ShootTokyo

Boston Photowalk

Dave — Mon, 28 May 2012 13:28:32 +0000

I held a photowalk while in Boston yesterday. I love holding these while I travel as it is a great way to meet people.

I stopped off for Dunkin Donuts on the way…since I am in New England its a must. I couldn’t believe the number of cameras they had in there. It was like a casino.

There was a great turn out for the photowalk…this was shot by Jeff Tamagini.

Meet Greg…

These guys missed hitting us by 2 feet…

We bumped into a wedding party and she was kind enough to stop and pose for me…

She was so surprised to be swarmed by photographers…

This girl also got swarmed…it was very funny.

…and our youngest photowalker.

Me in the mirror…

Meet Isabel…

This cute little kid was more than happy to stop and pose for me…

He even took this picture for me…

33,000 flags on Boston Common to honor the 33,000 Boston soliders that have died in war…

Angry Birds ballon animals…

Stranger on the street… I think I will use this image in my new eBook I am working on about ‘Street Portraits’…

I also shot a lot of film so look for more shots coming….Thanks to everyone to came along yesterday…it was a lot of fun. Thanks for stopping by today.

Ramblings from my weekend

Dave — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:47:05 +0000

I hope everyone is enjoying the new ShootTokyo design. The last of the little clean up work was finished today and it is working as I want. You have to constantly sweat the small stuff if you want to end up with a very clean site. It is easy to lose your will power and let this or that go and suddenly you have a very piecemeal looking site. This is were my perfectionist obsessive personality is very useful.

I also launched an eBook over the weekend which I am giving away to subscribers of my newsletter for FREE. This one is a portable version of my post ‘How I shoot’. Its success far exceeded my expectations with more than 1,200 downloads in the first few days. The feedback I have gotten from people has been excellent and very encouraging. Information on how to get your copy here.

I am thinking of a couple of topics for future eBooks but would love to hear your thoughts. Here is what I am thinking:

1. Street Portraitist – Photographing Strangers

A lot of photographers don’t know how or aren’t sure how to approach a stranger to take their photo. This is something that people always struggle with. It’s something that comes naturally to me that I have had a lot of success with.

2. My Digital Workflow

I have been spending a lot of time this year reading everything I can get my hands on regarding digital workflow so I can work out a fast and effective system for managing my images, making them easy to find in the future and protecting them online. I know many people struggle with this topic so I think this could also be another good eBook.

Any other topics that you think would be good to cover? I would love to hear your thoughts…leave a comment and let me know.

I also launched my ShootTokyo T-Shirts. They are in the store and available for pre-order.

I found a few shots from when my brother Mark was visiting me in Tokyo a few weeks back…

I am very excited that I sold another print. I don’t proactively try to sell prints but will work with my printer in Tokyo if someone contacts me and wants a print. I am very happy with the image I sold as it was one that I needed to really work on shooting the same scene over and over until I got what I wanted. I talked about the process in ‘Working a shot’. It pays to be persistent.

Back at my favorite ‘Bake Shop‘ in Jiyugaoka. I just love this place, especially all of the crazy little decorations.

I am I not sure if these are weeds but they were growing in a crack in a drive way so I am going with weeds. I am always surprised how nice the weeds are in Japan.

Meet Nabona… I don’t know how the Japanese make things this good that only have 145 calories in them. These things are just awesome.

Let’s just say these are fueling my house right now…

`
I headed out last Friday to meet up with some photography friends but stopped off in Shibuya for a few shots on the way…

This guy thought it was pretty funny that I was photographing his shirt. Some shirts say the funnest things in Japan…

I am very conflicted after reading this one… should I stay or should I go?

Boy Bands live in Japan…

I finally upgraded to an iPad3 3G from my old 1st generation. It slips nicely into my camera bag and it is nice to have something bigger than a phone to browse on when I am on the go, check social netoworks, and read my Wall Street Journal, I meant photography magazines…

I am not sure you have a ‘Happy Family Life’ if you are buying your condoms out of a vending machine on a street corner…

There are Samurai everywhere in Japan…

My friend David Ventura pulled together a group of photographers for a get together… Photographers seem to be doing this all the time. This is one thing I love about photography. David just did a recent series on photographing Japanese barbers. Check out his portfolio to see the series.

We hung out at a cool place called Masuotei. I love places like this. It was more like we were hanging out in someone’s living room.

David without the phone in his face…

Meet Joanne…a photographer and Scientist.

Meet Jeff…another photography (see the theme).

It was a lot of talking shop and talking gear…

We finished up in time for last train…

Always fun people on the train at this hour…

I skipping photographing the eclipse and watch it with my family…

I realize the expectations are high for me and I can’t simply skip an event like this so I wrote up a tutorial of how to photograph an eclipse:

1. Hold glasses up to the sky
2. Hold a point and shoot camera up to the glasses
3. Press shutter

This is my first eclipse photo…I am very proud.

I headed to Shimokitazawa to see what it is all about. I have actually never been there! I actually just wanted a soup but got sucked into all of this…

If I was in charge… there would be a sale on Blue and Orange paperclips next week….

I love standing bars… it reminds me of Kichijoji.

Lots of interesting things to see in Shimokitazawa…

Meet Happy-chan… my 6 year old’s American Crayfish (ザリガニ).

Thanks for stopping by today… don’t forget to check out the eBook, leave me your thoughts on topics for future eBooks and check out the new ShootTokyo T-Shirts. I am off to Boston in the morning. Join me for Sunday’s Photowalk if you are in the area.

Boston Photowalk

Dave — Sun, 20 May 2012 07:22:12 +0000

I will be going to Boston for a few days at the end of next week. It will be nice to catch up with my family and friends and do a lot of US based shopping. I have a long shopping list as it has been a while since I was stateside.

When I travel I like to hold photowalks in the city I am in and this time will be no different. I have held past photowalks in Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore, Hong Kong and another in Boston last year. I will be holding a photowalk this coming Sunday May 27th in Boston.

I always get a good crowd of people and make some new friends. If you haven’t been to a photowalk before it is a great opportunity to get out and socialize with like minded people. If you an experienced photographer you can share what you know. If you are just learning, then there will be lots of people to learn from. Photographers of all levels are welcome.

When: Sunday May 27th, 2012

Time: 1 PM

Where: Meet at Copp’s Hill Burying Ground in the North End (on the Freedom Trail). We will walk through North End, Haymarket, Fanuel Hall, Chinatown and end in Copley. Late in the afternoon we will stop off for some food, drink and shop talk probably near Copley.

Gear: Pack whatever you are comfortable shooting with. Remember, the more gear you carry the less photographs you actually take. We will be walking so don’t pack too heavy. I’ll be shooting my Leica M9-P, a Noctilux 50mm f/0.95, Summilux 35mm f/1.4, Summilux 21mm f/1.4. A Leica M3 Film Camera with a 28mm f/2.0.

If you are interested in joining please leave a comment below so I have your email address as I will be sending out some email updates as we get closer. If you are bringing people, please make sure to mention how many.

Here are some of my favoriate shots from last year’s Boston Photowalk.

“NOTHING, you know nothing about nuts…” and the guy on the right wants nothing to do with them…

We will walk…

“Real women in Boston carry their own six pack on the T…”

We will ride the train… Meet Happy John.

If you haven’t been following ShootTokyo for a while…natural disasters tend to follow me around. Earthquakes, Flash Floods, Hurricanes and Typhoons. Last time we got rained out a bit. I checked the weather and it looks OK for Sunday…what could possibly go wrong?

…and my favorite image from the day. I have had ‘captioning contests’ with this image.

My friend John Correa made a great video of the photowalk for us…

Click HERE to view the embedded video.

Thanks for stopping by today… I hope you can make it on Sunday!

Random Thoughts

Dave — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:29:00 +0000

Welcome to the new ShootTokyo! I brought ShootTokyo as far as I could technically and finally got some help with the layout and design. I have been working very hard with Netwise on this new interface and I am glad it is finally live. I am very demanding and I think they really delivered. I think it looks fantastic. I would love to hear what you think of it so please leave a comment and let me know.

I am loving having some time off as I am checking off a lot of things off of my projects list. I even organized my Internet Bookmarks today! God they were a mess. My eBooks will be ready in a couple of days. It will be available for subscribers of my newsletter so make sure to subscribe if you have not already.

I’m going global…

I wrote tonight’s post while listening to Hikosaemon‘s Two and a Half Oyajis with Kat McDowell. Kat is a singer and songer writer in Tokyo. She wrote a very moving song on the Tsunami last year and made a very cool video for it on her iPhone. I wish I had this talent. It worth watching…

Click HERE to view the embedded video.

Nice…

One thing I love in Japan is all of the department stores have car wash service in the parking garages so you can get your car cleaned while you shop!

The ShootTokyo Mobile…nice and shiny!

I have the coolest radar detector. It even detects Police cars driving near you!

Hawaiian Burgers…yum.

That’s better…

I haven’t complained about this in a while but…I am always floored by the lack of respect for ‘No Parking’ signs in Japan. Cars used to be horrible but after it was outsourced from the police the parking issues was solved. If I was the head of bike parking I would be melting all of these stray bike into paperclips…

I went out shooting last evening and got talking to these two girls on the train…

They liked my Leica. Now this is where Leica has truly done an amazing job marking themselves. Everyone knows the brand Leica in Japan. They may not know about photography, or even much about Leica but they know it is expensive and extremely high quality.

Speaking of expensive… a 1923 Leica prototype of the first 35mm camera sold for 2.16 million Euros ($2.7M USD) this week to an anonymous Asian buyer… I am anonymous so don’t ask me!

These two girls were headed to Shibuya for a photography class… I let them try my M9-P.

That’s better.

I took this shot with my Ricoh GR Digital. The color rendering from the M9-P and Noctilux is simply amazing…

I shot a few images of their cameras in Tokyo Camera Style…

If you are not familiar with Tokyo Camera Style it is a a very cool site that features all of the great cameras of Tokyo… I was featured on there earlier this week.

One thing I am becoming fascinated with is all of the public sleeping in Tokyo… and I don’t mean by homeless people just regular tired people.

Such a good idea… I wonder why all police cars don’t have this.

I admit I don’t know as much about yoga as I should but Brain Yoga?

Thanks for stopping by today…

A Rainy Tuesday in Tokyo

Dave — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:33:13 +0000

I cannot think of a better way to start your day than to sit down and relax with a coffee. Sit alone, collect your thoughts and plan your attack for your day. My day quickly becomes consumed absorbing information from every angle. I read The Wall Street Journal daily on my iPad or Online. I read a handfull of blogs daily. I keep up to date on my social networks; Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and various photography forums. I keep up with all of the correspondence regarding ShootTokyo. I am also constantly filling my head with new information on photography and blogging. I am also constantly trying to study Japanese. I keep up with professional and industry news. I am shocked that I am able to keep up with it all sometimes…this is where caffeine and a tireless drive is really helpful to me.

Today’s Camera: Ricoh GR IV Digital

Cafe Americano…low fat cold milk on the side.

I have been following the recent Leica annoucements closely over the past week and finding some people’s reactions pretty amusing. There are a few different camps. Some that think that making a monocrome only camera is ridiculous. I think those people simply don’t understand what Leica is trying to do. The Online Photographer has written a great article on “Why Would a Digital Camera Have a B&W-Only Sensor?“. It is well worth the read.

Another camp is complaining that Leica has ‘sold out’ and become a ‘luxury brand’. A lot of this is being driven by the price tag of the new 50mm APO Summicron f/2.0 lens at $7,000. I suggest if you think it is too expensive then don’t buy it. Buy the ‘normal’ f/2.0 for $2,300 or the f/1.4 for $1,300. It seems a bit strange for a company like Leica to announce what they consider the ‘best lens they have ever made’ in 100 years of lens making and everyone is complaining it is way too expensive. The reality is prices are often determined by what the market is willing to bear and my guess is this lens will be sold out for months.

The last camp is saying The Edition Hermes is just ridiculous. A lot of people do not realize that Hermes ‘rescued’ Leica in a sense when they were having financial trouble. The former President of Hermes Jean-Louis Dumas was a huge supporter of Leica and a Leica photographer so this edition is to honor that friendship. The camera in this set is accompanied by three lenses: a Leica Summicron-M 28mm f/ 2 ASPH., a Leica Noctilux-M 50mm f/0.95 ASPH. and a Leica APO-Summicron-M 90mm f/2 ASPH., all featuring a stunning silver-anodised finish.

Camera companies are amazing at seducing their customers on the newest toy but I think Leica really does an amazing job with these videos…

Click HERE to view the embedded video.

Probably the best unboxing video I have ever seen…

Click HERE to view the embedded video.

One thing I notice more and more lately is no one is ever interacting…everyone is on their mobile devices.

Except this guy who looked up from this mobile device to see what I was taking a picture of.

Now how often do you get to see a 30 foot high metal spider?

Anyone who knows me well knows I always have a million little projects going on at once. I am taking a few weeks of vacation and finally have the time to catch up on many of these projects.

I stopped by Aoyama Book Center to check out some photography books. I am doing a little more research for my photography book I mentioned yesterday. I have already chosen a book designer to help me with a layout. I am currently going through my entire Lightroom catalog and cleaning it up a bit, completing all of my meta data and as part of that selecting my images for the book.

If you remember one of my goals this year was publish a book and I think I am tracking to be able to do that. I am happy that I also got published in Guy Kawasaki’s ‘What the Plus?‘ and The Plus One Collection charity book but I won’t be satisfied until I have published my own book.

I have been meaning to restart my ShootTokyo Newsletter. My previous platform was just too difficult and time consuming to produce the newsletter in a reasonable amount of time. I was very happy to find a platform that I can create a newsletter in a reasonable amount of time. I have also been working on a small eBook with some tips on photography basics that I will be giving away to subscribers of my Newsletter. The eBook will be complete in about a week so make sure you sign up fo the newsletter so you can get a copy.

I have been working on an overhaul to the interface of ShootTokyo. The new ShootTokyo is clean, slick and streamlined. It should be completed in a few days and will be live on ShootTokyo!

Lastly I have been looking for a better way to bring you my ShootTokyo than printing in Japan and shipping from Japan. This just makes it too expensive for everyone involved. I have worked out a solution and you should expect to see the store back stocked with T-shirts in a few weeks. Like I said I never sleep!

Thanks for stopping by today…

The Ricoh GR IV Digital

Dave — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:32:10 +0000

I have been wanting a point and shoot since I sold my Fuji Film x100. Too often I see a cool camera or something neat I want to share. My Leica often just isn’t the right tool. I was chatting with Bellany from Japan Camera Hunter last night at the Leica M-Monocrom Launch and I was admiring his GR3 and he recommended the GR4 for me.

I was happy when I picked up the camera this morning that the battery had a partial charge so I could shoot it a bit while I was running some errands. The camera is tiny so I can easily slip it into my pocket or a camera bag…

I love the colors this camera can produce…

While I was out I also picked up a camera for my 6 year old (at his request)! I was cleaning up around my home office the past few days and found tons of points cards from Yodobashi-san and Bic Camera. In Japan many of the stores, especially electronic stores, have point cards where you might get 10% or 15% back as points you can use on your next purchase. For example, if you buy a $1,000 lens, you might get $150 in points that you can use starting the following day. You collects lots of these living in Japan and it is very easy to lose track of them. I was able to get a lot off of my camera and his with points.

More homeless cones…

Check out those knee pads…

I stopped off to pick up a new home phone… after listening to an exhaustive explanation of all of options and the clerk triple confirming exactly what I wanted, when I was thinking of buying…

…he let me know that ‘hot pink’ was the only color they had. Sometimes I wish people could just deliver bad news up front in Japan rather than dancing around it for 15 minutes. You don’t have it. I get it. I’ll walk across the street and pick it up…

Check out the GR’s macro capability on my jeans…

Me too…

I stopped off quickly for a small bite of sushi… the perfect meal when you don’t want to be full.

Negitoromaki…my favorite. Double please.

I also stopped off at the Nikon Salon in Shinjuku…

I am thinking of applying to do an exhibition there… I am working on a coffee table photography book this year and figured it would be nice to do a showing around the same time.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Thanks for stopping by today…

Das Wesentliche in Tokyo @ Leica Ginza

Dave — Sun, 13 May 2012 15:11:07 +0000

I was lucky enough to be invited this evening to Das Wesentliche in Tokyo at Leica Ginza. Das Wesentliche, or The Essence, was Leica’s big launch for the new Leica M-Monochrom Black and White only camera, APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH, and the Leica X2. Leica held their launch in Berlin Germany a few days ago and held a special event in Tokyo for the Japanese market.

I know there is a lot of interest in the new Leica M9-M so I have noted which shots were taken with it with “Taken with the Leica M-Monochrom”…

Takahashi-san and the crew at Leica Japan know how to take care of their customers…

Some sample shots hanging on the wall…

Oen of the guys in the audience was shooting the M9 Titanium… I got to check it out. A beautiful camera.

After many years I got to meet John from Tokyo Camera Style… he has the coolest blog.

This girl was checking out the Leica S2…

Meet De’Andre…

Meet Abdulla…

There were lots of toys on hand for us to play with…

I got a chance to shoot the new Leica M9-Monocrome and the amazing APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH… honestly I can’t decide which I love more. Let me see…one for a Father’s Day Present…and I don’t think I received my Cinco de Mayo present yet. You are suppose to get gifts for Cinco de Mayo, right?