Mori Tower in Roppongi, Tokyo. Canon 5D Mark III, 135mm f/2.
Mori/Roppongi/Tokyo/Japan.
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Tokyo Street (vol 3)
A woman checking her phone. Shibuya, Tokyo. Canon 5D Mark III, 135mm f/2.
More days in Tokyo, more street photography. As usual all shots done with the Canon 135mm f/2 lens, my very favorite one for street/portrait so far. I feel that it gives this sense of distance and closeness at the same time, what is a good analogy for Tokyo somehow. Although people are right next to you, the distance between the two of you is usually miles away.
Tokyo Street (vol 2)
A portrait of my friend Noriko, shot in Ueno park. Shot with Olympus E-M5, 14mm f/2.5 (thanks Robert)
I went out to shoot some more street photography. Turns out to be really fun to do. Most scenes were shot in Tokyos ‘hip’ area Shibuya-ku (渋谷区), Yoyogi (代々木) and Harajuku (原宿). I tried to keep the tonal/coloring close to my first shots in vol 1, as this is what Tokyo feels like for me when wandering through the streets: A bit cold and anonymous, with lots of unique characters inside going their own ways.
First steps in street photography.
A young woman wandering through the streets of Yoyogi area / Tokyo. Canon 5D Mark III, 135mm f/2.
Tokyo is a great place for street photography. An infinite pool of styles, ranging from complete conformity to eccentric, colorful individual looks. So I tried to take my first shots, which turned out to be hard, especially with weak light and rain all around. We wandered through several streets and good spots where people would walk by and you might catch a good shot.
The results is … a selection of umbrellas I suppose. First steps, lots to learn. :-)
Endless grey sky, endless grey city
Look from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building into the grey view of a rainy day in Tokyo. Canon 5D Mark III, 25-105mm f/4.
My 2014 visit to Japan starts with some rainy days. We ignored the weather and went for a walk through the government district, seeing some great perspectives on the architecture there. Tokyo’s heart of bureaucracy. It feels like one was teleported back into the 70ties.
Astronauts
A young member of an experimental performance/theatre group. Seen/shot at Next Level Conference 2013 / Dortmund, Germany.
Autumn colors.
From last vivid greens into the brightest yellow.
Burning Skies
Tonights autumn evening sky over Cologne/Germany. Unedited photo, shot with Sony Nex-5N, 33mm.
Golden Kyoto
Der Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺) in Kyoto. Sieht auch in echt so unwirklich aus, man kann nicht so richtig glauben, dass man diese Szenerie tatsächlich sieht, wenn man davor steht. Als kleine Impression bevor ich hoffentlich sehr bald die Zeit finde, alle Fotos aus dem August hier zu posten.
The feeling when …
(Sunrise at the Mt. Fuji Summit Japan, 3776 meters, second attempt after a completely foggy summit one month before)
Andreas Gursky at The National Art Center Tokyo
Germanys most notorious photographer visual arstist and creator of the worlds most expensive photograph exhibits in The National Art Center Tokyo. Huge 3-4 meter tall prints of his most famous images. Below: Our visit to the exhibition & the Roppongi district.
Worth a visit!
The Fuji Rock Festival.
Japans größtes Musikfestival. In der bekannten Skiregionen Naeba. Als Location ziemlich schön, die vielen großen Bühnen sind von Wald und großen Bergen umrahmt. Für einen kurzen Moment wurde noch geschmunzelt, wie über-vorbereitet die Japaner mal wieder in kompletter Bergsteig-Montur auf ein Festival gehen, bevor wir, so musste es kommen, mal wieder eines Besseren belehrt wurden. Ja, in den Bergen schlägt das Wetter gerne um. Eine Wolke, ein Blitz, und schon schüttet es wie aus Kübeln. Großen Kübeln.
Bedeutet: Tanzende Regenponchos. On the Bright Side: Wenn man erst einmal durchnässt ist mit den Beinen voller Schlamm lässt es sich ziemlich befreit zu den ganzen Bands tanzen. Und unser Zelt hat glücklicherweise (weitgehend) alles trocken überstanden.
Travel Plans for August 2013
Meine Pläne im August 2013:
- 30. Juli bis 02. August: Okinawa, die beliebte Pazifik-Urlaubs-Insel der Japaner.
- 02. bis 06. August: Vom südlichsten Punkt Japans zum nördlichsten nach Sapporo, Hokkaido. Außerdem das ländliche Hokkaido mit den wunderbaren Lavendelfeldern in Furano besuchen.
- 08. & 09. August: Den Fujisan noch ein zweites mal besteigen. Ich kann es einfach nicht auf mir sitzen lassen, den Sonnenaufgang nicht gesehen zu haben.
- 16. – 18. August: Das Daimonji Festival in Kyoto.
- 21. – 24. August: Ab nach Südkorea, 4 Tage in Seoul.
- 27. August: Rückflug nach Kölle.
Auf meiner Liste steht noch Hiroshima und Osaka, da muss ich noch schauen wie ich das unterbringen kann. Wenn es sonst noch ein Must-See gibt, her damit. :-)
Okinawa’s nicest café.
Sometimes, everything about a place is just perfect.
While exploring the famous Tsuboya district (well known for it’s pottery artists) in the city of Naha / Okinawa, we stumbled upon this tiny little café. Half of the café was a small shop selling hand made mugs and other pottery, the other half was the café itself, with only 4 tables.
I instantly felt in love with the place. Everything was hand made with an great eye for detail. No mug looked alike, all of them were individual pieces of craftsmanship. The single menus as well as the signs on the outside were hand written with small drawings and illustrations.
About being astonished.
One of my most favorite stories is about being astonished. It’s both a vivid example that puts a smile onto your face – while making you think at the same time.
A good friend of mine is father of a 2 year old. One day, he took his son to the local zoo. So far so good, it’s always a fun place to go for kids. But when the young kid discovered a group of flamingos, he just could not believe his own eyes. Birds in full, bright, pink color. Never had he seen such a thing in his life. Fully astonished, he was speechless and looked up to his father, for whom it was a rather normal thing. Flamingos are just flamingos after all.
The kid, still stunned from the colorful experience, could not believe how everyone else was not super excited. Do they not see what he sees? Look! There! Giant birds. Giant pink birds. How can everybody else just walk by?! How can they possibly not react the same way as he does, full of amazement?
In my case: Just when you sometimes think that you have seen it all, when you start to miss how being astonished actually feels like, when you envy the small kid who still has an entire world of discoveries in front of him: One of the worlds biggest aquarium. With three giant, 12 meter whale sharks that swim through this amazingly blue scenery. Just some feet in front of you.
Seen at the “Churaumi Aquarium” in Okinawa/Japan. I spend one hour right in front of the big glass walls of the aquarium. Not saying a word. Hypnotized by the calm movements of those living giants. Being, I guess, astonished. Realizing: Somewhere, there are still pink flamingo in your life. You just don’t find them that often any more I guess.
