Harajuku: Peacock Feathers

This girl is really fascinating to me. She is obviously really into the Harajuku goth/moulin rouge dress up scene and she is Japanese, but she has these really pretty green/gray eyes...much lighter than the typical. She wasn't too interested in posing for anyone. She was sitting around a larger photography crew and was turning slightly away from us amateur hacks...but only slightly.

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Harajuku: Little Bo Peep

I found this girl hanging out with the "Free Hugs" people - a group of people who do just that, stand around offering to give free hugs to people. She was quiet and shy, but nice enough to pose for a picture. Check the main website for pictures of this girl. She's in full pink Little Bo Peep regalia. No pink sheep following her around, however.

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Harajuku: Bandaged Beauty

Harajuku is a funky part of town not too far from where I live. Young kids, mostly girls, gather on Sunday afternoons in costumes that represent everything from gothic-inspired, anime, Little Bo Peep, Lolita and everything in between. It's a great site to behold.

This girl here has dreadlocks, tattoos and bandages across her face. A very odd exterior, but soft features nevertheless.

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The Big Buddha

On a recent trip to Kamakura, there stands what many consider to the be oldest outdoor statue of buddha in the world. Now this is a bit controversial, because I think every country boasts one of these. And until a few hundred years ago, it was an indoor statue. It would have stayed that way until some pesky typhoon came and knocked the enclosure over, leaving buddha exposed.

Anyway, this is kind of a cool place to come visit. I like this picture as I turned it into a black and white shot and blew out the white and darkened the blacks and grays. It gives it sort of a gritty feel.

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Flower Power

During my recent trip to San Francisco, I spent some time walking around the batteries that used to house bunkers which protected the entrance to the San Francisco Bay. Oddly enough they've devolved into late night hang out spots for vagrants and kids. Lots of broken bottles, grafiti, etc. Not too appealing.

This flower happened to be appealing, however. It was eagerly stretching out towards the sun in what seemed like full bloom.

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Asakusa Shrine

On one of our outings, we went to Asakusa Shrine here in Tokyo. I found myself having a hard time shooting because there were so many people and ultimately I couldn't get a good shot without people in the way. I sort of gave in and shot anyway.

I turned this shot into black and white and tried to darken the photograph a bit to lessen the prominence of the people. And as I have done a lot, I colorized the middle lantern.

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American Flag

I was on a dinner cruise on the San Francisco Bay and the weather couldn't have been more clear. A bit windy and cold, but I couldn't help but be outside. Everyone else seemed to spend more time inside, but I liked being outside to take in the views.

I was struck at how cool the waving flag was, whipping in the wind behind the boat. After taking the picture I felt like it would be a bit more interesting if I turned it into a black and white shot, darken the overall picture and then colorize the red and white parts of the flag. I think it turned out rather interesting.

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Kamakura Umbrella

This shot is obviously of a Japanese umbrella, taken at a rest stop at a hillside shrine in Kamakura, a resort town along coastal Japan. This also is one of Japan's most culturally significat cities.

I decided to shoot this shot because I saw someone else, who didn't speak English and I don't think spoke Japanese, was crouching down taking this picture. Because I'm a total hack and not below copying other people's work, I thought there must be some merit in snapping this...and I think there was.

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San Francisco Rust

I was in San Francisco recently on business and I challenged myself to get out and shoot as much as I could with the free time that I had. While shooting the well-known sites, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, were cool, I think I had more fun exploring things that were right under my nose - like the rusted links found in this picture. These links act as a guard rail so people don't fall into the bay below. The cracked and rusted metal caught my attention, which I thought would make an interesting subject for my macro lens.

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Tokyo Tower from Roppongi Hills

Roppongi Hills is a newish development that has a 52 story building - rather rare in earthquake prone Japan - with a city-view observatory. This has a wonderful view of Tokyo from an almost 360 degree view. Here is a shot of Tokyo Tower looking north and east.

I'm not sure how I feel about this shot. I think I like the idea of it and the ideal of what this shot could become. The execution I think is lacking. For one I was standing a few feet back from the glass, in which you can see faint reflections of people standing. That's too bad.

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Four

There is a place in Tokyo called Roppongi which I guess could be called the entertainment capital of Tokyo, especially for foreigners. In reality there are different "entertainment capitals" depending on your demographic. Anyway, On the back side of a large shopping, movie, restaurant complex is this cool lighted wall of glass with numbers spaced every few yards.

Anthon was running around wildly and we were having family night out so I didn't get to spend too much time shooting. I waited for a group of people walking in front of me to get the contrast of darkened, shadowy profiles of people in front of the large number four.

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Tokyo Mosque

With our move to Japan we didn't expect to get a view of a mosque. In fact, I didn't even know there was a mosque. But it has a prominent fixture in our home as we can see it from any room on the western side of our apartment. It's particularly beautiful in the evening and the sun sets behind it.

This shot was taken on one of our first nights here in our new place in Tokyo.

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