I have wanted to travel to Kyoto since the day I moved to Japan.  For a million reasons I just never made it here.  I was so excited when my wife suggested I take a quick trip down here.

Kyoto is a very spiritual place with amazing history to see.    Kyoto hosts more than 1,800 temples and shrines and 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites.   This place is a paradise for photographers.  I can only imagine coming back through each season; spring blooming of the cherry blossoms, the explosion of color that comes with the autumn foliage and the white dust that comes with winter is like coming here for the first time again.

We headed down to Kyoto the very first day after Golden Week ended.  It turned out to the right timing as many of the places we went were absolutely empty as people returned back to Tokyo and Osaka for work.  It was great to have some temples and shrines empty that I only imagine are usually fairly crowded.   Everything was really green and there was a nice breeze making it just slightly cool.  Perfect for walking around taking photos.

This is Gion.    Gion is Kyoto’s most famous Geisha District, located around Shijo Avenue between Yasaka Shrine and Kamo River. It is filled with shops, restaurants and teahouses, where Geiko (Kyoto dialect for Geisha) and Maiko (Geiko apprentices) entertain.  You may remember it as the scene of Arthur Golden’s novel Memoirs of a Geisha about Mineko Iwasaki growing up in Gion first as a Maiko and then a Geiko.   It is a fantastic book that was adapted into a movie.   As always the book is better.

Walking through Gion you are quickly recognize key scenes from the book and movie.

Today’s configuration:  Leica M6 with various Leica lenses shot on Kodak Ektar film.

Gion is littered with little alleyways and shops…

Every which way you look is another little alley.  I could have spend days exploring this area and plan to in the future…

Regardless of your nationality or status… so this means you!

If you are careful, attentive and a bit lucky…you can catch a glimpse of a Maiko or Geiko moving between Tea Houses…

Speaking of lucky…

I am giving away a print of your favorite image here on ShootTokyo to one lucky winner.  It is easy to be entered to win.  No purchase necessary.

I have a long queue of Kyoto images I’m putting up here.  I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoy taking and sharing them.   I was so excited seeing some of them coming off the scanner.   I made it to 14 temples, shrines and castles while in Kyoto.  I am very excited to make my way through the images and share them with you here.

Thanks for stopping by today…

Today’s configuration:  Leica M6 various lenses and Ilford 400 film.

Meet Chris…

We bumped into this couple who was out shooting some pictures and were very surprised to find a photographer’s flash mob.    They ended up getting contact information from a few people so they can join future photowalks…

The one thing I love about photography is the community that surrounds it.   I started hosting photowalks a few years ago and have held them in Sydney, San Francisco, Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore, Hong Kong and Boston.   I always meet great people and have a good time sharing our passion.

If there isn’t a regular photowalk in your area I suggest you start one.  Set it up and post it on Facebook, Twitter, on your blog, or at your local camera store.  You may be surprised how many people show up.  It will give you a great excuse to get out and shoot for a day.

I am so out of touch with the current US movies…

Low flyer…

I have spent most of the weekend with my scanner running full speed scanning away the 15 rolls of film I shot in Kyoto the week before last and a few others I have had laying around.  I am very excited about some of the shots I have seen coming through.   I have broken them into separate folders by temple so I can begin the processes of selection and post processing.  It will be a massive exercise in self editing.  Expect a steady flow of Kyoto posts starting later this week!

Make sure you check out Part 1 and Part 2 of the photowalk if you missed it.   Thanks for stopping by today…

Speaking of editing photos I made a big change a few weeks ago.   I moved from Adobe’s Lightroom to Apple’s Aperture.   I really like the interface of Aperture so much more.   I know that many of the features are the same but there is something about Apple’s interface that once set up is very smooth and just seems to flow as I navigate my way around.

I am still in the process of migrating as I am leveraging this as an opportunity to ensure that all of my photos are key-worded in a consistent fashion.    I have built out a ton of  Smart Albums so I can quickly view my favoriate photos of my family, photos shot on certain films, and my favoriate overall photos.   It has helped me find a bunch of photos that were ‘lost’ in my Lightroom library.  I have a working folder that I move a few hundred photos a time into and ensure they are keyworded in a consistent fashion and showing up in the smart folders I expect them do.   It takes a lot of patience and diligence to not lose get bored and sloppy with keywording.

Over the past week I have been very busy scanning and processing the 15 rolls of film I shot in Kyoto last week.   I am about half way through the rolls.  I have one more film post from my San Francisco trip, a few around Tokyo and then get ready for a lot of Kyoto photos and Kyoto related posts.    I am very excited after seeing a few of the raw scans.   Kyoto is a very spiritual place in certain areas and I really hope this comes through in my photos.

Continuing on with the photos from my last photowalk in San Francisco…

Today’s configuration:  Leica M6 Summilux 21mm f/1.4 on TMAX 400 film. 

As I mentioned before I haven’t had the opportunity to explore this part of San Francisco much so has been interesting for me to see this side of the city…

I could walk around here for hours… I love the Northern California nature.

Doesn’t everyone have a mobile phone now?

After a few miles of walking we stopped off for a break…

My buddy John Hall…  He is becoming a master at taking headshots.

A lone tree

Thanks for stopping by today…

TEDx events are locally organized events created in the spirit of TED’s mission, “ideas worth spreading”.   The TEDx program is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level.  TEDxTokyo is a invite only event.   I felt honored to be invited again and I was glad to be able to contribute my photography skills.   The talks are all being posted HERE.   There is translation for all presentations.

I have added links to the profile of each speakers that has a profile of them and links to their blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc so you can read more about them.  If you were one of the presenters and would like a high resolution copy of your photograph, please drop me an email.

Today’s Configuration:  Leica M9-P APO Summicron M 90mm f/2.0 ASPH

Patrick Newell  is the MC for TEDxTokyo and works at Tokyo International School

Kohtaro Fujiyama / Edo Magic Master

Eric Martinot / Renewable Energy Visionary and Writer

Eisuke Tachikawa / Designer and Crowdsourcer

Hideto Kazawa / System Design Master

The social media team busy at work for the 10s of 1000s that were watching online…

Tsunehiro Uno / Critic and Author

Rene Duignan / Economist and Independent Filmmaker

People standing up and speaking from the satellite rooms downstairs…

HIROYUKI / Musician

Mistubako Matsuo / Improvisational Artist, Poet and Storyteller

Hiyoshi Kurokawa / Chairman of the Health and Global Policy Institute

Gunter Pauli / Catalyst, Innovation Driver and Blue Economist

Bruce Huebner + Curtis Patterson / Shakuhachi Player / Koto Player

Yu “Jordy” Fu / Architect, Author and Designer

Shingo Annen / MC and Music Producer

Manabu Tago / Art Director and Design Theorist

Shimpei Takahashi / Toy Creator.   Takahashi-san was excellent and got the first stand ovation of the day.

Kazuhide Sekiyama / Inventor and President of Spiber Inc.

Eddie Ugata / Pop Culture Expert and Musician

A Shinto Priest speaking about community and culture…

Ayako Suwa / Food Artist

HANDSIGN / Song, Dance and Signing Group

Shizuka Yabuuchi / Rhythmic Gymnast, Dancer and Magician

Makoto Aida / Contemporary Artist

Alvaro Cedeno Molinari / Green Growth Proponent and Conflict Transformer (he is also the Ambassador to Japan for Costa Rica)

Atsuko Isamoto / Editor and Media Aggregator

Fujiyo Ishiguro / Digital Marketing Maven

Kazumi Murose / Lacquer (Urushi) Artist and National Living Treasure

John Kluge / Social Entrepreneur, Author and Chief Toilet Hacker

Rei Shito / Street Photographer and Style Blogger

Dimitri Vassilakis + Makoto Kuriya / Jazz Saxophonist, Composer and Singer / Jazz Pianist

Mika Ueno / Corporate Communication Consultant

Asia Skubisz / Mobile Marketing

Richard Grehan and Lui Watanabe / Brander, Marketer, Designer / Miss World Japan Winner and Yoga Master

Taketeru Kudo / Butoh Dancer

Kumi Fujisawa / Think Tank Driver, Entrepreneur and Author

Takayuki Ohira / Planetarium Builder

Maiki Kayo / Social Investigator.   This girl was still in her final year of high school.   She was incredibly articulate.   I would highly recommend listening to her talk.

C. W. Nicol / Adventurer, Author and Naturalist

Taku Satoh / Design Guru

Shigeru Ban / Eco-Architect and Three-Dimensional Poet

TEDxTokyo is pulled off by a team of more than 200 volunteers pooling together their collective skills of organization management, leadership, fund raising, design, video production, advertising, marketing, social media, blogging, web site design, photography, production, translation, and so much more.   It is amazing to see it all pulled together.

Thanks for stopping by today…

So on to my day…  Black Cat.  It’s the Japanese UPS.

Today’s configuration: Leica M6-J with various Leica lenses on TMAX 100

The cones seem to be getting smaller…

I really love some of the old cars in Japan…

They always make me shoot a shot with my M6 going through security as I ask for my film cameras to be hand checked vs. going through the scanner.     Look it’s the Hello Kitty plane!

My buddy John Hall was kind enough to pick me up at my hotel to bring me to lunch…  He shot my portrait photo that I use on my about page, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter profiles.   I never get good photos of me so I am always grateful to get good shots of myself…and yes that is a digital Phase One he is holding.  Amazing camera.

He picked me up in his amazing Tesla S Electric Car.  He even let me take it for a spin.   I am shocked how fast this car was.   It was faster than my previous Audi S4.    Telsa rates it 0-60 in 4.4 seconds.   Road and Track tested it at 4.1 seconds.   For any car that is a pretty amazing speed.

It also has a 17 inch monitor running Linux to control the car, allow you to surf the web, etc.   We were able to browse ShootTokyo in the car!  The door handels are recessed and pop out as you approach the car.   Tesla’s goal when they build the car wasn’t to build the best electric car it was to build the best car.   A very cool car indeed.

After lunch we headed down to Marina Green for the start of a photowalk I was hosting…

I had a really good turn out.  I am always surprised how many people end up showing up to these…

I haven’t explored this area much but is a very beautiful.   I am really glad I am getting to explore now.  I lived in the Bay Area back in 1991 when I was in the US Coast Guard attending a training school in Petaluma.  I think I earned $19,000 a year or less at the time and couldn’t afford to explore much of the area.

I always get to meet and speak to interesting people on my photowalk.  I spoke to this woman and her friend who both worked for Apple.  She worked on the cameras in the iPhone.  Cool job knowing that so many people use and benefit directly from your work.

She was also shooting the 24mm Summilux.  I might get that one day when 21mm is too wide and 28mm is too narrow.  Fits nicely in the middle.  I think I want a 50mm Summilux first.   You can’t have too many 50mm lenses…

This area is very beautiful…

I still have 4 more rolls to finish processing.  I just finishing 4 days of shooting in Kyoto and I’m dropping off 15 rolls at Popeye Camera tomorrow but first I am shoot TEDxTokyo tomorrow.

I love that these fire extinguishers can be on the street in Japan and never get messed with by kids.   These wouldn’t last an hour in America.

Today’s Configuration:  Mamiya 645 80mm f/2.8 on TMAX 400

I always pass this milk delivery place and there is never anyone in there.   Only occasionally there is an old man sitting in front.   I always wonder about these businesses in Japan and how they sustain themselves…

Dry Cleaning and cigarettes… strange pair.

Need your face fixed?  This is your place…

I like this view in this Me in the Mirror…works much better stopped down a bit as you get nice details in the reflection.

This just can’t continue to go on… #stopconebullying

The alleys in my hood…

There are many great Ramen Shops in Jiyugaoka…sadly I haven’t eaten at most of them.  I travel a lot and it is easy to put on weight so I try to watch what I am eating when I am home to offset the bad eating style of business travel.

I was heading to Popeye Camera but they were closed.   Rather than being greeted with a cold steel door I was met with this cute little chair, sign and plants making me feel much better about my denial.   If you are in Tokyo, there is a second little Popeye Camera open in Jiyugaoka.  Check it out!

I have been thinking about expanding my film camera collection and adding a few more into the mix.   I am not hunting for anything in particular just enjoying a lot of window shopping right now and if I find something that is a good deal I might pick it up…

My doctor shot on Acros 100…Dr. Kimura!

…and one more me in the mirror for the road!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Today’s Configuration:  Leica M6-J with various lenses and Kodak Portra 160 film

The wide 80…

A new cone use case:  coning off the cones…It is very important as people can easily trip on your pile of cones but putting more cones in front of them will ensure this likely will not happen.

I had a huge breakthrough a few weeks ago in my continued research as the world’s foremost authority on the excessive use of cones in Japan…

I was hosting one of my photowalks in Yanaka and I bumped into Akihito Suzuki.   At first I figured he was just yet another highly decorated security guard in Tokyo however after further investigation I realized he was part of a sophisticated network of cone distribution agents.  It was fairly easy to tell as he was carrying a few cones.   After speaking to him I realized was appeared to be a needly excess of security guards in Japan is actually much more.  Like many things in Japan there is a lot that is understood but not said laying just below the surface.

Suzuki-san was kind enough to stop for an interview with ShootTokyo:

ShootTokyo:  Suzuki-san thank you for your time.

Suzuki: I don’t really have anything else to do as I mostly stand around or get in people’s way.

ShootTokyo:  Why are you carrying cones?

Suzuki: One of my major responsibilities is to look for places without cones and put them there.

ShootTokyo:  What do you hope to achieve with this coning?

Suzuki:  We hope to educate and enlighten that nothing is currently existing in this spot as noted by the cone and consideration should be given if something belongs in that spot.

ShootTokyo: Are you protecting the citizens from some sort of hidden danger?

Suzuki: No

ShootTokyo:  You do realize that the cones are rather annoying to most people who need to constantly go around them or sometimes even trip on them.

Suzuki: Yes, we have heard complaints.  We have done a survey, collected results and are currently analyzing them.   We hope that through education we can drive understanding of what we are trying to achieve with this conning.   We are also planning to deploy a cone safety awareness program that we are petitioning the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to require of all citizens before they can permitted to walk outside.

ShootTokyo:  But you do realize it is really annoying and adding no value…?

Suzuki:  Yes, we understand that some of our citizens hold that view.

ShootTokyo:  Why do you put them in parking spaces with no cars in them?

Suzuki: We want to speak to the driver and understand his intentions when he parks in the spot.

ShootTokyo: Can’t you just assume his intention is to leave his car?

Suzuki: Yes but if it is a shaded area and he plans to be there past the time a shadow will no longer cast there he car may become warm.   If this happens he may hold us responsible for his bad experience when he returns to his overheated car.   Perhaps there is a more suitable place for his car that we can direct him to.  We are not comfortable leaving this decision in the hands of the parker.

ShootTokyo:  Can you just try for today…

Suzuki:  Hai!

ShooTokyo:  Thanks for your time

ShootTokyo:  Pop Quiz – There is an empty spot there.  How many cones are you going to put in there…

Suzuki:  Futatsu!!

ShootTokyo:  Sigh, nevermind…

I saw this when I turned a corner to enter a shop.  It scared the hell out of me.  I think there is a point when Elmo grows beyond 6 feet that he moves from cute to creepy…

OK…another thing that has really been bothering me is bike parking.  Japan is a very obedient country.   If you are standing at a crosswalk at 3am with no car in sight people will still stand and wait for the light to change to cross but bike parking seems to not fall into an area you need to be obedient.

I have thought really hard and tried to understand exactly what is going on.  People seem almost down right defiant by parking their bikes right on top of the signs.   I think not all of these are actually in violation but rather I need to think about things from a different perspective and gain a more complete understanding of the polices in place.

Often it is important to expand your thinking to ensure you understand what is really going in Japan… After more investigation and understand it is clear to me now they have asked you not to park your bikes without baskets facing left.  This bike clearly has a large silver basket and is not considered in violation.

This person has parked their bike facing right and clearly is not in violation of the stated policy.    I feel much better now that I have a solid working understanding of the policy in place…

My local gardening store…

Thanks for stopping by today…

Today’s Configuration:  Leica M6 Millennium with various Leica Lens shooting Kodak Ektar 100 and Kodak Portra 400 films.

Now croquet is something that many of us remember playing on our lawns as kids or at our grandparents houses…

Last year’s champions…

Against all of us…

Waiting for defeat…

Now while all of us remember playing croquet it isn’t always thought of as the cool sport.   Let me tell you why this might not be the case:

10 reasons why croquet is cool

#1 Fast paced action on the green…

#2 If you forget who goes next check the color on the pin.   It doesn’t get easier than that and due to #5 and #6 this can become important.

#3 Trash talking is expected and encouraged as a part of good sportsmanship and team building.

#4 You have sticks to lean on while waiting your turn

#5 Alcohol is readily available and walking up to a bar with a club isn’t viewed as ‘threatening behavior’…

#6 You can drink while playing

#7 lounge chairs are available if you don’t want to lean on your sticks while you wait

#8 disputes are resolved old school style through Rock Papers Scissors

#9 Big hats are in style…

…and #10 Flasks and cigars seem only appropriate

This is not part of the game…

My dream team…

Sadly we came in second to this team… There is always next year.

After a physically taxing day of croquet we retired to a wine tasting at Silverdo…it is important to keep your energy levels up.

This place is gorgeous.  I would love to be here in the fall…

I took the opportunity to take a few more of my headshots…film style!

I look forward to coming back one day soon…

I have 4 more rolls from my San Francisco Photoalk and a few other Tokyo rolls in process.   Look for some more coming soon.  Thanks for stopping by today…

A common technique with film is ‘pushing’.  It simply means to expose a film at a higher ASA than it is rated.  For example, if I am using TMAX 400 I can set my camera’s light meter to 1600 and set exposures assuming ASA 1600.  When I develop the film I tell the lab that it is pushed to 1600 so they develop it like I shot on TMAX 1600 (if it existed).

This can be extremely handy as you don’t need to carry a 100, 400, 800, 1600 and 3200 film with you.  I haven’t pushed the limits yet but as you can see I can easily push 400 to0 1600 with good results. If anyone is more experienced with pushing film please leave a comment with your experience.

While I was in Sydney last I met up for a late night coffee with Danish Photographer Thorsten von Overgaard.    I have starting travel with just a film camera and we were meeting up very late one evening so it was a great chance to push some film.   Even shooting wide open at 1.4 I was getting a shutter speeds of 1/15 of a second or less.  Pushing was the only option if I wanted to take a photograph.

Today’s Configuration:  Leica M6J with a Summilxu 35mm f/1.4 and Kodak TMAX 400 pushed to 1600

I really like how this shot came out… We were shooting a few shots and the moment we finished it started pouring rain.  Great timing…  I love how much contrast is in these photos.   Compare these to the black and white shots from Thorston’s type 240.  I need to experiment more with this film but I love this look.   I need to find my way to a jazz bar or similar…

Thanks for stopping by today…

I ran to Ikea the other day and when I was leaving I saw this house out back that was completely engulfed in Cherry Blossoms. I had to pull over and take a photo.

Today’s Configuration: Provia 100F with a Leica M6 Millennium

Update: I notice a bit of a color cast in the images when updating but forgot to write about it here until Carlos mentioned it. I seemed to get a bit of a cast after scanning. The shots with cherry blossoms seem to have an purplish tint to them, I had a few indoors that had a slight brownish tint and a few around some trees that had a green tint. I adjusted the one above by adjusting the ‘tint’ slider to -10 and seems to have corrected it. I would love to hearing from anyone who has experience with this film and if they seem this and how to deal with this.

While I didn’t go shooting ‘Ohanami’ I did go for a walk with my wife to enjoy the Cherry Blossoms. My wife took this great photo of me! I have to admit that her photo came out much better than the ones I took of her. Perhaps there will be a www.mrsshoottokyo.com soon…

Photo Credit: Mayumi Powell, a.k.a. Mrs ShootTokyo

I was shooting the view of the Cherry Blossoms but this guy thought I was shooting him. He did a very funny dance trying to get out of the frame…This photo was the start of his dance. I should have kept shooting.

Now for my dilemma…After our walk we went to grab some coffee and tea. While waiting in my line my wife went to grab my hand and her engagement ring setting ever so gently brushed against the corner my M6 Millennium. Well I might of grabbed her hand but stay focused as the point of this story is it is her hand. Now if you squint and look long and hard at my M6M you can see the faintest hairline scratch. If you can’t see it with your naked eye it is easily visible under a 10x magnifying glass with multiple lights hitting it from different angles. Some people might go as far as to call it ‘pre-brassing’.

It is obviously clear from the ‘evidence’ presented above;

1. this was intentional

2. with malicious intent

3. it caused significant damage to my M6 Millennium

(this is a joke for anyone my sense of humor is lost on)

I am a believer in always bringing your camera everywhere. Having your camera with you will significantly improve your ability to create a good photo of what you encounter. That is how I got the first image in this post. I didn’t need to ‘go shooting’ as I had a camera with me and just shot.

I was driving and passed this very neat shop in Jiyugaoka. I stopped and luckily had my M6 sitting in the passenger seat so stopped for a quick shot.

My local wine shop…

Thanks for stopping by today…