« December 2005 | Main | February 2006 »

Main > Photoblog

January 30, 2006

Asakusa Sensoji Temple Pagoda

Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, Tokyo is one of the most easily accessible cultural landmarks in the entire city. As such, one can expect a ton of crowds.

Going on a weekday as my friend Jesse, my brother Evan, and I did made this personless shot of the pagoda possible although I still had to wait for several minutes for the view to clear.

Posted by jordanh at 9:06 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Main > Photoblog

January 26, 2006

Separated

I took this picture from waist-level while walking through Akihabara.

Posted by jordanh at 9:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Main > Diary > Technology

January 19, 2006

Konica Minolta to Quit Camera Business

The BBC is reporting today that Konica Minolta is to quit the camera business. This leaves me in the position I was before 2004: a man with a bunch of good quality Minolta-mount lenses without a digital body.

Next year it will be time again to change camera systems. But to what? Portions of the Nikon and Canon systems look really appealing. I love the focus adjustment capability on a lot of the Nikon lenses, but I appeciate the UI and body shape of the Canons. Choices choices...

What are your oppinions?

Posted by jordanh at 9:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Main > Photoblog

January 18, 2006

Tokyo Tocho Plaza

What's that you say? You want to see more pictures from Japan? Well then, you're in luck! A so begins a new series...

In August of 2005 I made good on a promise to my brother: I had promised him that if he graduated from High School and at least made an application to college that I would gift to him a trip to any country he wanted to visit in the world. All he had to do was point it out on the map, he and I would go together, and I would pay for everything! Not a bad deal, huh?

Well he graduated and so I bought a couple of plane tickets and rail passes for Japan and we hit the skies.

One of the first places that I wanted to take him was the Tokyo Tocho (東京都庁) because from my experience from the top one can see perhaps the best view of metropolitan Tokyo and even perhaps best of all: it's free. From the top, one can get a sense of the massive sprawl, disorder, and incomprehensible density of the city. Three-hundred and sixty degrees of gray concrete stretching out to the horizons.

This picture was the first attempt at going to the tower this trip. I had forgotten that it was closed on Sunday (oops! I should have known that!) But we had fun walking around Shinjuku none the less, plus I snapped a picture of this man enjoying the relative quiet of one of the the governmental building's plazas.

Posted by jordanh at 10:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Main > Photoblog

January 11, 2006

I'm In the Mood

After four hours of observing the varity of ways in which various ocean animalia can be slaughtered and dismantled, one wishes to do nothing more than to eat. And what better to eat than seafood!

Conveniently, there are a large number of fresh seafood restaurants just surrounding Tsukiji fish market. In order to know which one to pick, one need not do anything more than observe which ones are busy and where the locals go and eat as they are getting off of work.

Here was my meal of toro and uni searved in a bowl of rice accompanied by green tea and a bowl of miso soup. Yum!

I am on vacation right now in California (enjoying some of the freshest seafood this country has to offer) and will start a new series on last year's trip to Japan with my brother next week. Be well everyone!

Posted by jordanh at 9:49 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Main > Photoblog

January 7, 2006

Fish Heads

If I promise not to leave this picture up for a week, may I post it?

Sometimes the still process cannot capture the horror that only motion can capture. This box was immediately to the side of a man wielding a large cleaver who would quickly beheading a large quantity of fish. These heads, which had been so quickly removed from their bodies, were still all in various states of animation: eyes, mouth, and flipper twitching.

Posted by jordanh at 9:47 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Main > Photoblog

January 5, 2006

A Fishy Transaction

You know its been a long time since you've updated your photoblog when your boss takes you aside and said, "listen, I know you're going on vacation next week but can I ask you a favor? Please take your camera with you: I am sick of seeing a fish getting murdered every time I look at your blog." Thanks for the gentle push Harald! I hope this image will do.

Do check out Harald's Blog. He's got some awesome pictures from Bilbao, Spain up right now.

Posted by jordanh at 12:51 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack