yonasu.com » Photography

Bayside Couple

yonasu — Sat, 15 May 2010 00:16:53 +0000

In lack of things to post, here’s another nice photo! The photographer this time is mrhayata and it was taken in Odaiba 1-chome in Tokyo. Oh and while I think the couple is in focus here, that’s the Rainbow Bridge in the back, probably just an hour or two before it’s lit up :)

I’ve never been this close to the Rainbow Bridge actually, definitely going to take a closer look next time I’m in Tokyo, preferably just like in the picture above! Next time I want it to be a little bit warmer though, going in January was great, but I think it’d be even better in the Spring or Fall. My only chance this year would be in November, but that depends on whether I get accepted to the school I’ve applied for. Going to do a test on Monday and then an interview next Friday, so wish me luck because I really want to get in^^ It’s a two-year program in agile web development.

Via AILOVEJAPAN

Oh and one more thing. If you haven’t already noticed, there’s a new little button in the top navigation at the far left. I call that the “Explore” button, and what it does is simple, it takes you to a random post on yonasu.com, so now I have my own StumbleUpon ;)

I’m pretty much in the middle of going through my archives by the way, so some posts are probably very bad^^;

Girl on a roof somewhere in Japan

yonasu — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:59:30 +0000

originally uploaded by kazushi hirota.

An awesome shot by Kazushi Hirota. Makes me want to go back to Japan again soon, right now it looks like I might be back in November. But that depends on how things go with my school application (applying for a web development program). If I get in, we’re probably looking at a shorter (like 1-2 weeks) ASAP :)

Via AILOVEJAPAN

Black & White Wall Collage Part 3

yonasu — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:40:28 +0000

Finally! After about three hours of hard work, the collage has been completed. Three hours may sound like a lot for 94 photos (yeah I didn’t actually put up all 106), but I guess one and a half hours of those three were spent on the fact that I used tape (=folding tape four times per picture). Tape is obviously not the best solution, but I was too lazy to take the bus somewhere and look for those normal sticky-thingys you use in photo books.

So this was the canvas I had to work with after I took down the Battle Royal poster (which is now hanging next to the Namie Amuro/Hikaru Utada posters). Quite a bit of space to work on there.

I started off with putting up the bigger photos in the center and continued working towards the edges from there.

To decide on which photos to use I put them all on my bed, which worked well, but my back is sore because of all the leaning back and forth =/

As I’ve mentioned, tape is definitely not the best solution, but it works. The procedure is very repetitive, I’ve folded 390 pieces of tape today, not including those who failed, yippee~ There’s a chance that my fingerprints are completely gone now, haha.

I decided to keep the red candle thing since I think it might create a nice effect at night. Gonna move it up a couple of centimeters though, since the Erina Mano photo below isn’t completely visible. (I have not done this in the final photo)

A closer look at the process. As you can see, I’ve found another use of the strap buttons I bought for my iPhone (bottom left in the pic above). Probably gonna hang up more Japanese straps and stuff later^^

Now it’s starting to build up towards the sides, decided to do it that way first and work on the height later on.

My first thought was to have the big wide photos at the top, but I figured it’d look better and less linear if I put small ones in different sizes there instead.

Second strap button up, currently holding two of my name cards. The collage is starting to look like a pyramid for some reason, but the end result will be more like a wide rectangle.

There, that’s more like it, although it has to be wider!

I decided not to increase the height from this point on and only work on the width.

After about two hours, this is what it looks like. Starting to reach my goal.

Just a few more and I’m done!

And here it is, the final result!

I’m very satisfied with the end result, but I’m not 100% sure whether it is the actual finished product or not, I might continue adding photos in the future, but for now, I’m very satisfied. And besides the look of it, I just love looking at it and thinking back on my time in Tokyo and because of the idols (and other celebs) it’s not only memories, but also present feelings in it.

So what do you think? You liked the idea, but do you also like the end result like I do?^^ Let me know in the comments section below!

P.S. I wonder if this is gonna make me dream more about Japan and idols, I did it very often without it but I have a feeling this might make it worse (or should I say better?).

Black & White Wall Collage Part 2

yonasu — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:00:30 +0000

So after a few days the photos I ordered via Flickr arrived at the post office for me to go and collect. So I just thought I’d show you guys what they’re like before I start putting them up tomorrow, I thought I could do it today, but I forgot that I don’t have enough sticky-thingys for them^^;

I’m very satisfied with how they turned out, the quality is great! Out of 106 photos, one of them turned out bad (my own fault though since I used a photo with a different aspect ratio. $0.07 down the drain, ouch! Lesson learned.

I obviously couldn’t get all 106 photos to show in one picture, so you’ll have to wait until they’re up on the wall^^ As you can see I printed them out in three different sizes. (20×30 cm, 11×17 cm and 10×15 cm)

All the Japan photos were taken with my Lumix LX3, quite something to finally see my own photos in print! But the idol pictures are quite yummy too.

Went to this konbini almost every day during my month in Tokyo, the other two big photos are from the hotel I stayed at and Tokyo Tower at night.

Gonna have a lot of fun when I put these up tomorrow I think!^^ Oh and thumbs up for my parents liking the photos, my mother likes the Aragaki Yui photo seen in the first pic :P

In case you missed the previous post, you can see it here. It has a link and embedded slideshows in case you want to use any of the photos yourself!

Alexandre Gervais Photography

yonasu — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:37:32 +0000

It’s quite amazing how many great Japan photographers I’ve found over the years since I started blogging. In general I’ve seen many Japan bloggers taking an interest in photography and getting better equipment for themselves. But today I’d like to mention a guy named Alexandre Gervais, a guy I actually found just a few months ago. Alexandre is a web professional who’s like many of us, learning Japanese. While his main interests are all web related, I think he deserves a mention because of his photography skills.

Girl shopping on Shinsaibashi Suji, Osaka (Japan)

Personally I’m really fond of the wide aspect ratio of Alexandre’s photos, and it’s also great that he just below the photo shares the settings he used to take them (camera model, ISO, aperture, exposure, focal length). I’m quite inexperienced so seeing the settings is a good way to learn a little.

Tsukubai of Gojoten Shrine, Ueno Park, Tokyo (Japan)

My favorite photos are generally those taken in the city, like the first one in this post. But Alexandre has a great mix of photos including lots of greenery and temples, which is relative to my interests as well.

Baby monkey playing with a leaf, Nagano (Japan)

So if you like photography of Japan or photography in general, I strongly recommend Alexandre Gervais’ photo blog. You can subscribe to it via RSS here and being the web enthusiast as he is, he obviously has a Twitter too.

Alexandre’s website has a very nice design as well, do visit the home page to see for yourself.

Do you know of any good Japan photographers? Perhaps you have an all-time favorite? If so, please don’t keep them to yourself ;)

Otaku Army Girls

yonasu — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:25:45 +0000

I don’t know what Otaku Army is all about, but I like how they promote it^^

Photo by swanky, check out his Flickr stream for more nomable stuff!

I wonder what it is they don’t want to forget? Maybe I have a reader who understands Chinese?^^ The photo title says “品果兔之勿忘88水災受難同胞及殉職弟兄!” if that’s any help.

HAMA Star 62 Camera Tripod

yonasu — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:11:12 +0000

First off, thank you all for your kind words about the new design! If this is the first time you’re here since the change, you can read a little about it here.

Well anyways, as you can see, this is my new camera tripod that I bought for my Lumix LX3! Actually I got it at the same time I got the Aragaki Yui mousepad, but I’ve been a little slow lately. I ordered this from a Swedish store for about $34, this is my first tripod so I really had no idea what to expect, but the price was good (I think?).

It’s pretty lightweight but the build is good, I have yet to use it outside though so I don’t know how well it works on uneven ground. Don’t think it’ll be a problem though, other reviews were very positive!

They could’ve used another font though, this one makes me cringe, might put a sticker over it.

Max height is 160 cm. I don’t know if that’s normal or not but that’s tall enough for me.

Water level, very useful! Should’ve wiped it off before taking this pic though^^;

Another water level. Can anyone explain what you use this for?

Do you carry a tripod with you when you’re just out and about taking photos of random things? I don’t think I’ll carry it with me too often, mainly for events and quite possibly a mini-studio for all the stuff I buy.

Sunset on a Fallen Tree

yonasu — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:00:20 +0000

Really like how this photo turned out, I think it’s calming and I like the colors. Guess I have a soft spot for nature photography… Might use this as my wallpaper for a while, even though I prefer idols!

Santa Lost his Beard

yonasu — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:00:01 +0000

Or more likely, there was a cat fight going on, since I saw brown hairballs too. Didn’t take any pics of the brown hair though, it was pretty nasty. This could be something else though, I’m not really a cat hair expert, I’m just guessing this is what it is… What do you think?

The Leaf that Turned Into a Butterfly

yonasu — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:00:58 +0000

This little fella was just hanging around while I walked by a tree. I thought it looked pretty cool so I had to take a photo of it. It kind of looks like a butterfly, or something else with two wings…