Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 38mm — 1/60 sec, f/9, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Dizzying Heights
While heading to the airport at the end of our trip to Amami (more Amami posts), I noticed this amazing “bridge ramp thingy” (I'm not really sure what to call it) while driving through the city of Naze, off in a direction we weren't heading.
This detailed map (courtesy of Google) shows that it makes two complete revolutions:
Google Maps View
camera position marked with green arrow in the lower left
I've never quite seen anything like it. It's definitely on my list to check out next time we go to Amami.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 17mm — 1/15 sec, f/4, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Really Really Blue Hills in Roppongi
This is the bird's-eye view of the scene shown in the Extremely Blue Light Display post from two weeks ago. The light display is on a hillside in Roppongi Hills (an area of Tokyo, Japan); the photo was taken from a pedestrian walkway that goes over a road fronting the display.
The two side sections were static, while the display in the center section flashed and undulated from time to time.
Fumie and I were in Tokyo two weeks ago for another concert by Kousuke Atari, having won in a drawing one of the 150 pairs of tickets for the small, free event. It was our fourth “Atari Trip”, having previously made small trips to see him in Miyajima and Tokyo in October, and Kagawa in December.
At the event, besides singing, he recorded two installments of his weekly radio broadcast. The first was released today. Sadly, the link works only on Windows, but the a cappella that starts at the 9:38 point of this recording is a nice example of his voice.
Anyway, here are a few more pictures from a short stroll after the concert. I took this next shot while standing in front of the Sony Music building (where the event was held) while waiting for Fumie as she chatted with another fan.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Yumi Katsura Bridal House”
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1.5 sec, f/7.1, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Evening Stroll
Roppongi Hills “Middtown Garden” Park
The picture above shows a lower window of a large building that faces the park (you can see the lit-up trees reflected), and at first glance I thought it was a dentist's office. That didn't sit right, though, since a dentist wouldn't be open that late, and anyway, who wants to have their root canal while sitting in a display case?
It turns out that it's a high-end “dog boutique” that – except for the pampered pooches – is indistinguishable from an upscale Starbucks.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 28mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
dogdays
From the side window, the partitioned room that faced the park was a bit more clear (despite the unclear focus in my shot, sorry)
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 44mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Likely More Pricy Than Two Bits
Thank You Santa
I feel slightly less pathetic today because we finally got our Christmas tree put away. Also helping is that last week I finally got around to sending the “thank you” notes Anthony wrote for his presents.
In preparing for Anthony to write them, I wrote “Thank you / Love, Anthony” on a separate piece of paper, then suggested that after copying it, he fill the rest of the paper with whatever he wanted in order to express his thanks for the gifts, or his love, or whatever he wanted. When I returned, these are the notes he had written.
In the note for Santa, he drew a picture of the twin tower train station he received, a picture of Santa, and a big heart.
Thank You Aunt Chickee and Uncle Mikey
Here, he drew some of the gifts from my brother and his wife: an “Anthony” bicycle license plate, an airplane toy, a bag of those capsules that puff and expand to a train-shaped sponge when they get wet, and a book that he really enjoys that arrived in the same package, from Aunt Lizzie.
Thank You Grandma and Grandpa
This note includes drawings of Grandma and Grandpa (with extreme artistic license for the hair, my mom being blond and my dad being a distinguished gray in the few places he's still got hair :-)), the helicopter thingy he got from them, its box, a heart, and a picture of himself saying how much he loves them. I think it's amazing how he came up with a way to indicate in the drawing speech coming from his own mouth.
Thank You Aunt Marci and Uncle Marty
This note features the police uniform and chef outfit he received from my sister and her husband, along with their respective hats. Anthony also added a picture of himself, and a heart.
Thank You Aunt Natalie and Uncle Alan
This one for my brother and his wife sports some of the Curious George stickers he received from them, along with a drawing of some of the sticker sheets and of some more of those “expand when they get wet” capsules (these for animals) he likes so much. I was watching as he drew this one, and thought he'd drawn another picture of himself, but no, this was Uncle Alan, which was soon joined by a visage of Aunt Natalie. He wanted to label them, so I wrote the names on a separate paper for him to copy.
At right, under the big heart, he wrote his name in English, then a copied “In Japanese” with an arrow leading to his name in Japanese (backwards, perhaps because he was continuing in the direction of the arrow?).
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — 1/50 sec, f/4.5, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Monet and her Mommy
There was an event at Anthony's preschool today, and although I have a bazillion pictures I want to share, I don't have the energy to write a long post tonight. So, instead, I'll put this picture of Monet and her mommy that I took during the event. I think it's really sweet. You can see where Monet gets her photogenicity.
You might remember Monet from the cooking play post from the other day, and from this camera-geeks post from last fall. (Actually she was also on this fall-colors post as well.)