, ISO 500 — full exif

We've taught him the conventions used in this book... that solid arrows mean “fold toward you”, outline arrows mean “fold back”, the difference among the various line styles (dotted, dashed, solid...), etc., so he can usually figure it out.

He often makes things on his own (that is, without the aid of the book or specific prior experience), ranging from an amazing duck he made two days ago that I couldn't find this morning to photograph, or this ... how shall I say... “less refined” wallet...

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — ¹/2000 sec, f/3.2, ISO 500 — full exif

Yesterday morning, he presented me with two flowers that he made on his own, including a toothpick stem...

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — ¹/80 sec, f/3.2, ISO 500 — full exif
“Flowers”

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/3.2, ISO 500 — full exif
Experiments and Rejects

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 135 mm — ¹/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Roof In Need of a Trim
At the Itsukushima Shrine (厳島神社、宮島), Miyajima Japan

I've mentioned recently how much I love the natural roofs of many temples and shrines, having noted it in recent posts about the Fushimi Inari Shrine and about the Kiyomizu Temple. The roof above, like the roofs cited in those posts, are made of many layers of thin sheets of what I assume is wood. Such a roof, over time, slowly breaks down and returns to nature.

Here's a relatively new one, as evidenced by the sharp shadows showing that the individual sheets of wood are still easily distinguishable as, well, individual sheets of wood....

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 170 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
New Construction
( relatively speaking )

It's not so new that they're not all warped and curled – viewing the larger version shows that they're in pretty bad shape – but compare them with older roofs that time and the elements have made smooth and curvy...

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 65 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/5, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos

These pictures are from our trip to the Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island (near Hiroshima) last year to see Kousuke Atari in Concert. The shrine is most well known for its main gate located in an intertidal zone, but it's quite pretty in its own right. The “nearby photos” link under any of the photos yields other photos I've posted from that trip.

The most common type of temple/shrine roof construction seems to be tile (such as this, this, and this), followed by the “layered thin sheet” style highlighted in today's post. Thatched-reed roofs seem to be less common, but not rare, such as here, here, and here.

Continued here...