Blog

The photographic blog of Sean Wood (aka motionid)

Bon Odori 2013

I shoot this every year. I like the atmosphere. And every year the location seems to have this great light at the end of the day. And every year on the same day it threatens to rain and doesn't. Until now :-)

We (Thomas - pictured above) managed to escape before the downpour. Seconds after we arrived at the izakaya the sky opened up and let loose for several hours.

I could (or should?) add more shots but if you search through the blog you'll find others almost the same from previous years.

Small note. My gallery ordering is broken which is really annoying me. Just so you know it's not by choice the images above are in this order.

Skytree

This must have been taken more than a year ago now. Just before Skytree opened. I've not been up. I have found the area to be completely uninteresting - except a small shrine located quite near that has a bit of atmosphere and personality. The mall next to Skytree was nothing special. Same old stores in a different location. I'm sure the view is good if you actually go up. Love the little plane in the shot. Which is the main reason for posting it.

Koga san

This was shot on an outing with Thomas, Jon and Koga san when we were visiting Aoki Gahara (suicide forest) near mt. Fuji. A great afternoon after the rain had stopped for thirty minutes and given us just enough time to take a few pictures on lake Motosu (the the right of the picture that you can't see) which resulted in some of my best during the trip. This is just before Koga san became a dad. Oh, this was shot with the Rolleiflex f/2.8 d.

Path up Nokogiri

Shot this last winter using the Holga at midday. Cold as hell and not much in the way of nice foliage. You have to get a bit further up the mountain to encounter snow. I think by that time my fingers didn't work and I couldn't release the shutter. Love the way the Holga screws with the focus position though. I always tend to forget how it screws with the image. Built in atmosphere :-)

The Journey Home

One day soon when I get motivated I'm going to shoot more of the route I take to and from work by bike. The route that follows the Tama river goes for around 11km and is really only accessible by bike. The above shot is a sample of the kind of thing you see at night along this stretch of river. Hopefully more to come.

Mountains and Sea

Over the last few weeks I've managed to do a reasonable amount of riding. Several times to the mountains near where I live and also to Katsuura in Chiba.The Chiba ride was my second time but the first time to the route via the mountains. The first trip was extremely hot and ended up almost passed out on a set of pallets outside a warehouse in the shade 3/4 of the way to the destination. This 2nd attempt, while hot was a much more enjoyable experience. The mountains might have made for a more challenging ride but the cover the trees provided (and the breeze you got) was a welcome relief.

It's been raining every day here for the last few weeks which has made the mountains wet and misty. Perfect for a few pictures with atmosphere. All pictures shot with the iphone. Just way easier to carry and manage while on a bike and riding 150+km than a regular camera (provided the battery lasts!)

Izu Peninsula Part 4

Suruga bay

Suruga bay. A place I'd like to explore more of. Actually the whole Izu peninsula is pretty interesting from a visual point of view. I've not yet been to the mountains but did have to drive through some to get home. Even that journey looks like a great bike ride. More to be explored.

Izu Peninsula Part 1

In June I took a short trip to Izu. Stayed over night in Shimoda. Went by car. It was only short, just two days in total but was great chance to investigate some of the south coast. I'll be going back for sure when the weather is a little cooler and atmospheric.

As an aside it looks like a brilliant place to ride a bike. I could be up for a riding trip around the coast as well.

Coffee after lunch

Access to good coffee in Tokyo is getting better and better these days. It's only taken until now (how many thousand years!?) to be able to get a decent cup. And while Starbucks rules the land here for now the scene IS getting better.One of the places on the lunch route is Kitsune. I managed to grab these few shots with a new, extremely versatile compact toy that does a great job at delivering extremely sharp, high resolution raw files. If you're interested in tracking down a few other good coffee shops I suggest picking up a copy of the latest CasaBrutus magazine, Tokyo City Guide 2013: http://magazineworld.jp/casabrutus/159/read/

Afternoon downpour

Mountain Trail

Top of Matsuhime pass

View from half way down Matsuhime

Reverse Matsuhime climb

Spent golden week (read - a few public holidays) driving around the mountains I usually ride. Was a relief to be carrying the camera in the car rather than lugging it 100+km on my bike. The weather turned bad late in the afternoon which brought hail and a huge downpour. I felt sorry for the few people we saw doing a reverse climb of Matsuhime pass. Images all shot with the Canon and various lenses and tweaked in lightroom. Oh, and the pics, as usual appear in the wrong order. One day I'm going to fix that.