My wife and I are walkers. We cover dozens of kilometres over our travels, often clocking up 15-20km in a day, just wandering. We like to get the feel of a place and its people by just being around them. We may miss some of the touristy sights, but we would like to think we come back with a different, deeper experience. I think this comes from our first trip away to the recently liberated Czech republic in the early '90's. We stayed with my wife's parents for several weeks living a similar life to the locals. I am pretty sure the roots of both a preferred form of travel and my love of candid documentary (street) photography came from this trip.
Walking from the Yanaka area to the quiet side of the Imperial palace in Tokyo, we expected to see some of the less well known parts of Tokyo. What we got was a stunning walk through tall, pristine buildings bathed in late afternoon golden light, light traffic and a gentleness, quite odd in any major city.
I am not sure what the large metal tubes are that are found scattered through Japanese cities, but they always catch my eye. This one was the biggest I had seen. The shadow cast on the building behind was perfectly placed, looking almost like a contrasting paint job.
The camera used was the EM5 and the lens, the 75mm at f5.6. This image really shows off the Olympus "filmy" look. I struggled for a long time choosing between Fuji (glassiness), Canon (colour) and Olympus (sharp, filminess), with a few lapses in discipline. Choosing one brand, based simply on accuracy, reliability and the best system choices (for me) has freed me to get the most out of the look I have available without distractions.
many choices bring indecision, limited choices allow focus.
