Knife Making

This is my friend Subbia making a knife with Mr. Oka here on Yakushima. Mr. Oka has been making beautiful knives for a long time.

Grand Piano

Jessica and I were at the office again on Friday and I got the idea that we should go backstage again so I could play with some photography.







My original idea was to get ghost hands moving across the keys using a long exposure but that didn't really work. I think that maybe a secondary light over her hands might have helped.

Backstage

I was stuck at the board of education office today but was able to sneak out for a little while. Last year the offices were moved into a wing of an old dilapidated concert hall. I found a stage entrance that was unlocked and got a few shots to show just how eerie the place is.

Miyaura Elementary Graduation

Today I went to Miyaura Elementary for the graduation ceremony. I brought my camera so I could pretend to be the photographer and not have to sit through the whole thing. Above, sixth graders walk out of their class and down the stairs for the last time.

This girl was wiping away her tears.

3 days in Kagoshima

I went to Kagoshima with my friend Tomoko over the 3 day weekend. We visited the local museums, a temple, the ocean, an aquarium and some really nice restaurants. We also took a lot of pictures. Me with my new Nikon (I finally bought an SLR as some people may have guessed). Here are a few pictures from the last few days.






































These last two photos are from Isso Junior High, the day before I left for Kagoshima. The first of the two is Miyuki who I had play for me a little during cleaning period.

Miyanoura Junior High

Sussex

Some tone and color studies I did this week. Done in PS7 without any texture brushes.

Everyone Likes Pandas

Photo Sketches

A Grackle

A few paintings/ sketches that I did this week. The above is from an internet photo. The two below this are from photos I took in Japan and the last one is just made up.

Izumi

Osaka Castle

The North side

Last Sunday my friend Tomoko (above) and I went around some of the smaller towns on the island to take pictures with her new camera. It was a lot of fun to use a real SLR instead of my little point and shoot. It's a completely different experience.

A few days later I brought my computer to her place and fixed up a few shots in Photoshop.

This is the North side of Yakushima. If you zoom in on the picture you can just make out Nagata lighthouse on the far right.


Tomoko took this shot as we were passing through (the only) tunnel on Yakushima.

This one was also taken by Tomoko. The little town of Yoshida. She was no confidence in her photo skills but I think she's pretty good.

Samantha and the Clouds

This was done with pencil and watercolor and then scanned and colored in Photoshop.

Shogun Ball

Nara and Himeji

This is my last set of pictures from my winter trip. After this set I'll be putting up some art that I've been working on. This is Becky feeding the deer in Nara. They're pretty sweet though they do try to eat your jeans or shirt once in a while.

Becky's mom, Martha, feeding the deer. This was New Years day so there were a ton of people visiting the temples here. The deer, too, were out in large numbers.

An Okonomiyaki food stand. You can see what they put in them and how they assemble them. It's mainly a kind of cabbage pankake with different veggies and pork thrown in. We didn't eat Okonomiyaki this day but instead opted for Tako (Octopus) Balls, which aren't disimilar in taste.

A monk taking donations for the temple. Martha was kind enough to donate.

The most well preseved and arguably most beautiful castle in Japan, Himeji-jyo. We walked the grounds for a few hours and even went up to the top of the main tower. Every aspect of this castle complex was built with high security in mind.

Another shot of Himeji-jyo. There are at least four rings of walls such as this that need to be scaled, that is, once you get over the moat.

Back in the station. I took the Bullet train back to Kagoshima and then a ferry to Yakushima. It was a great trip and I think we all burnt outselves out sufficiently enough to be glad to be home.

Kyoto

Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion. Becky and I are gonna build one of these but with lots of windows, a first floor full of couches (like the Hilton) and instead of ducks we'll have duckbill platypuses.

FushimiInari Shrine. This is a famous shrine with over 40,000 of these torii (gates). If you walk through all of them your wish will come true. Three hours is a long time when its close to 0 degrees C. We didn't make it.

Tofukuji. A famous temple complex in Kyoto.

Rock Garden within the Tofukuji temple complex.

The Kyoto skyline. The city is in a valley with mountains on all sides which gives it extremely hot, and cold, temperatures depending on the season.


My friend Rebecca and me.
One more of FushimiInari shrine. Next time I go I'd like to make a point of walking through all 40,000.