A few more images of China town in Kobe.
Same but different
The same crossing as before, next change of lights.
More Magic Light
More examples of light in Kobe. The day went from sunny and mild to cold, sleeting and windy. Lousy weather tends to make for brilliant light as a rule and that was the case here.
All images, EM5 and 17mm except the middle one taken with the 45mm
Tripplet
Kobe is an interesting city of contrasts. The day trip we made showed us three disparate "feels". We started west of the station in an area that looked like it was all about the promise of an interesting night life, then we went up the surrounding hills to find colonial trading houses and faux European street scenes and then down to the city proper, where magnificent tall and regal office buildings and top end shopping contrasted strongly with China Town and dock lands.
Once the gateway for foreign trades and renown for Kobe Beef, the city still plays an important role today.
For me, it offered great light, interesting people and that mix of un self conscious small town and proud, vibrant city that tends to produce interesting images.
Below, I felt that I had a balanced image first up. The light was interesting and the main subject (I feel it is the slightly classic looking man) had plenty of support.
The second image, giving you an indication of how often I push the button when walking and framing, is more pointed. It takes away much of the street feeling and becomes more about the man and the crowd opposite, almost a "me against the tide of them" statement.
The third image exaggerates the feelings from the image above, making the man the secondary, framing element to the man on the left across the road. Light becomes the framing factor here, not compositional, subject balance.
My favourite is the middle one at the moment, but these things change.
All images EM5 with the 17mm
Old School
Just really like the "Adams" feel of this one.
EM5 files do have the ability to look film like, especially in the often difficult (for digital) highlights.
EM5 45mm
Becoming lost
My usual work process is to import my images with a pre set called "gentle". This gives me a small boost in whites with a corresponding drop off in blacks, reduced highlights and slightly boosted shadows. This image was imported "as shot" in Olympus RAW and very gently pushed.
Sometimes I think I (we) need to reset. The Japanese have a saying that goes something like "If you are at a dead end, go back and start again with a "learning mind"".
EM5 75mm
Dust bin dance
I love the Japanese work ethic. Worth doing, worth doing well, worth having fun.
Seconds
Seconds apart, showing a world of expressive difference.
EM5 45mm
Texture
Something that I find impossible to ignore in Japan is the use of texture. Nothing is left to chance. Everything you notice is to be noticed, even if the draw is expertly subtle.
magic F2
An example of the good street bokeh the 17mm offers.
Shot at F2, with the lens focussed at about 2m (by mistake)
First morning images
I am clearly not very organised as the images from the Japan trip seem to be coming in any old order.
An Italian salesman once said to me, "For good luck, the first sale of the day must be completed successfully, no matter how it is done" or words to that effect. In that vein, I tend to be too aware of the first mornings images when travelling, especially as my photography seems to be getting less frequent at home, leaving me a little rusty.
The walk from our hotel near the station to the "main drag" in Kyoto.
All images EM5 mk1 and 17mm. Generally the images are "zone" focussed with slight tweaks as I go, using the scale on the lens.
Path to Happiness
Japan is one of the unhappiest countries in the world according to some sources. I believe, the people strive to make that not so, no matter the reality of their existence out of a sense of social duty (part cause of their unhappiness?). Some manage better than others.
Their main route to personal wellbeing seems to be the company of others.
Beware of the bears
It is a unique experience wandering in the woods in Japan. Manicured, ancient, but so close to civilisation. Apart from a fire hydrant on top of a hill, there was a sign warning of, among other things, bears and snakes (never mind the dragons). This was 5 minutes out of Kyoto.
Kobe Corners
Part of a continuing fascination with street corners in Japan's cities. These are from Kobe, a city of contrasts.
Night flow
Thinking more of my stomach than images, I threw my bag over my shoulder on the way out the door "just in case". Within 30 minutes, I was glad I did as the opportunities flowed effortlessly.
Most images EM5 with the 25mm, except two images taken with the 17mm.
Out
Sleeping on trains. Closing out the world or catching up on lost down time? Either way, it is a knack learned since youth.
EM5 17mm
EM5 25mm
EM5 17mm
EM5 25mm
Impression
I know that living with snow can grow tiresome, but seeing it for just a day is exciting. Little things that most people would not look at twice become magical.
EM5 17mm
More traditional beauty has it's place as well, but small, mundane details are often over looked.
EM5 17mm
Complication
Minimalist, clean and strong images are most photographers creative foundation.
Some images however, seem to elicit a response when all the rules are broken.
Return
Ok, I am back. seems like only a few minutes ago I posted my "anticipation" post about my expected work method (it was as I forgot to do it).
Thursday -2 degrees C and snowing, Friday, canned air in airports and planes, Saturday 35 degrees C at home (Tasmania has a reputation for being the cold state of Australia, but has managed to out strip a lot of hotter locations over the last couple of months).
I must admit, I miss the cold.
EM5 45mm
Anticipation
Off to Japan again. I really cannot call it a second home as I have made little effort to learn the language or really connect, but much like a migratory bird, we pass through every six months or so, seeing, absorbing, admiring.
This trip is very different photographically. It is mid winter. My time!
I am anticipating images that will work very well in mono as tone and texture dominate muted winter colours, but there are of course those "deep" images a little colour only adds to.
An example of an image crying out to be made mono-tonal
It struck me that finding some examples from my other trips might be a little difficult, but the images from just one day, exploring the Golden Temple in Kyoto, actually coughed up several mediocre images that worked better, or at least as well in black and white.
The image above does not work for me in it's original form. It attracts with colour, but ultimately fails in composition. The mono conversion is more satisfying as the images "shape" changes. The leaf brilliance and textural tree trunk are in balance and draw you in. Similar manipulations applied to the colour image only make things worse. The planar flattening, evenness and micro contrast of a mono image work together. The colour only distracts.
Again above. The clean lines and tonal richness of the mono image cleans up the messy and boring colour shot, giving it a chance at least of satisfying the viewer. Notice in particular, the stronger, less hazy rendering of the shaded building front and the glow of the front building tiles.
This one is a little tougher as the (heavily processed) colour image has good contrast, a subtle warm tone and scattered colour thats adds interest across the frame. The mono image shows similar strength, just differently. The highlight on the head of the fish, for example, is possibly stronger in the mono image and the translucent skin looks better?
Another tough one. The mono image "flattens" the perspective and opens shadows (as it usually does), the colour image creates a better feeling of depth drop and allows the eye to caught by small objects well placed (or not), but the colour distracts (as it usually does). The red car, muted clouds against blue, red cone, flatter white of the second car etc.
Colour can create mood, for better or worse, and mono does reduce clutter, but can make even a little clutter to bland or "sameish". Both have their strengths, but I feel that winter will favour the starkness of black and white better.
My work method will be to set the cameras to B&W jpeg, but to shoot in RAW, giving me a mono view finder, but a colour image to fall back on. This will achieve two things;
1) It will obviously help with mono composition and determining is tonal separation is strong enough.
2) It will help with composition overall. I feel that sometimes my compositions are dictated to by the very colours that I am drawn to. These images will show themselves in post and in pre shooting "composition in the head", but will not dominate the process. This is much the same as normal (shoot colour and find mono images), in reverse.
As an aside, I personally find black and white images more "serious" when it comes to printing. This brings up the issue I have with my printer which is capable, but not ideal for regular mono printing as it is an earlier model with only a single black tone ink (Pixma 9000 mk2).
OOPs! I forgot to post this before I left and now I am back.