daily
Last of the cranes
Every year thousands of cranes make a massive journey from the cold northern lands of Siberia and Canada to Izumi, Kagoshima prefecture, Japan to stay for the winter before heading back again in spring. There were about 30 birds that have stayed behind this year. Cranes are said to mate with one partner for life so I wonder if any of them were there just to be with an injured loved one.
'roid rage!
I tried developing a Polaroid negative or two recently. It's a simple process really but involves cleaning it with bleach. Actually, you clean only one side of the negative film with bleach. If bleach gets anywhere near the side with the actual image on, you get to watch it fizzle into oblivion as you cry and hurl curses and abuse at the harsh world of analogue photography. I like the gnarly look of this picture now and still have the original photo. The solarised green at the bottom of the bottle is actually how the Polaroid came out and not due to my clumsy dark room skills.
close up detail
In case you thought Polaroids were just for kids and hipsters, here is a bit of closer detail of the above image. The negative is a lot bigger than a 35mm photo or digital sensor at roughly 9 x 12cm. It's possible to see the beads of condensation on the glass and the feathers that are part of the DHC logo clearly. I read about some photographers using Polaroid negatives for magazine and poster prints and can believe it!
this is the kind of door you want to knock on just to see how thin the people inside the house are.
still a lot of raking to do
This old fella was blind in both eyes but there was no way I could creep up on him.
there are loads of 24 hr launderettes in the middle of nowhere in Japan but I've never seen any being used.
flying high over Tokyo
The lantern maker
river carp
Not many photographers these days know the joy of waiting over 3 weeks for negatives to be developed only then to realise it will take another 3 weeks to actually see what the pictures look like (I would love to print them properly but will wait until I get home to scan them first). Whatever comes out, Mamiya 67 negatives are beautiful! (I flipped this image in my tablet to see how it might come out)
Sogi no taki
water's ready
skyline
fleeting beauty
not your average train
The Seven Stars Kyushu train pulled into the station as we were heading the other way. From the outside it looked only a little special with burgundy paying, gold lettering and stained glass windows, but it must be one of the most expensive ways to travel in the world! http://www.cruisetrain-sevenstars.com At almost 2 million yen (about 16 thousand euros) for a couple traveling only 4 days it's not surprising they don't need more than 30 people on a tour. However, given the reception the staff put on at the station and the type of travelers that have the train fully booked for ages in advance for one of the suite rooms, I was more than a little jealous when our regular local train showed up with standard bench seating.
sakura iron kettle
The cherry trees are also in full bloom.
