Category Archives: Photography

Experiences Photography

Thaipusam Festival in SG

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I’ve finally uploaded pictures of the Thaipusam festival I visited last year while in Singapore.  Pictures are uploaded to the usual place, but this time I’m putting the link at the bottom of this post since viewers may find some of the pictures a little upsetting if you don’t know what to expect.

One of the guys in the SG office is a shutterbug as well, and when he learned that a group of his photography friends were planning a visit to the temple where preparations for the festival were taking place, he asked if I wanted to come along.  I’m always up for any kind of photo walk, so I happily agreed.

Preparations for the festivities start EARLY – so I had to wake up around 4AM to grab a taxi to the Little India area.  There I met up with my colleague and we headed to the temple.  Once there, you have to take off your shoes (luckily I was wearing sandals) before you’re allowed to go in.  I’m used to taking off shoes when going in Japanese shrines/temples, but always within buildings.  This temple was more or less “open-air” though, and it took me a while to get used to walking on dirt and grass barefoot (I’ve grown pretty spoiled since I’ve come to Japan). 😛

I also hadn’t expected so much leeway in taking pictures, but there were tons of photographers and tourists already at the temple snapping away, some really up close and personal – I was rather surprised at how easygoing the devotees were and how well they took things.

The preparations for the event were fascinating to observe, if a little…unorthodox (at least for me).  More information can be found at the Wikipedia link for Thaipusam here, but the gist of it is that it’s a festival celebrating commemorating the defeat of an evil demon by one of the Hindu deities.  Devotees prepare several days in advance with fasting and prayer, and on the actual day of the festival, take on various burdens which they will present to the Hindu deity Murugan.

The types of “burdens” vary greatly as you can see in the pictures.  Some only carry pots of milk on their heads, while others pierce their bodies while carrying a portable canopy called a “Kavadi” (example shown in the picture at the beginning of this post).  Even the degrees of piercing vary – from thin rods that barely pierce the skin, to skewers that jut through one cheek and out the other, rods that punch through the skin of the belly, and nasty looking hooks that snag the flesh on the back.

Some devotees handle the pain fairly stoically, even appearing nonchalant, while others (notably the younger ones) were in obvious pain.

There were other preparations as well, such as the manufacture of incense (the place positively reeked of incense which lingered on my clothes throughout the day), offerings of food and drink, prayers, and more.  While watching one of the men get fitted with his kavadi, one woman appeared to get possessed, and started throwing herself first against him, and later rolling around the dirt.  I actually got a video clip of this which I may later upload, but sufficed to say it was a little disconcerting.

My colleague and I stayed until about 8AM, after which we packed our cameras away, washed our feet under a convenient nearby faucet, and headed to work (we had brought a change of clothes).

It was an intriguing experience, and despite the early hours and the somewhat disturbing displays of self-mortification, I’m glad I went.  For a look at all the pictures I took, and if you’re not averse to piercings, head on over to the gallery section.

 

Experiences Photography

More views of the Tokyo Sky Tree

I’d previously posted pictures I took of the Tokyo Sky Tree almost a year ago, but I’ve just uploaded new pictures that I took on Wednesday to my gallery page.

Not only has the Sky Tree reached its final height, but the pictures are of slightly better quality this time as well. 😛

I’ll do a further write up of Wednesday a little later, but for now I just wanted to get those up first.

Experiences Photography

More wedding pictures!

I’ve finished working on the color pictures of Leon and Machiko’s wedding and uploaded them to the same location as before: http://shashin.njmatsuya.com/lmwedding/

I think they turned out pretty well 🙂

Photography

Something beautiful to start the day

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

Photography Thoughts

A brief update, and more pictures from Yasukuni

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Things are slowly regaining  a sense of normalcy (in Tokyo at least).  While train stations and stores are still darkened in efforts to conserve power, the general mood and atmosphere is much more upbeat.  The fact that the weather is warming up with flowers blooming all around contributes greatly.

There are still concerns about radiation, both in the air and the water, but there haven’t been any alarms (aside from the ocean water) and stories like this seem to indicate that even the media is starting to tone down their frenzied stories of doom and gloom.  I honestly believe that things are ok.  I am still drinking bottled water, y’know, just in case, but aside from that I’m just grateful that things are as good as they are.

I’m uploading a few more pictures I took at Yasukuni last week, which can be seen at the usual place.

Photography

Sakura at Yasukuni

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I went to Yasukuni yesterday in hopes that the cherry blossoms would be out but due to the extended chill this year, it looks like we’re still a week away or so before they’ll be out in full force.  Still, I managed to find some trees that have already started to bloom in defiance of the winter, and got some lovely pictures which can be seen in the photo section.  These were all taken at Yasukuni Shrine, and I plan to head back there again in another week or so for a few more shots.

News Photography

Update, links, a couple of pictures

Things are quiet in Tokyo this week.  My family left on Saturday, and this Monday I started my regular commute to work (I was staying at their apartment while they were here, which was only a 10-15 minute walk away from the office).  The Tokyo Metro seems to be running almost normally for the most part.  However, the darkened areas (due to efforts to minimize electricity usage) of the underground are a reminder that things are not back to normal – and are not likely to be for a while yet.

Efforts to contain the damaged nuclear plants in Fukushima continue, though right now it seems to be progressing at a rate of 2 steps forward, one step back as the radiation dangers around the immediate area force workers to proceed with extreme caution.  There’s a sense of helplessness (at least from my part) since there is really nothing the average person can do expect hope and pray that things will come under control soon.  We in Tokyo are safe, but not far away are people putting their lives on the line.

This is probably old news for all Japanese readers, but still thought I’d post the English information pages on the possible power blackouts.  Energy usage now is fairly stable and the power blackouts are minimal, but as the humid summer months come, people are expecting that electricity outages will resume again in the near future.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company site (English)

Google Crisis Response Blackout Information (English)

General advice from Yahoo on how to conserve power (English)

Metropolis documentation of Iodine-131 and Caesium-137 in Tokyo tap water

The English NHK website

Spring is definitely on its way, and the weather is getting nicer every day.  However, just about 250km away, people are struggling to contain a crisis that has the potential to impact not just Japan but the rest of the world.  It’s rather surreal.

I’ve uploaded a couple of pictures I took of early spring buds while my family was here.  It is odd to realize how much more I appreciate their beauty in times like these.

Photography

Before and After – Victoria Peak in HK

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I took the picture above when I was in HK last year (click to embiggen).  On one of my rare evenings off after work, I took the tram up to Victoria Peak and took some pictures.  It’s shots like these that make me glad I shoot in raw – while the picture as it stands is (barely) “ok”, it really pops when you’re able to bring out the light.  The final result is a pseudo-HDR image, involving editing in RAW to first bring out the light, with additional processing in Photomatix.  You can see the “after” image on my gallery page HERE.

Challenges Photography

Just for fun challenge – “Spooky”

Waaaaay behind, but here are the submissions for the “Spooky” challenge!

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-submitted by me

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-submitted by mom

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-submitted by J4

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-submitted by J3

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The next theme is by Mom, and it’s “Happy”!  As usual, please send any submissions to justforfun@njmatsuya.com 🙂

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