Torn Shoji

What lies within?

Photographers of Heian

I have certain things that fascinate me, and perhaps taking pictures of other photographers is one of them. Maybe it’s a healthy respect for the relationship between photographer and subject that makes that relationship so interesting to photograph. Perhaps it isn’t as interesting for someone not interested in lugging around a camera, but I like the dynamics of this picture none the less.

Huh?

This didn’t even make sense in context, so I won’t bother to explain it. Apologies for the absence — I have photos to post again

Painter

This is a painter in the botanical garden in Kyoto. When I asked if I could take his picture, he responded only with a curt nod. I especially like the quality of the bokeh behind him, though.

Lonely

I just like this one.

Luke and Hiroko

This was another portrait I took (the day after Abandon) of Luke and Hiroko, as we walked to Himeiji Castle from the station. I might not even have been looking through the viewfinder — sometimes I just like to shoot from the hip.

Abandon

I know as a photographer I must be able to take photographs of whatever or whoever I think is interesting (and there are some good pictures from a couple of weekends ago of painters in the Botanical Garden that I haven’t posted yet) but it’s still ridiculously easy to take pictures of friends, and therefore much easier to get an actual good one. So here is my friend Luke and his girlfriend Hiroko. Please enjoy.

Guest Post: Photos of the Blogger

Well, I’ve been photoblogging for about a month. Maybe it’s time I posted a picture of me that isn’t a reflection in the glistening surface of my girlfriend’s eye. Keeping with tradition though, the credit for this photo also belongs to her, though in this case she actually snapped the picture. A while back, on Tracks, I mentioned I was trying to replicate the effect of Sakiko’s Olympus E-620′s rough monochrome art-filter. Well, please enjoy this portrait of me, taken with that exact effect. Also note my ubiqutious chrome bag off to the right of the picture — this doubles for my camera bag, and I’m rarely seen without it (I actually feel like I forgot something if I leave without it, even intentionally). Bonus photo of me being a photogeek after the jump.

Kaori

Continuing a spate of portraiture that I’ve been posting recently, I’d like to show off a portrait of my girlfriend’s friend, Kaori. This may come as a shock, but I did NOT travel around Kyushu alone. Actually, there were four of us; me, Sakiko, Kaori and another guy, Stu, that pretty much ruined any picture taken of him by being utterly hilarious. It’s possible I’ll post one just for laughs later on. Anyway, often we were sitting on trains, and shooting portraits just kind of came naturally (as well as jabbing my lens at the windows and shooting everything that went by). This photo also features a new “brush” I found in Lightroom — the “skin softening” brush, which makes me feel like I cheated on this photo, but I like the overall effect.

Saks Monochrome Portrait

From the trip around Arashiyama (and the brilliant, overpowering light there) comes this portrait. It’s been retouched, and I think it’s absolutely beautiful. It does help that she’s my girlfriend.