Rain
It’s been a cold, wet week here in my little corner of Japan and I am not okay with it. Everyone in my house is fighting either a cold, or allergies, or both. It is not quite the intro to Spring that I could have wished for. But we’re getting through it.
This week, as I finally got my camera back into working order, I thought about how differently I use my phone camera and my camera-camera. I think it’s most reflected in the different kinds of photos you see in this week’s set: The first five (the last four of March and the first of April) were all taken on my phone and they all document where I was when I remembered I needed to get a photo for the day. The last two were deliberate, purposeful photos taken by picking up my camera with the intention of taking photos.
All things being equal, I much prefer the last two. As much as the first five serve to remind me of where I was and what I was doing, the last two are much more about trying to create something, about trying to find something unique in the world. And that’s kind of the point, isn’t it?
Index:
29 March 2025 - Soap - While out shopping we walked by the Lush soap and cosmetics store. I admit that I love seeing the big cakes of soap with all their colors and designs stacked up on the display shelf, ready to be sliced and served like some sort of strange cake. I ended up buying this one. It smells like lemons.
30 March 2025 - Tanuki - Tanuki statues like this one can be found all over Japan. They’re a kind of good luck symbol. This one in particular is in the outside waiting area of a ramen shop I like. There’s no reason for it to be there, but it is, and I like it.
31 March 2025 - Cobwebs - My poor bike sits all by itself outside, in the cold and the rain, waiting for it be used. At least the spiders are enjoying it, using it as an anchor for their webs. Maybe next month I’ll wash everything off and start riding it again. Maybe.
1 April 2025 - Thing - I’m kind of excited about the new Fantastic Four movie coming out this summer. I’ve been a fan since I was a kid; I grew up reading the Fantastic Four comic books and watching animated versions on t.v. This statue of Ben Grimm sits on the edge of my desk and acts as a warning to anyone foolish enough to want to talk to me.
2 April 2025 - Portrait Mode - This is not a good photo. I’m leaving it in to show what I had hoped to capture and to explain why I couldn’t. The iPhone has what’s called “portrait mode” which tells the camera to focus in on the main subject and to blur the background. Unfortunately, it’s not always able to tell what parts of the photo are background as you can see here. So let this serve as a warning to me, if no one else, use portrait mode sparingly, if at all.
3 April 2025 - Contrast - The Lumix is back in action! I like the contrast here between one tree stripped of all its leaves while the other still retains foliage on every branch.
4 April 2025 - Angles - I’ve shown off these power lines a number of times over the years but I don’t think I’ve ever gotten quite such a strong angle from the railroad tracks as I did in this one. The shadows are doing the heavy lifting, of course, but I still thought it was interesting.
