tokyo tower

I just love the way they are getting creative with the lighting at Tokyo Tower. Saw this the other night on the way home, so I stopped my car, put my digital point and shoot on a tripod, exposure set to program auto, and bang.

rock keeps me young

My interest in photography goes back about 33 years, but my interest in music (rock) goes back 37 years. And I think that rock'n roll has been the main driving force behind me which keeps me young, and energetic.

This week I went to see Heaven and Hell in concert. It's basically Black Sabbath during the Ronnie James Dio era (1980's), and boy were they great. The guys are reaching 60, but they will blow away any heavy metal band of today's generation. I was really impressed with Ronnie James Dio's vocals, but even more surprised to hear that his age is somewhere around 65 or older.

The last great concert I've been to was Judas Priest when they came to Tokyo two years ago. It takes alot of energy to play hard rock/heavy metal, and to do it well at 60 is really impressive. I listen to all kinds of music from 70's classic rock, disco, new wave, jazz/fusion, new age... basically anything that's good music.

My first concert experience was at eight, when I went to see the Beatles concert at Shea Stadium with my parents. It didn't hit me then, but over the years I've become a local resident at the record store where ever I lived. It's hard to describe how this ties in with my photography, but I can say that all of the creativity I absorbed from music and album covers has been an inspiration to my way of seeing things, and I hope I'm still rockin' with my photography at 60.

AR100 award

The latest Black Book AR100 awards for the best annual report design has been announced, and one of the annual reports I worked on this year has won an award. Many talented photographers from around the world worked on this book, but I felt honored to have the page with one of my photographs appear on the 22nd edition of the AR100 book. That's one of the pictures I shot in Beijing on an early winter morning at minus 7 degrees celcius. I remember trying to position my tripod avoiding the frozen spit on the ground, and getting hit by cars when the traffic light changed. Ofcouse everyone who walked by had a look on their face like, "what is this crazy guy doing?" Well, I'm glad to see all that effort has made its way into a prestigious award.

shoot first think later

Here's another shot I took recently with my point & shoot Lumix. Only other piece of equipment required was a small portable tripod which I carry everywhere in my bag.

In the days of film, you had to think before you made a shot like this. And you hoped that one of the exposures will be right on when the film came back from the lab. With today's digital camera, you shoot first on impulse, and then evaluate what you got on that LCD screen. 90% of the time you say "WOW!" while feeling a bit awkward since the point and shoot gave you a perfect exposure, and did all the thinking better than you could have. But why fight it? It gives us the advantage of taking better pictures than ever before.

return of the blog

For the past eight months I've been saying "tomorrow I will renew my blog" like some kind of mantra. I have no excuse but to say that I have been procrastinating for the longest time. Meanwhile, I received numerous e-mails from both domestic and international fans asking me to continue my blog. I was very touched to learn that there were actually folks out there who truely enjoyed and cared about what I showed or wrote here. My appologies and heartful thanks to all those supporters out there. I have returned, or actually stopped being a lzy bum.

I thought this picture would be appropriate for a starter as the light begins to shine again.

This was shot with a point and shoot digital camera (Panasonic Lumix LX2) on program mode. In other words, I just pointed the camera and shot what I saw. This just goes to show that anyone could have made this shot with a steady hand and an eye to see. For us professionals, what does this mean? Are we going to find it harder to get paid for jobs since it's easier for every Tom & Harry to take a great picture now? Maybe, but I think the professionals are also ahead of the game with the advancement in digital technology. There's no doubt we're also at an advantage because we can really see what we're doing and we can make adjustments if we're not happy with what we see on the LCD screen.

For the picture above, I didn't even have to worry about exposures. I let the camera do all the thinking, so I was able to concentrate on the image itself, and wait for that guy on the bicycle to reach the point where I wanted him to be. This shot was all about waiting for the "decisive moment." (There is a time lag w/ alot of these digital cameras, so you have to act a split second earlier)