September 14th, 2009

Mt. Fuji Climb 2009

Mount Fuji Climb Sept 5th 2009. Full moon that night. Some photos of Fuji from afar, the Fuji Sengen Shrine, then night photography at the top, and finally the sunrise. Includes a panoramic. I got a new Tamron AF18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Macro lens before this hike, which I thankfully figured out how to use before sunrise. Thanks to Andy K for helping me weed out the keepers from the tossers.

January 28th, 2009

Mezon Kawai Panoramic Views

Panoramic views from my apartment in Hachioji, Tokyo.

December 24th, 2008

Gecko

One day I noticed this fellow outside my bedroom window.

September 3rd, 2008

Yamato Old Town

I worked in a tiny town called Yamato. Here are some pictures I took while wondering around.

September 3rd, 2008

Night Blossoms

These are from Yamanashi city. The cherry blossoms are illuminated from beneath. Orion is visible in a few shots.

September 3rd, 2008

McDonalds Japan

McDonald's Japan has a very unique menu and culture.

May 21st, 2008

Fujikiri Festival

The Fujikiri Festival is every May at Daizenji Temple in Katsunuma. The purpose is to get a piece of a serpent, made from a vine, and you will have good health. ... or fortune ... or harvest ... I'm not clear on that. It's connected to some problem they had in the early farming days out here about a thousand years ago. I thought I lived in a quiet mountain area, but this festival unleashed a frenzy!

March 25th, 2008

Yamato Jr. High School

Yamato Jr. High School in Yamanashi, Japan. They have the most well kept jr. high school garden that I've seen, so I thought it deserved some attention. This town is very small and in a narrow valley. But not at the bottom of the valley... The town is built into man-made ledges 2/3 up to the top. The 34 student school is built right against a mountain. I tried to capture this feeling in the 4-6th pictures... But I should probably take some new ones. From any point in this town the only thing visible is what's directly in front of you, and then a mountain behind it. These pictures were taken with an old cell-phone.

March 25th, 2008

Moss

Pictures of moss. It's more interesting than it sounds. No really, it is. Ok, just a little.

March 25th, 2008

Katsunuma Grape and Wine Festival 2007

Every year in the beginning of October Katsunuma has its grape and wine festival. The third year junior high students carry torches up a mountain and light up a giant gate embedded in the mountain. There's fireworks too. These pictures were taken just outside of my apartment.

March 25th, 2008

Gross Dam

These are from Gross Dam near Boulder, Colorado. I experimented with different exposure settings and managed to take different looking shots from the same area. I also got a picture of a cool mountain train.

March 24th, 2008

Koshu City International Day

Koshu city had an international day. I live in Katsunuma which is part of Koshu. You'd expect that to mean there'd be international things to see. But it was actually foreign people doing Japanese things. Pictures of Japanese tea ceremony, etc.

March 23rd, 2008