Portrait Session 2

The second installment of the 'Portrait Session' series.

Kwame, of the 'Pirates of the Dotombori' Kansai's best improv group, needed some portraits and I needed to take some portraits.

This guerrilla style shoot took place at the ATC in Osaka.

Running for Prime Minister perhaps.

Autumn in Nara

Recently, I went to Nara park to take in the autumn leaves, as did many many other people. Thankfully, the park is very spacious and did not feel crowded;

even with hundreds of people and deer.

The Japanese Maple, or Momiji, turns a brilliant red, which came through even on this somewhat cloudy day.

"Dragon"

My favourite picture from this outing. Ironically as there no autumn leaves in the frame, it could be taken at anytime of the year with dark overcast skies.

Moon Rise

Tennoji Zoo - revisited

I recently revisited the Tennoji Zoo. The previous time I had just purchased my DSLR camera, hopefully my skills have improved a bit over the last two+ years.

The first two pictures are of local birds, not kept at the zoo though they like to hang around at the sea lion exhibit to steal food from the sea lions.

Blue Heron

White Egret

Asian Elephant

Giraffe

Lion

Tortoise

Dusty Tortoise

The Endangered Chinese Crocodile

Urban Decay

In Japan, many communities have what is called a 'Shotengai' or a 'Shop Street', it is an area where many small shops are concentrated along, an often covered, street. Some, in larger areas do quite well, especially if there is nearby convenient public transportation such as a major train station. However, without such fortune many become shuttered, decaying places.

KFT Shinsaibashi - Final Scene

The last Shinsaibashi KFT was held on September 22nd.

In honour of the movie the dress code was 'gangster'.

It just fit, so I added a few words to this last picture.

Osaka Zombie Walk 2010

A short video put together on Animoto.com.

This is the 30sec, low res free version.

Be ready to turn the sound down, music level is by default set to 11 for some reason.

Sunset

Yatai and Fireworks

On the first of August, one of the largest fireworks displays, at least in terms of how many shells are used (20,000 this year) in Japan is held in a city quite close to where I live.

Festivals of all kinds include the 'Yatai' or street cart vendors selling food and drinks.

As the oven like parking lot we had chosen to watch the fireworks was surrounded by power lines and flags advertising for a nearby restaurant, here are some abstract shots of the fireworks display.

Undead Apocalypse : Zombie Walk Osaka 2010

Sometimes the dead just don't stay dead.

I had a great time shooting these Zombies. Thank you to all who participated and especially Zach, who organized the walk; the very funny Pirates of the Dotombori who were very well represented; the make-up artist (who's name I'll add here once I find out what it is).