Category Archives: Google+

Google+

Happy New Year!

Still a little early (about 4.5hrs left to go here in Tokyo), but since I'll be away from a computer, I'd like to wish everyone a happy new year now 🙂

I've been away from G+ for a bit again, too much other stuff to work on, but I've enjoyed all the images I've seen here over the year, and am grateful for all the friendships and interactions I've made.  

I wish you all the best for 2014!  
(and have a safe and enjoyable/restful/happy new year's eve)

See you in 2014!  🙂

#newyear   #newyearseve   #newyear2014   #Tokyo   #Japan   #Odaiba   #fireworks   #happynewyear  ?

Google+

Lights, camera, illuminations!

Got to join the last Drink and Click gathering of the year (where has the time gone??) a couple of days ago, and had a blast.  We were supposed to be shooting around a theme of "celebrations", but…. I had too much fun playing around with the illuminations and strobe (^^;

It was a very pleasant (if somewhat windy and chilly) evening – big thanks as always to +holger feroudj for organizing these get-togethers – looking forward to more next year!  🙂

#drinkandclicktyo   #tokyo   #japan  ?

Google+

What exactly is the benefit of this bill?  I understand that any nation has secrets…

What exactly is the benefit of this bill?  I understand that any nation has secrets it needs to keep in the interest of security, but there does not seem to be a clear definition of what constitutes a "secret".  And it's the government that will form this "third party" to determine the interpretation of a secret?  Conflict of interest much?

Or can anyone explain why this is a good thing??

One of the most controversial points of the bill is that it allows bureaucrats and elected officials to arbitrarily widen their interpretations of what they deem to be state secrets. And it has no definite mechanism for an independent panel to verify whether these designations are appropriate, although the government has announced plans to form a "third-party" body to oversee this process.

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201312060089?

Abe’s LDP fast-tracks state secrets bill in waning Diet – AJW by The Asahi Shimbun

Google+

Autumn

I know there are already tons of fall color photos coming through your streams, hope you don't mind another.  (^^;

This weekend went by way too fast, can't believe it's already over…

Hope you all had a good weekend!  🙂

#Japan   #Tokyo   #Fallcolors   #autumncolors  ?

Google+

??????????????? The Yamanote Line Photo Challenge

??????????????? The Yamanote Line Photo Challenge

Last Saturday, a group of us gathered together with the challenge of shooting each of the stations along the JR Yamanote line.  We were each assigned a station (or, in the case of larger stations, 2 or more people to a station) and had to upload a single photo to Google+ at 13:30, 14:00, 15:00, and 16:00.

There was no specific theme, our only direction was to try and capture the image and feel of each station.

It was hard!

It was extremely challenging because how do you capture the "feel" of a place?  Especially considering the time limitations – I honestly felt that most of my shots were junk, and despaired of getting anything interesting to post.  However… despite my frustration… I really enjoyed it.  It made me realize my limitations, and pushed me to try to overcome them.  

I can't say that I was particularly successful, but I still feel that it was a great learning experience.  🙂

For those who are not familiar with Ikebukuro station – it is a massively sprawling area.  In fact, I only covered the east side.  This presented another challenge for me, because the east of Ikebukuro is the more… "seedy"/grungy part of the station (the west side of Ikebukuro is much prettier).   I wanted my shots to try to capture some of the oddness and grubbiness of my assigned area, while still being tasteful.

You can see the individual shots I took on the day if you browse through my previous posts, while the 5 in this album are more of timeline of our day, starting at Yurakucho, and ending at Ikebukuro.

Thanks to +Takahiro Yamamoto and #Nikon  for organizing this – it was a great experience!  🙂

#YamanotePW  #PW_Ikebukuro ?

Google+

?=?=?( >_<)?

On Sunday, I participated in the annual Fit for Charity 10k run.  It wasn't too bad – I've recently started practicing jogging again, trying to get in shape for next year's Tokyo marathon, so I wasn't too wiped after the run.

However, one of my office colleagues got sick and I was suddenly "invited" to take his place in the 400m relay race!  (4 people, 100m each).   It was quite the experience.  I'm NOT a fast runner by any means, I prefer the "slow and steady" pace, so this 100m dash was completely new, but I have to say, very exciting!  This shot is one of the runners – he looked quite fit and in shape..

I am quite wiped out though.. and legs are protesting fiercely (^^;

#Japan   #FitforCharity   #Tokyo   #Running  ?

Google+

???????????????? The Yamanote Line Photo Challen…

???????????????? The Yamanote Line Photo Challenge?
???????!!

Final submission for the Yamanote Line Photo Challenge! This one I'm actually quite happy with 🙂

There will be more later, but for now it's time to relax!

#YamanotePW #YPW1600 #PW_Ikebukuro?

Google+

???????????????? The Yamanote Line Photo Challenge????????!!…

???????????????? The Yamanote Line Photo Challenge?
???????!!

Streets of Ikebukuro, 3pm image. These girls are expressing how I feel, trying to get a good/cool/interesting shot..

Next shot in an hour..

#YamanotePW #YPW1500 #PW_Ikebukuro?

Google+

???????????????? The Yamanote Line Photo Challen…

???????????????? The Yamanote Line Photo Challenge?
???????!!

2nd shot from the Yamanote Line Photo Challenge! Editing while mobile is tougher than I thought it would be…

Next shot in an hour!

#YamanotePW #YPW1400 #PW_Ikebukuro ?