I’ve been talking about Baie des Tortues (Turtle Bay) on my last couple of posts and once or twice before that, but they’ve been detail photos, except for one that was taken from this exact spot but at night, so I thought I’d share a day image of the beach of Baie des Tortues (Turtle Bay).

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The luck I had was that it was almost low tide when I took this shot, revealing the tunnel of the cliff, the Pierced Rock (la Roche Percée). Situated smack bang in the middle of the image with it’s own tiny beach in front of the entrance. At low tide you have access to the tunnel from the beach. The hole goes straight through the cliff to the other side where you join the other beach and peninsula, la Roche Percée, which you can see behind the cliff and to the right of the image. The tunnel is quite narrow and is part of the Sentier des Trois Baies (the Three Bay Trail) which includes Baie de la Roche Percée (Pierced Rock Bay), Baie des Tortues (Turtle Bay) and Baie des Amoureux (Lovers Bay). A beautiful walk if ever you have the time.

The beach behind the cliff is where I took the photo from my last post, Le Bourailais. This rock formation at the end of the cliff, known as le Bonhomme (the Man), is a landmark in New Caledonia with spiritual importance in Kanake culture. Hop over to my last post for more information on the Bonhomme de Bourail.

On the left side of the Roche Percée (Pierced Rock) cliff is an amazing 280° lookout point with a shrine dedicated to Notre Dame des Flots (Our Lady of the Waves), who watches over the ships. Magnificent views up there.

And of course, just below that is the beach of Baie des Tortues (Turtle Bay). Well known for it’s turtle nesting season in late January, early February. A beautiful little beach, very popular with the locals and tourists for picnicking. Not a bad spot for a romantic sunset either.

This shot was taken from the Route de la Baies des Amoureux (Lovers Bay Road). This small section of the road is part of the Sentier des Trois Baies (the Three Bay Trail), mentioned above. Two photos were taken to make this image. A long exposure of 10 seconds to smooth out the clouds and water, and a shorter 1/8th second exposure to capture the cliff side when the sun shone on it. It was cloudy and rain was on it’s way, as you can see from the top left of the image, but the sky opened long enough on the horizon to provided me with this beautiful light. I blended the 1/8th exposure on to the 10 second exposure in Photoshop and finished editing in Lightroom. Mainly just accentuating the cliff side, beach and water.

So there you go, the gorgeous Turtle Bay in Bourail, New Caledonia. This whole area is worth a visit if ever you’re round the corner.

Nouville, Noumea

Having a new-born in your life leaves little time to go out shooting. Very busy figuring out a lot of things from the baby’s needs to medical visits, everyday chores and who does what, when. Organisation and finding a routine is key though. Apart from eating and sleeping, babies don’t do much else but a small shifted of just 30 minutes in their routine can make or break your day… and night. Ozalee started to have a fairly steady night routine about five or six days ago. Let’s hope it lasts.

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So I may not have a lot of time to go out and about shooting sunrises or sunsets, I do have the time to photograph my baby girl. Videos are important too. They show how they move, react to things, their changing facial expressions, their laughter, the sounds they make and many more things that a photograph can not portray. Don’t worry, I won’t bombard you with baby photos. I have a Lightroom catalogue full of photos I want to share with you.

This photo was taken the day after her birth and at approximately the same time too. She’s one day old here. I took a few shots from different angles and this was the best of the lot. The photo was taken with the Sony a7 III with the Tamron 28-75 ƒ2.8 lens, zoomed all the way in at 75 mm. I went with an aperture of ƒ/4 to get enough depth of field to get all her eye in focus. A shutter speed of 1/125th second was plenty as she wasn’t moving. The ISO was too high for my liking but I had no choice with just a small light illuminating the room. I was pleasantly surprised though to see the photo void of noise. The light, shadows, tones and subject made for a beautiful black & white conversion and very little edit was needed. I’m going to get this one printed for sure.

Well thank everyone for you patience and putting up with my baby photos. Hope to see you in a few days for an old photo dating back to 2013.

SONY a7 III

24MP full-frame mirrorless camera from Sony’s Alpha series. Also does 4K video. A great all-round camera.

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TAMRON STANDARD ZOOM LENS

Tamron E 28-75 mm ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD is a standard zoom lens for E-mount camera. A perfect match for the Sony a7 III.

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SONY BATTERIES

Sony’s NP-FZ100 lithium-ion from it’s Z series are reliable and long lasting.

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SANDISK EXTREME PRO

SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC memory cards are fast and reliable. With 128 GB you never run out of storage for photos or videos. It’s what I choose to use.

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GIOTTO CLEANING KIT

This lens cleaning kit from Giotto includes a Rocket blower, a soft dust brush, pointed/rounded cotton buds, a microfibre cloth and cleaning solution. I also use it to clean the outside of my camera.

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UES CLEANING SWABS

Cleaning swabs by UES for full-frame sensor cameras. DSLR or mirrorless. I clean my camera sensor at least once a year, more depending on where I’ve been.

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Mount Koghi, Dumbea

We have been officially out of confinement since the 4th May. This is a six week trial. Let’s hope we don’t get a case in that time.

A beautiful Spring day brought us, my grandmother, mother, aunt, a friend and her two kids, to the Auberge du Mont Koghi (Mount Koghi Lodge). This was back in 2018 when my mother was visiting from Australia. I came back with a few memorable family photos and these closeup shots.

55 mm, 1/125th second @ ƒ/5.6, ISO 200

55 mm, 1/320th second @ ƒ/5.6, ISO 200

55 mm, 1/500th second @ ƒ/5.6, ISO 200

55 mm, 1/400th second @ ƒ/5.6, ISO 400

55 mm, 1/320th second @ ƒ/5.6, ISO 800

It was the end of Winter and we were slowly moving into Spring. A lot of flowers had already blossomed and others waiting for a little more warmth before doing so. It had been a long time since we’d visited the Auberge du Mont Koghi and it had been sold and closed for quite a while too. The lodge reopened mid June 2018 with new management, staff and all new chef specials on the menu but retained it’s special French Savoyard cuisine it was known for. Isolated in the Koghi Mountains in Dumbea yet no more than a 30 minute drive from Noumea, it’s a great place to get away and relax for the day or a few in one of their refurbished bungalows. Checkout the magnificent panoramic view or go for a stroll in the forest. Enjoy lunch, dinner, coffee or a sunset drink… there are plenty of reasons to go there but with a place like this, you don’t need one.

These closeup (macro-ish) photos were taken with my Canon EOS 1300D/Rebel T6 camera and kit lens. Zoomed all the way in at 55 mm to get really close to my subjects and get a blurred background. The widest aperture available for that focal length is ƒ/5.6, helped achieve the blurred background and let in as much light as possible. A native ISO of 200 gave me clean, noiseless images and I adjusted for more light when needed. Minimum shutter speed was at least twice that of the focal length, 1/125th second, to get those clean, sharp images and I increased it depending on the wind. Apart from missing my focus by a millimetre on a couple of shot, I’’m very happy with these photos. I thought I would have gotten a slightly larger depth of field at ƒ/5.6 but I can’t complain to much with such a beautiful blurred background. And the colours are just gorgeous.

As many of you know from my last post, a new chapter has begun in my life with the birth of my daughter. We’re in the process of finding a balance between family, work and our hobbies/passions and I know we’ll get there. I’m asking for your understanding and patience if at any time there’s a lack of content on the blog. Saying that, I’d like to thank everyone for your support so far. Thank very you.

Before going, I hear more and more countries are coming out of auto-confinement which is great news, nonetheless, remember the protective measures are still in vigour. Stay safe everyone and I hope to see you on the next post.

CANON EOS 1300D/REBEL T6 KIT

Package kit including Canon 1300D/Rebel T6 16 MP crop sensor camera with kit standard zoom EF-S 18-55 mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS II lens, camera bag, SD card and more. A great package for beginners.

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WANDRD PRVKE

PRVKE 31 lt. travel/camera backpack from WANDRD. Has a laptop sleeve, a tablet sleeve, a hidden pocket, room for a camera insert and storage to spare. Also extends to provide 6 lt. of extra storage. It’s my everyday carry.

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WANDRD CAMERA CUBE

The WANDRD camera cube insert is a perfect fit for the PRVKE backpack. Can also be used on it’s own too.

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SANDISK MEMORY CARDS

SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC memory cards are fast and reliable. With 128 GB you never run out of storage for photos or videos. It’s what I choose to use.

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GIOTTO CLEANING KIT

This lens cleaning kit from Giotto includes a Rocket blower, a soft dust brush, pointed and rounded cotton buds, a microfibre cloth and cleaning solution. Also great for cleaning the outside of your camera too.

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UES CLEANING SWABS

Cleaning swabs by UES for crop sensor cameras with APS-C, CMOS and CCD sensors. I clean my camera sensor at least once a year, more depending on where I’ve been.

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Noumea

I have the immense pleasure in announcing to you the birth of our daughter, Ozalee, born on the 3rd May 2020 at 4:55 p.m.

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I apologies for the lack of content lately but as you now know, my attention was elsewhere. Mother and baby are doing great and arrived home from the clinic yesterday. The beginning of a new chapter in my life and I’m very excited about it. Anyway, I won’t go all gaga on you, suffice to say I’m on cloud 9.

I’m absolutely stoked about this portrait of Ozalee. Things happen quickly at birth and the baby constantly moves. Taken only an hour and a half after birth, I was praying I had gotten the shot. There isn’t a lot of light in the delivery room so I used a high ISO (3200). Aperture was wide open (ƒ/2.8) to let in as much light as possible and shutter speed (1/160th) at least twice that of my focal length (64 mm) to make sure I freeze the moment. I used AF-C (continuous auto-focus) to nail the focus every time. OK, I missed a few times but it worked most of the time. And I got the shots because I used Hi-speed shooting to capture that crucial moment.

I can’t tell you how priceless these photos are. Unlike studio shoots where you have the time to stimulate and grab the baby’s attention to capture expressions and poses, in the delivery room you don’t have the luxury of time. You have to take advantage of every opportunity to snap as many photos as possible. There’s no second chance here. Studio photos are taken a week or more after the birth… you can do them any time. They’re beautiful and amazing too and a must for anyone who can afford to do them. But a photo of your baby seconds, minutes, hours after birth are memories you’ll cherish all your life.

Enough said, I hope everyone’s staying safe and are still using the protective measures. This thing isn’t over yet. Stay safe and cherish the moments with your loved ones.

SONY a7 III

Sony a7 III (body only) a full-frame, mirrorless camera. A great all-round camera.

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TAMRON STANDARD ZOOM LENS

Tamron E 28-75 mm ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD standard zoom lens for E-mount cameras.

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SONY Z SERIES BATTERY

Sony NP-FZ100 lithium-ion z series battery.

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SANDISK MEMORY CARD

SanDisk Extreme Pro 128 GB SDXC memory card. Fast and reliable.

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GIOTTO CLEANING KIT

Giotto cleaning kit for lenses includes a rocket blower, a dust brush, pointed and rounded tip cotton buds, a microfibre cloth and a cleaning solution.

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UES CLEANING SWABS

UES cleaning swabs for full-frame sensors.

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6ème Kilomètre, Noumea

Day 20 of auto-confinement announces an extra week of… confinement.

My failure to capture the Super-moon this week pushed me to try my hand at capturing the South Celestial Pole. Though the conditions weren’t the best (the full moon), the opportunity was, with clear skies and the terrace facing south/west. I don’t think it’s too bad for my first attempt, what do you think?

The South Celestial Pole is difficult to explain. It’s an imaginary point in the sky that shows the rotational axis of the Earth. It’s a point in the sky where stars seem to rotate in a circle but in fact it’s the Earth rotating. The South Celestial Pole is only visible from the Southern Hemisphere and the North Celestial Pole only from the Northern Hemisphere.

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The idea was to capture the South Celestial Pole through multiple long exposures. Then stack them using StarStax (or any other software that can do the same job) to produce a single image. I would need a few hundred photos for the effect wanted so, apart from a camera and lens, I would need a tripod and an intervalometer. Even though I have a wired remote shutter release, I used the Sony a7 III’s in-body intervalometer for this project. I ended up shooting for about five and half hours but that’s because I miscalculated the total duration time of the project. I based my calculations just on the intervalometer which gave me an hour and half total duration time (1800 exposures x 3 second intervals or pauses between exposures). My mistake was not realising that the intervalometer wasn’t taking into consideration the exposure time of 30 seconds for each of the 1800 exposures, which gives me fifteen hours of just exposure time. Yep, off by that much. I used the PhotoPills app to find the South Celestial Pole but unfortunately, the calibration was slightly off and thus the pole isn’t centred above the flame, as I’d intended. No matter, now I know and will give it a go another time.

I started shooting around 11:30 pm and stopped round 5 am, which gave me about 600 photos. I didn’t use all of them as a few in the beginning and end had too many clouds and a handful in the middle had moved when I stepped out onto the terrace at 1 am thinking it was all finished. It’s also when I thought about why my calculation was off. I ended up using 535 photos for this image. I edited the first one in Lightroom then synched the edit to all the images. I exported them to a folder on my desktop then imported them into the StarStax application. Oh, I forgot to mention that I took a dark frame at the end of the shoot. That is, the exact same exposure as the other 600 but with the lens cap on, to capture a dark image. I also imported this frame into StarStax. It helps with noise and other stuff. Astro-photographers say you should also take bias frames but I didn’t bother. I mean, I almost forgot about the dark frame let alone the bias ones. Anyway, once the 535 photos and dark frame imported, I just clicked on process and left the application do it’s thing. The stacked image shown wasn’t great, to tell you the truth. So I reprocessed the 535 photos multiple times with different settings/configurations but the stacked image was never… it never seemed quite finished. It wasn’t the results I was hoping for. Until I decided to go ahead and export one of the stacked images and saw it was just fine, great even. The application must do a final rendering as it exports the final stacked image because the difference is day and night. Happy with the image, I brought it back into Lightroom for a final edit then into Photoshop for a bit of cleaning and added the flame on the torch. I couldn’t let the torch burn all night so decided to photoshop it in instead. Not the best work but it does the trick, no?

I hope I’ve explained myself clearly enough for you to understand how I came away with this image. If not, let me give you a simpler explanation. I took lots of photos of the exact same scene/picture. Now the foreground (terrace, buildings and trees) don’t move but the stars do, they rotate in the sky. So once I stacked all the photos on top of each other, because the foreground (terrace, buildings and trees) hasn’t moved, it stays exactly the same in the final image. The stars though have moved/rotated during the night, so once stacked, it shows the path they’ve travelled during the night, hence the circles in the final image.

I hope that has helped a little and I hope you’ve enjoyed this post. Talk to you soon and don’t forget, if your area is in auto-confinement, please stay home and if not or you’re working, please protect yourself and others by implementing the protective measures. Stay safe.

SONY a7 III

24 MP full-frame, mirrorless camera (body only)

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TAMRON LENS

E-mount 28-75 mm ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD standard zoom lens

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VANGUARD TRIPOD

Vanguard VEO 235AB tripod with TBH-50 ball head

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SANDISK MEMORY CARD

SanDisk Extreme Pro 128 GB SDXC memory card

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WIRED SHUTTER RELEASE

JJC wired remote timer/shutter release for Sony Alpha series cameras

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L-PLATE/BRACKET

quick release arca-swiss L-plate/bracket for Sony Alpha series cameras

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L’ANCIEN PÉAGE DE KOUTIO

Koutio, Dumbea

Doing just fine on this 13th day of auto-confinement.

Glad I came across these photos because it documents an era in New Caledonian history, road tolls. I’ve even had a hard time finding relevant information and there aren’t a lot of photos either. So I’m glad I can share something that doesn’t exist anymore.

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The Voie Express no.2 (E2) or, more locally known as, Savexpress is a highway that expands from Dumbea to Païta. The highway opened in 1979 and the tolls a year later, they provided a rapid entry/exit into Noumea from the north. After 33 years in operation, the toll gates closed at the end of 2013 and were destroyed in 2014, only a few months after these photos was taken.

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Quite controversial since it’s opening, users on one hand cut travel times down dramatically but, on the other, would spend on average $150-$200 a month for the privilege. A couple of years before it’s destruction, there were talks of moving it farther north toward the international airport La Tontouta. In the end they decided to get rid of the tolls altogether.

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My Fujifilm FinePix S9500 died on me a few months earlier but I was very lucky to have a colleague and friend, Tony, not only lend me his Nikon D3200 with the kit lens but also suggest I photograph the structure before it disappeared forever. Thank you very much Tony.

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I edited the very first photo (top of page) multiple times over the years without satisfaction. I’ve learnt a lot since 2014 and, not long ago, I realised I was over doing it with the edits. Since my research on the subject, I decided to use these images to document an era in New Caledonian history. The top image is in colour because the contrast of colours work well together between the tolls and blue hour. The other photos, I felt, looked better desaturated with one of my split-tone presets applied. Actually, I like to edit a lot of old structures and things this way. It does depend on the image, of course. For example, colour didn’t bring anything special to these ones. The slight vintage look though changes to mood, put more emphasis on the structure and/or scene.

I’m sure these photos bring back a few souvenirs and stories amongst some of you. And for others, absolutely nothing but a part of history you’ll never know. I hope everyone enjoys the photos.

Once again, protect yourself and others by staying home. Wash your hands, keep your distance, sneeze and cough in your elbow… you know what to do. If we all do our part, we’ll beat this Covid-19 a lot faster. Stay safe everyone.

NIKON D3200 + KIT LENS

Nikon D3200 crop sensor DSLR with standard zoom Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55 mm ƒ/3.5-5.6G VR lens

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VANGUARD TRIPOD

Vanguard VEO 235AB tripod with TBH-50 ball head

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SANDISK EXTREME PRO

SanDisk Extreme Pro 128GB SDXC Class 10 memory card

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GIOTTO LENS CLEANING KIT

Giotto lens cleaning kit including brush, blower, microfibre cloth, rounded & pointed cotton tips and cleaning solution.

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JJC REMOTE SHUTTER RELEASE

JJC wired timer/shutter release (not compatible with the Nikon D3200)

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WANDRD PRVKE BACKPACK

PRVKE 31 lt. travel/camera backpack from WANDRD

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Kuto, Isle of Pines

Nearing sunset, I decided to head down to the beach to find a potential photo. Hoping for some colour in the sky even though the beach faces east. No colours or dramatic skies but I came away with this photo as I was trying out my filters before the sun set.

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The beach at Atchu Camping is small, about 50 metres long, and has a lot of seaweed and algae on it’s powdery white sand. Though secluded and isolated, it’s only seconds away for users of the campsite. We were there for five days and rarely saw someone on the beach let alone in the water. I have to admit, we didn’t swim there either but did stroll along a few times. The beach faces east, great for sunrise or front lit scenes like this one. And the two isles in the distance just add to this paradise scene. Isle Adventure is largest of the two and spans from the right to behind Isle Duroc, which is small, round and in front of it’s big brother. I’m on the far north end of the beach here and like the southern end, it’s dead coral. You can only get here by sea or through Atchu Camping.

I got here half hour before sunset and stayed almost half hour afterward. This was the best shot I came away with. It’s actually a blend of two images to get sharpness throughout the image. One focused on the foreground and the other on the islands in the background. To get the long exposure of 15 seconds, I had to use my Little Stopper (6-stop filter) because it’s always windy here so the water is a little choppy. I also added a 3-stop ND soft grad. filter to control the bright sky and a polariser filter to cut the glare on the water’s surface. It also adds a bit of saturation to the water and sky. Editing was done in Lightroom except for the blending of the two images which was done in Photoshop. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the Calibration panel in Lightroom can do wonders to images when used right. There’s a small learning curve but once you get it, you’ll use it often. Especially on landscapes images. Try it out.

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SONY a7 III

full-frame mirrorless camera (body only)

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TAMRON E 28-75mm ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD

standard zoom, E-mount lens

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VANGUARD TRIPOD

VEO 235AB Tripod with TBH-50 Ball Head

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LEE FILTER HOLDER

100mm filter holder system

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LEE POLARISER

100mm polariser filter for LEE 100mm filter holders system

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LEE GRADUATED FILTER

ND.9 (3-stop) neutral density soft graduated filter

Kuto, Isle of Pines

I got this shot only a few minutes after my last shot. Not quite satisfied with the scene, I switched my attention to these pine trees and thought it would make a nice image with the stars above it. Little did I know I’d capture part of the Milky Way.

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As mentioned in my last post, I was hoping to capture the Milky Way over Adventure Island from Atchu Camping. The centre of the Milky Way was too close to the fairly bright horizon to be seen. The sun rises from the same direction and the two hour window before hand wasn’t enough to capture it over the island. Turning my attention about forty degrees to the right, I was able to capture a part of it higher in the sky. To my surprise, as I couldn’t see it with my eyes. Though very happy I capture the Milky Way, it wasn’t my intention on this photo. My attention was captured my the three pine trees pointing up towards the stars. To me, it made for a better composition than my previous photo. And, as with the last photo, it wasn’t taken at dawn but only ten minutes after the first shot at about 2:50 am.

If you’d like to know more on Atchu Camping, check out my blog post To Atchu Beach.

Editing took a little longer on this image. Trying to bring out the Milky Way as much as possible without over doing it, was difficult. A Graduated Filter loaded with Clarity and Dehaze can do wonders but dodging and burning with the Adjustment Brush helped too. The rest of the image was fairly straight forward in regards to editing.

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SONY a7 III

full-frame mirrorless camera (body only)

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TAMRON E 28-75mm ƒ/2.8 Di IIIRXD

standard zoom, e-mount lens

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VANGUARD TRIPOD

VEO 235AB Tripod with TBH-50 Ball Head

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L-BRACKET

quick release Arca-Swiss L-plate for Sony Alpha series cameras

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SANDICK EXTREME PRO CARD

128GB SDXC memory card

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HEADLAMP

Letmy headlamp with white and red Light

Kuto, Isle Of Pines

I’m heading over to Isle Of Pines in a couple of days and it reminded me that I had photos dating back from 2014 of this place. So I went through my catalogue and found this one to share with you. Technically not the best image but it portrays an essence of this island. Tranquil waters, blue skies, traditional pirogues and the feeling of being isolated.

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Isle Of Pines is situated at the southern most point of New Caledonia and is renown for it’s fine, white sand beaches. You get there by either boat or plane and both offer exquisite, though very different, views of the mainland and the surrounding islands. You also get to see the reef line, more islands and the different colours of the water by plane. By boat, you’re in the middle of it all with the smell of the sea and the wind in your hair, if you so choose to. Enjoy a drink and/or a snack as you make your way along the south/west coast. Personally, both are a must.

In 2014, I was there with my brother and friends. It was our first stop from of the P&O cruise ship holiday we were on. I had just received the Nikon D7100 with the Nikkor 18-105 mm kit lens a few days earlier so the cruise was my learning ground. For this image my intention was to have the pirogue in focus and the background a blurred. So I chose to go with an aperture of ƒ/5.6 thinking it would be enough to have the whole pirogue in focus and throw the background out of focus. Not the case. Now the background is blurred but not enough for my liking and the pirogue is not totally in focus. If I remember correctly, my focus point was the closest perpendicular bar on the pirogue side, thinking the depth of field would extend to the back and front of the pirogue. Once again, not the case. And though I had a shutter speed of 1/3200th, the focus point isn’t as sharp as I had hope it would be. At first I blamed the fact it was a hand-held shot but with a shutter speed that high my guess is the auto-focus didn’t quite lock-on as I took the shot. I should’ve taken more care and time though when checking the image on the back of the camera. I tried to correct the blurred pirogue in Lightroom but you can only do so much before ruin everything. In my opinion, a beautiful image nonetheless but technically not good.

As I said, I’m heading back to Isle Of Pines in a couple of days so I’m looking forward to capturing a sunrise, sunset and a starry night shot, if I’m lucky. I might even make a small video of my time there but not promising anything. See you when I get back.

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NIKON D7100

24MP crop sensor DSLR camera (body only)

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Nikkor AF-S DX 18-105mm ƒ/3.5-5.6G ED VR

NIKON Crop sensor STANDARD ZOOM lens

La Roche Percée, Bourail

This time last year I was at La Roche Percée with a friend who was minding a house just beyond those trees on the far side of the beach. I took advantage of the opportunity to try out the Sony a7 III with the Tamron E 28-75 mm ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD standard zoom lens, that I had bought the month before. No dramatic nor spectacular sunrise that morning but, nonetheless, came away with this tranquil black & white image.

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To get to La Roche Percée, you need to go to Bourail first, which is about two hours drive from Noumea, on the west coast. From there you head west by making a left turn onto a road situated just after the bridge (at the entrance of Bourail village) and opposite the Hotel La Nera. Then just follow the road till you see a sign for La Roche Percée and the Bonhomme de Bourail. There’s also a sign at the bridge for the turn off. The Bonhomme de Bourail is a landmark in New Caledonia and so is the beach but also the, actual, pierced rock. A cliff side situated next to the landmark with a, well, whole in it. At low tide you can walk through to Turtle Bay on the other side. The far end of La Roche Percée is popular with surfers and boogie boarders. It’s one of the rare beaches in New Caledonia to have waves. Another reason for me being here, apart the one mentioned above, was the hope to see, at least, one turtle lay her eggs on the beach. It was the time of season and the peninsular is THE place for this event. Up to three hundred turtles have been recorded to nest here in one season. Just amazing. Apart from seeing a few nests around, I didn’t see any turtles at all. My friend and her kids, on the other hand, saw baby turtles race to the water. So lucky. Yes, I’m jealous.

Because it had been raining on and off for the last few days, I had hopes for a dramatic sunrise. Of course, it was nothing of the like. Apart from a few clouds rolling in from the east, it was clear skies everywhere else but I took a few photos nonetheless. For this image I used the Lee Little Stopper (a 6-stop Neutral Density filter) to get a long exposure and a Lee ND.9 Soft Grad. (a 3-stop Neutral Density soft gradient filter) to tone down the bright sky. I don’t have a lot of filters and this was probably my second time using them. I had to try them out and get used to them if I want to take full advantage of it. I was pretty happy with the results. I didn’t do a lot of editing, just adjusted my White Balance before converting to black & white then I just dropped the Highlights and brought out the Shadows. Brushed a bit of Texture over the rocks in the foreground to make them stand out more and a Radial Filter with a bit of Exposure to lighten up just a touch the bottom two thirds of the image. That’s it.

The black & white conversion made for stronger and prominent features. In colour, the image was bland and not very pretty. The conversion also seem to make the image more peaceful, isolated, minimalist. There’s nothing great about this shot but there’s something about it that makes me like it.

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SONY A7 III

24MP Full-Frame Mirrorless Camera (Body Only)

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TAMRON 28-75MM Ƒ2.8

Sony E-Mount Lens

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LEE LITTLE STOPPER

6-Stop Neutral Density Filter

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LEE FIRECREST ND.9 SOFT GRAD

3-Stop Neutral Density Soft Gradient Filter

Yate Dam, Yate

For the life of me, I can’t remember why I didn’t participate at the photo contest for which I took this photo for. I like this image quite a lot though it did take me a long time to find the right edit for it to be so. That’s probably the reason why I didn’t participate.

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The hydroelectric power generated Yate Dam isn’t the largest, tallest, the most power generating nor the most beautiful dam in the world but I still find it very impressive. Probably because I haven’t seen many dams in my life. Still though, for a small island like New Caledonia, it is quite an impressive achievement. And I do find it quite beautiful lit up with Yate Lake behind.

I was quite lucky to get this shot as those dark clouds rolled in pretty quick and it started to rain. It actually rained all night and through the next morning. There were a couple of clear occasions but not long nor good enough for a nice photo. This image dates back to 2018 when I was using the Canon EOS 1300D/Rebel T6 with the kit lens. An Entry level, crop sensor DSLR that I had won from a local photo contest. And very happy that I did because at the time I was borrowing a couple of friend’s cameras. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of my Nikon D7100 (which got stolen a year or two before) but it did the job well enough. Of course it does have it’s limitations and I did have a problem with the auto-focus not being on point but when manually focusing at 100%, I couldn’t go wrong. Which is what I did with this long exposure shot. Very little editing on it but what made all the difference was adjusting the Hue of the dam lights. That alone added a more appealing colour contrast to the image. It took me a long time to figure that out but that slight adjustment changed everything.

I’d love to photograph the dam when they open the spillway. I don’t know if they publish times and dates for the occasion though. I’ll try to find out.

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CANON EOS 1300D/REBEL T6 + KIT LENS

16MP crop sensor DSLR camera with EF-S 18-55 mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS II lens and accessories

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NIKON D7100

24MP crop sensor DSLR camera (body only)

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NIKKOR AF-S DX 18-105MM Ƒ/3.5-5.6G ED VR

Nikon crop sensor zoom lens

Ouen Toro, Noumea

Another oldie I found in my collection. This one dates back to 2014 when I was using the Nikon D7100 with the Nikkor 18-105 mm. Again, I was trying my hand at long exposures. I’ve always liked this image but had completely forgotten about it. Goes to show you, it’s worth going back through old image catalogues. You never know what you’ll find.

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The photo was taken from the well known Anse Vata Beach and what you’re looking at is Port Bélandre. It has three establishments, the classy restaurant Le Roof, Pop Light nightclub and to the left edge of the image is the bar/nightclub La Bodega Del Mar. The Pop Light nightclub has been refurbished to become the XO Club and opens before sunset whereas before it opened at 10 p.m.. La Bodega and XO are very popular night scenes in Noumea. I’ve never had the chance to try out the restaurant but from what I hear it’s very good. Oh and the women receive a menu without prices on them. Don’t forget your credit cards fellows. A little information you probably don’t want to know is the channel of water between the two rock stacks is actually a sewage outlet. Yep, and some people fish here. Would you?

Though I used all three exposures (2 stops apart) for this HDR (High Dynamic Range) image, I only really needed the 10 second exposure to get the same results. Well, technically, you would need a second image exposed for the “restaurant” sign of Le Roof to avoid the over-exposure of it in this photo but at the time I was more after a silky smooth lagoon than anything else. The images were blended and edited in Lightroom. As you can see by the red horizon, the photo was taken at the very beginning of blue hour. Which means it was brighter outside than the image shows. And that’s a creative decision I took. I wanted a slightly darker, contrasted and moodier image. And I think I’ve achieved that here.

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NIKON D7100

24MP DSLR camera (body only)

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Nikkor AF-S DX 18-105mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR

APS-C crop sensor lens

Place de la Marne, Noumea

I hope everyone’s had a fantabulous Christmas. Wishing you all a safe and memorable holiday season. May the joy and happiness continue through to the new year.

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This is  another photo taken at La Place De La Marne. I prefer the Christmas tree in this photo than in my last post. Maybe because it seems more traditional in green. Another long exposure, 5 seconds this time at an aperture of ƒ/11 and ISO 100. A vertical shot which I like quite a bit. I left out all the distractions and captured just the tree and it’s illuminations. I got this shot at the very end of blue hour and was lucky no one was in front of me. Post-processing was very basic too. Nothing fancy, brought up the Shadows, dimmed the Highlights slightly, a bit of Texture and Clarity, a slight Camera Calibration and that’s it. Quick and easy. Very glad everything was captured in-camera.

Take care over the holidays everyone. Have fun but be careful on the road and, please, don’t drink and drive.

THE NIGHT OF THE ILLUMINATED JAIL

Noumea, New Caledonia

This event was organised by Association Témoignage d'Un Passé, hosted by them and Site historique de l'île Nou, and held at the Centre de Rencontres et d’Échanges Internationaux du Pacifique (CREIPAC) in Nouville. An evening of music, lights, dance and comedy gave vibrance to this heritage site.

My objective for the evening was to capture the lights on these century old buildings. My mistake though was not arriving before blue hour. It would’ve bumped a couple of these photos a notch above average.

Historically, this place was a hard labour prison and is now a place where people from all over the world come to learn French. And I’m sure to discover the culture here and it’s people.

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Japan

day ten

Well, here we are, the last day of our Japan trip. Tomorrow we head back home to New Caledonia but not before visiting the Fuji Shiba-Sakura Festival located west from the base of Mount Fuji. And for the evening, we head back to Tokyo for a little shopping, to see the world’s busiest crossing for ourselves and the world’s most loyal dog.

We had to get up early to catch the limited express train to Otsuki Station then a local train to Kawaguchiko Station and from there a coach to the festival. About a two and a half hour trip. We used our Japan Rail Passes (JR Pass) for the limited express but couldn’t for the rest of the trip. If I remember correctly, it was about ¥1000 return trip for the local train and ¥1400 return trip for the coach. Well worth the price as we got to see the beautiful snowcapped Mount Fuji from the local train and the festival is just gorgeous. And it’s only on between mid-April and the end of May.

There are food and souvenir stalls as you enter the festival and the first thing you see is a huge pond with fields of pink on the opposite side, just beautiful. These flowers are Moss Phlox and there are eight varieties at the festival. They’re creeper plants and their flowers resemble the Cherry Blossom hence named Lawn-Cherry (Shiba-Sakura) by the Japanese. Of course there are other flowers like Blue Bells and Poppies but the festival is all about the moss phlox.

Well, that’s what I though until I realised too late, that there is a second festival held concurrently, the Mount Fuji Delicious Foods Festival. All the stalls, shops and restaurants at the entrance and at two other locations around the festival, offer traditional and modern meals, treats, sweets and others foods. And all are from the Mount Fuji region. I don’t know why we don’t hear more about this festival.

Now we were a little disappointed with the weather though. The backdrop to these beautiful festivals is the glorious Mount Fuji. We were lucky to see it on the way down but once here, it disappeared. Covered in clouds. What a letdown. The fields of lawn-cherries are so beautiful though we quickly forgot the mountain. We did get to see a cloud-capped Mount Fuji on the way back…

We spent our last evening in Tokyo visiting Shibuya. For a few reasons, last minute shopping, pedestrian crossing and Hachiko. Hachiko is a Japanese Akita dog famous in Japan, and pretty much around the world, for his loyalty and fidelity to his master, Hidesaburo Ueno, who died at work from a cerebral hemorrhage. Hachiko used to wait for his master at Shibuya Station everyday after work and kept coming back after his death until he himself passed away nine years later. An example of loyalty and fidelity in Japanese culture, a statue of Hachiko was erected as a symbol and in remembrance. He is of course remembered in books and movies too. Mostly notably the movie Hachi: A Dog’s Tale with Richard Gere and Joan Allen. We were lucky to see a real Akita whilst at the statue, next to the statue. No footage unfortunately but checkout my blog post for a photo of both.

The Hachiko Statue is situated just at the exit of Shibuya Station and so is Scramble Crossing, the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing. Apparently in peak hour, on a Friday or Saturday evening, there can be up to 3000 people crossing this intersection, at once. Mind-boggling. As I mentioned in my blog post, it’s once everyone is in the middle of the intersection, at almost a standstill avoiding collision, that you doubt you’ll make it to the other side. And we weren’t there at peak hour either. The fun though is watching it all happen from one of many places around the intersection. We were at the first floor of the Starbucks Coffee but there’s also the Occitane Cafe, Mag’s Park, the Shibuya Station footbridge and a couple of others places. It’s one of those thing you just have to see for yourself. Crazy.

Shibuya is well known for it’s shopping and nightlife but is also one of Japan’s fashion hubs for young people. A very lively place and we’re glad we got to see and experience a slice of it.

Well, I’m afraid that’s it my friends, not just for the video but for Japan as well. Last day, last video, I hope you’ve enjoyed them and the blog posts. Though time consuming and a challenge, I really enjoyed making and sharing them. It also gave me the opportunity to relive the trip and share my experience. Thank you and oyasuminasai my friends.

MUSIC :

Beautiful Japanese Music - Garden of Peace   from   Fantasy & Dark Music by Derek Fiechter

Shibuya 2018   from   Lil Sokz

Japan

day nine

Our second last full day in Japan. Today we head to Hitachinaka, just north of Tokyo, to visit the Hitachi Seaside Park. Then we head over to Odaiba island for the evening.

There’s about an hour train trip and a half hour bus ride from Tokyo to get to the Hitachi Seaside Park. This place is a lot bigger than I had ever imagined. We spent about two and a half hours and only saw a fraction of what there is to see and do. Most of our time was spent in the beautiful nemophila (baby blue-eyes) and poppy fields on Miharashi Hill. With different flowers blossoming every season, you can be amazed all year round. The park has so much more to offer though. Hitachi Seaside Park is also a huge amusement park for families with cafes, restaurants, boutiques, stores and that’s not all. BMX course, golf games, trampoline, water games, ferris wheel, a 400 metre obstacle course in a tube and lots more. You can even hire push-bikes to wander around this enormous 350 hectare park. We came for the baby blue-eyes fields and other flowers but if you decide to visit, give yourself a whole day. You won’t regret it. There’s so much to do and see here.

We headed back to the hotel a little early to relax a bit and freshen up before going to Odaiba. To get there, we took the Yurikamome, a computer operated train that runs on rubber wheels. There are no drivers nor guards onboard. Pretty cool, I must say. Another reason we took it is because it crosses the Shuto Expressway No.11 Daiba Route. Publicly named Rainbow Bridge because of it’s beautiful lights at night. We, unfortunately, didn’t get to see the multi-coloured lights. We got off at the iconic Statue Of Liberty replica for some blue hour photography. Lady Liberty is only 11.5 metres in height but looks much taller because of it’s strategic placement, overlooking Tokyo Bay and Rainbow Bridge. Beautiful views from there.

Once blue hour was over, we made our way to the Oodeo-Onsen Monogatari. This place is a complete onsen theme park. It’s literally a replica of a town from the Edo era. This place is open from 11 am to 9 am the next day. And you need all that time to experience the place. There’a so much to do and see here. There’s a food court with street foods, there are restaurants, shops, bars, saunas ,spas, onsens, relaxation rooms and tatamis, massages, the list goes on and on. Checkout my last post where I talk a little more about this amazing place. As I mentioned on the post, a must visit but give yourself a full day to appreciate and immerse yourself in the experience. Two days if you’d like to visit Odaiba.

That’s it for day nine my friends. Thank you for watching and hope to see you for the last video of Japan. Oyasuminasai.

MUSIC :

Flute from Johnny Black

Sakura Remix Trap Banger from Bullet Phil

Odaiba, Japan

Situated on the artificial island of Odaiba in Tokyo Bay, this replica of the Statue Of Liberty was originally a temporary fixture for The Year Of France In Japan in 1998-99, a celebration of the two countries relations. Her popularity though won her a permanent return in 2000. Standing at 11.5 metres hight (1/7th of the New York original) and weighing 9 tonnes, the statue is impressive and beautiful. Lady Liberty is not an only child though, she has a sister in Shimoda and another in Osaka but neither with such magnificent backdrops.

And talking about backdrops, the Rainbow Bridge is the best way onto the island. Opened in 1993, Shuto Expressway No. 11 Daiba Route is the official name of the bridge. Named Rainbow Bridge by the public, I’m guessing, because of the multi-coloured lights cast on it at night. We took the Yurikamome to get to Odaiba. It’s like a train but with rubber wheels and guide-rails. Completely controlled by computers and there are no drivers onboard. The ride was petty smooth and quite fast. Lots of fun.

We arrived at blue hour and only a green light was cast underneath the bridge with white on the towers. Though we took photos till dark, an hour after sunset, the bridge didn’t live up to it’s name. Well, I say that but maybe it did. We went elsewhere where the bridge wasn’t visible and came back over it around 11:30 pm so it may of lit up in the meantime. Where did we go? Find out on the next post.

Not the best framing but the best I could do while it was still blue hour. There were a lot of people around so I couldn’t pick the perfect spot and didn’t have much time to look around either. A single five second exposure with minor editing and a very subtle Orton Effect added. I think if the bridge was lit like a rainbow, it would’ve given a very different mood to the photo. A festive feel rather than the peaceful mood this image has. I like it.

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75 mm, 5 seconds @ ƒ/11, ISO 100

Japan

day eight

Today we spend the day with my best mate and his wife, Marcin & Chie, in Saku then head to Tokyo before nightfall.

After last night’s late nightcap, we got up late this morning. In fact, just in time to checkout of our hotel, the Ueda Plaza. A small room but clean, comfortable and affordable. The hotel is also well located near the Ueda Train Station and centralised to, just about, everything else. We both wished we had more time to visit Ueda a little. Not just the city but it’s surroundings too. There’s so much to see here.

We caught the train to Sakudaira Station, the next stop on the line, to spend the early afternoon with Marcin & Chie. They picked us up from there and we drove through Saku city to the beautiful Pinkoro Jizo, the guardian deity of children. In general, Pinkoro Jizo means to wish for a long and healthy life with a quick and peaceful death. I wish for that. With a small Shinto Shrine and a couple of large Buddhist Temples, this place is beautiful, peaceful and fascinating. Very happy Chie brought us here.

As you walk out of the temple’s main gate there is a long, narrow pedestrian alley with one stall held my an elderly man. I could imagine this alley busy with stalls, people and festive on weekends or special days. The man was selling a lot of things but also did palm readings. My mate, who’s interested in that sort of thing, decided to get it done. It was a 30-40 minute reading that I won’t go into. Suffice to say, Marcin wasn’t too impressed.

On that same corner, is a restaurant specialising in carp, called Kagetsu. Cooked and prepared in different ways, it was an eye opener and a delight to the palette. No b-roll of the meal as I wanted to enjoy these last moments with my friends before heading off.

They dropped us back at Sakudaira Station where we caught a bullet train to Shinagawa Station in Tokyo then a local train to Shin-Okubo Station. Our hotel, the Shin-Okubo Sekitei, was only a ten minute walk from there. A Japanese-style Ryokan (Inn) with decos from the Showa era. Though the rooms are small and doorways low, they are very nice, comfortable, clean, inexpensive and well located. Great as a base to travel in and around Tokyo. It was perfect for us.

We dumping our luggage, freshened up and heading back to the train station. We got off a few stops farther at Shinjuku Station. From there we navigated the underground labyrinth to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. This is the headquarters of the Government that governs all the towns, villages, cities and wards that make up the Tokyo Metropolis. It comprises of two high-rises, both with an observation deck. We were hoping to make it up there for, at least, blue hour but we almost gave up on the idea when we realised one of the decks was closed and saw the queue and bag search before getting into the elevator. To our surprise, they were very quick and efficient, and we arrived up there right on time. You are wowed as soon as you walk out of the elevator. An open, high ceiling room with a cafe and souvenir shop in the centre, and huge windows all around with magnificent cityscapes of Tokyo. I was so busy taking photos of the skyline that I forgot to take some b-roll of the interior. I tried a time-lapse but that didn’t turn out to well. Nonetheless, Tokyo’s Metropolitan Government Building is a must visit when in Japan. I highly recommend it.

We headed back to Shin-Okubo as there are a lot of places to eat and the hotel was only 5-10 minutes away. We had dinner at Tenkazushi, a small conveyor belt or sushi train restaurant. Fast, cheap and excellent quality. They have an English menu and very helpful staff. Oh and everyone says hello and goodbye. Everyone. Impossible to enter or leave discreetly. We loved this place.

OK my friends, that’s it for another day. Thank you for watching and hope to see on day 9. Oyasuminasai.

MUSIC:

Japanese Folk Remix from X-Dog

Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo skyline from the Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku. Amazing views, almost 360º. Even though there was a long queue and bag search before entering the elevator, we got up there fairly quickly and just in time for blue hour. The observation rooms huge and there a cafe in the middle. Worth going up if ever in Tokyo.

I’m not certain that all three of the buildings in this image are named the Shinjuku Park Tower because the Park Hyatt Tokyo is located in these towers too. What grabbed my eye to this scene was the roads that winds behind the towers which adda a colour contrast and helps lead the eye of the view into the image. It was a little challenging shooting this photo, actually all the photos, as there was a lot of reflection from inside the observation room. I set my tripod and camera as close as possible to the window, framed and set the exposure then used the 10 second self-timer to give me enough time to wrap my jacket around the camera and up to the window to avoid any reflection off the glass. It also gave the camera enough time to stop vibrating from the jacket being placed around it. The result, no reflection, sharp and a very happy me.

In regards to post-processing, I cooled the image quite a bit to represent what I saw at the time and added the Orton Effect to the three towers and the orange roads that wind around them. The Orton Effect adds a glow to an image or part of an image. It’s the first time I’ve actually used it and, to tell you the truth, I’m not sure if I like it or not. The towers seem slightly blurry even though they aren’t. I know it’s an effect primarily used on landscape photography to give a dreamy look and feel but I’ve seen it used in other genres too, like back-lit street photography, with great success. So there is a use case for it, I just have to figure out in which cases.

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28 mm, 15 seconds @ ƒ/11, ISO 100

Japan

day seven

Traveling through the mountains via coach from Kanazawa to Shirakawa is fantastic. And especially beautiful as you head down the mountain and see the village in the valley. We arrived on a cool but sunny day yet we could see snowcapped mountains in the not too distance. Shirakawa-go is a small, traditional village within Shirakawa, best known for their gassho-zukuri style minka houses. Recognisable by their very steep and thick thatched roofs designed to easily shed snow. An interesting fact, the upper floors of the two and three story houses were used for sericulture, silk farming. Not sure if that’s still the case though. One thing’s for sure, they still grow rice. All the farmhouses have, at least, one small field around the house.

We strolled though the small village on our way up to the lookout, which has a magnificent panoramic view of Shirakawa-go. There are two lookouts or observatories, the Ogimachi Castle Observatory Deck and the Tenshukaku Observatory, both with quite similar views though the latter has a couple of restaurants and a few boutiques. Not much left at the Omigachi Castle Ruins near it’s observatory deck but the best view, in my opinion.

Rain had started to fall whilst at the observatories and didn’t really stop for the rest of the day. The weather changed quite quickly and we could feel the cold now too. We explored farther into the village, getting a closer look at the minka houses and crossing paths with not-so-scary scarecrows. There’s a lot to see around this tiny village too. Restaurants, cafes, boutiques, stores, museums, Shinto shrines, the Big Bridge, the Sho River, so much to see. We were here five hour and weren’t able to visit everything.

Cold and hungry, we ducked into Shiraogi, a restaurant that serves set meals. Very nice and inexpensive. Warmed up with soup and tea… OK, I had to try the rice ale too. Once finished, we made our way back to the bus stop for our coach to Toyama.

From Toyama we caught a bullet train to Ueda where we were staying for the night and catching up with my best mate, his wife and his family. We had just enough time to check-in before meeting up for dinner at a Japanese pub called Hananomai, near Ueda train station. After dinner we accompanied his parents and aunt back to Ueda Plaza Hotel, where we were also staying. We, on the other hand, headed to Uotami, another Japanese pub, just down the road from the hotel. All in all, a great catchup.

Just a couple of words on my thoughts about Shirakawa-go. In 1995 it gained the status of a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Unfortunately, it is in danger of loosing this status. Here is an excerpt from a Wikipedia article on Shirakawa:

“ The local economy is dominated strongly by seasonal tourism. Due to the income from the tourists who came to see the gassho-zukuri villages, the financial condition of the village has been greatly improved, and tourist traffic increased further once the village became a UNESCO site. However, the increasing number of visitors has resulted in damage to the area from pollution, and by local inhabitants their homes into hostels, gift shops and parking lots, which in turn has endangered its World Heritage status. There is also a fear growing that the change to catering to tourists will harm the charm of the area's simplicity and fundamental Japanese scenery. ”

Shirakawa, Gifu (village)

Having visited this amazing village, I can attest to this. I really hope they find an equitable balance to keep their World Heritage status on one hand and profit from the economics of tourism on the other.

Once again, thank you very much for watching. Hope you enjoyed it. See you on the next one. Oyasuminasai my friends.

MUSIC:

さくら(Sakura) from Kasumi Watanabe