portrait of Kikuo Hayashi

Recently, I was asked to photograph a young man who's passion
was tropical fish. He had three aquariums in his room and the
art director wanted a picture of him with the aquarium. I wanted
to break away from the typical "person standing next to his aquarium" shot, and wanted to fill the frame with the exotic world under water.
On this shot I decided to shoot his reflection on the glass aquarium.
It looks like a double exposure and something from the past, but in
this case it solved the problem. I think we've seen every trick there
is to photography by now, and with today's digital photography there
are infinite possibilities. However, analogue methods from the past can actually be quite useful and provide a simple solution.

emitting an aura

Recently, after completing a session with a japanese celebrity,
I noticed that I had managed to get myself reflected in the
mirror finish sunglass. So I enlarged it to have a better look
when I noticed this white glow coming out of my back. What is
it? Am I radioactive... or, could it be an aura? I like to believe
that it's an aura. Afterall, I put everything I have into each photo
session no matter how small because I want the best possible
results for my subjects and clients. Too bad that glow wasn't
coming out of my head because I would've enjoyed thinking of
myself as a saint.

A picture of Hong Kong at night taken with a Casio Exilim, handheld.

Macau The next Las Vegas

Recently, I was in Macau to photograph the latest casino developement there for an investment firm. Macau's casino business has been a long time monopoly of Stanley Ho's, but now with the rights extended to the Americans there is a huge developement going on in the area. In a few years Macau will replicate Las Vegas for asia. Understanding how fond the Chinese are for gambling, you can just imagine how this town is going to boom. The new Disneyland opening in Hong Kong this fall will become a catalyst in turning this area into the vacation destination for asians.
Taking the photographs was a real challenge because of the down pouring rain we had. Fortunately, we had a few hours when the rain paused each day. When I got back and heard of the floodings, I realized how lucky we were to even have this brief moment of grey sky. The new addition I have made for Macau in the travel section were also shot during this trip.