Near and Far
91 Days 2025, Issue 3
Near and Far
The week started with a distant bridge in Fukushima and ended up close with a delicious bibimbap. In between, well things are starting to change. The weather is warming up, flowers are beginning to make themselves known, and the light just seems a bit brighter and less intense.
But the biggest change was behind the scenes. This week’s first shot was taken during a family trip to an aquarium on the coast. Shortly after we left the aquarium to walk around the boardwalk it began to rain. And then to snow, just a bit. And my camera got wet. It’s been fixed since, but it did mean that this week was mostly shot on my phone rather than with my trusty little Lumix.
This is important because, in the age of digital photography, it’s getting harder and harder to get a “real” picture. Your phone, especially the newest models, adjust and filter everything the lens sees in order to create a good photo no matter how bad the lighting or motion blur or any other supposed defect.
Older digital cameras can have this problem but not to the extent that a phone does and, of course, film cameras don’t have this problem at all. But it means that for a photographer like me who sees getting the real shot as the challenge and fun of photography, using a phone with its impossible-to-turn-off algorithmic adjustments is a different beast from using a camera.
What that means in practice is that you get photos like #2 and #4. Those would not have been possible on my camera, there simply wasn’t enough light. However, my phone was able to grab enough of the available light to make an image and to then pretty it up through stabilization and other image adjustments. So, are those real photos? Maybe?
Index:
15 March 2025 - Horizons - I don’t know the name of this bridge and I’m too lazy to look it up. Suffice it to say that it was there and I was there and the sun was barely there and the ocean was there and so there was a picture there, too.
16 March 2025 - Branching Out - This is a tree that my dog loves because it sits right outside the vet’s office. It is the only part of going to the vet that she likes. I often imagine it to be kind of a bulletin board for dogs.
17 March 2025 - Steppin’ - The stairs at the right side of the frame lead up to a small statue of one of the numerous kami that ring the borders of the cemetery both my parents-in-law reside in. It’s quite a beautiful place really.
18 March 2025 - The Beginning - As I’ve said too many times now, the flowers are coming out. Finally. Not only does the neighborhood look less barren and lifeless, it smells a bit better, too.
19 March 2025 - Lingering - On the other hand, there are these clumps of still-yellow leaves hanging out on some trees. Come on trees, get with the program. Trade those old yellows out for some fresh green!
20 March 2025 - Blue Skies - I know, more power lines. As much as I tell myself that I’m done taking pictures of them, I know I’m lying. They’re just too big to ignore and too grand to trivialize.
21 March 2025 - Bibinba! - I have avoided food photos in this archive for a long time because it seemed to easy, but this dish was good and I was out of the house and it felt like a natural thing to do and so in it goes. Enjoy!
