Autumn Cocoon

I have a special fondness for the Cocoon Tower in Shinjuku. It just pushes the right visual buttons and is one of the many iconic buildings in Tokyo designed by Tange Associates, founded by Kenzo Tange.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-S @ f4,.0 ISO 100, 1/800 sec.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-S @ f4,.0 ISO 100, 1/320 sec.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-S @ f4,.0 ISO 100, 1/60 sec.

Autumn colors comes to Yoyogi National Gymnasium and Yoyogi Koen

Still posting photos from my backlog while I've been laid up with my broken ankle. Tonight, I've made it to my photos from November.

Autumn colors came to Yoyogi National Gymnasium and Yoyogi Koen in early November. There will be more autumn colors from 2016 coming in future posts...

Nikon D600 with Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-S @ f8.0, ISO 100, 1/320 sec.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-S @ f8.0, ISO 100, 1/320 sec.

Labor Day walk through Roppongi

Back in September 2016, I had the luxury of having a US holiday (Labor Day) off while all Japan were still at work on a beautiful day. I already posted one shot from Azabu Juban back in September or last year, but here are a few more from the same wander taken in nearby Roppongi.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 24mm f/2.0 Nikkor AI @ f5.6, ISO 100, 1/400 sec.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 24mm f/2.0 Nikkor AI @ f4.0, ISO 100, 1/250 sec.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 24mm f/2.0 Nikkor AI @ f5.6, ISO 100, 1/125 sec.

I'm still here...

I've been busy the last few months, and took a break from posting. Now I've got quite a backlog of photos to go through tweak and post. Here's one I took on a walk through Yoyogi from back in September 2016. It's rather simple, but I like the color and simple composition.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-S @ f4.0, ISO 100, 1/40 sec.

Drive through building

Other than parking garages, I've never had the experience of driving through a building (via an expressway) until I visited Osaka. On my last day in Osaka we drove through the Gate Tower Building (ゲートタワービル ). I knew that this building existed, but didn't expect to have the opportunity to have such a quick visit on my first time to Osaka. Lucky for me, I was a passenger and my camera was ready and handy.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G ED VR II AF-S IF SWM @ 16 mm, f4.0, ISO 100, 1/500 sec.

Been busy in Osaka

Last week I visited Osaka and Kyoto on business. The central business district around Osaka station has a different feeling when compared to Tokyo. At times it is gritty, sophisticated, modern, vulgar or eccentric. I'm not sure if I like it, but change is good. Here are some photos of the more modern side of the Osaka Station, the nearby new Grand Front Osaka development and Ships Hall.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G ED VR II AF-S IF SWM @ 16 mm, f5.6, ISO 400, 1/15 sec.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G ED VR II AF-S IF SWM @ 16 mm, f5.6, ISO 400, 1/20 sec.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G ED VR II AF-S IF SWM @ 16 mm, f4.0, ISO 400, 1/10 sec.

Midtown or Giant Gravestone?

I am probably not the first one to think this, but doesn't Tokyo Midtown look a lot like the gravestones in nearby Aoyama Bochi?

Nikon D600 with Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-S @ f8.0, ISO 100, 1/160 sec.

Thinking back to a cooler summer

As I previously posted the family spent a few days in San Francisco cooling off after spending a hot but dry week in Las Vegas visiting my Dad, brother and sister. On the Fourth of July, we spend the evening on the roof of my college buddy's house enjoying the night lights and hoping to catch some fireworks. The fireworks were a bust due to the low hanging clouds and turned into colored fog as my friends described them, but the view of the night lights was amazing. One of the great views from the roof was of the Coit Tower.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor Lens f2.8, ISO 3200, 1/10 sec.

Columbus Tower at Night

Our family vacation in late June and July was rather frantic and far flung. One of our stops included a stay with friends in San Francisco. After a dinner at Tomasso's our evening walk took us past the Columbus Tower in North Beach.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 50mm f/1.4G AF-Sf2.8, ISO 800, 1/20 sec.

Nishi Azabu Crossing Space Invaders

There are several "Space Invaders" part of a tile mosaic located on the northwest corner of Nishi-Azabu crossing. I photographed it last November but spotted probably several years ago. It's a cool little detail that makes an otherwise ordinary building interesting. The funny thing is it looks like the defense against space invaders is bug spray.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D ED AF @ 120 mm, f2.8, ISO 800, 1/200 sec.

Small Car and Small Parking Space

You often find very small cars and small parking spaces in Japan, especially Tokyo. The new house had a notch in the entry space that could be used to park a kei-car, in this case a Honda N-One. It doesn't seem that there was much space left to get into the house, but I have seen tighter parking spaces in Tokyo.

Nikon D600 with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G ED VR II AF-S IF SWM @ 19 mm, f5.6, ISO 400, 1/15 sec.

Tokyo Station Reboot

Last weekend I took some time to visit the newly restored Tokyo Station. The renovation appears to have been a success, but I was expecting somethnig a little more grand... Oh well, it's still a beautiful station and a very busy station.

Nikon 16-35mm f/4G ED VR II AF-S IF SWM @ 16 mm, f5.6, ISO 400, 1/13 sec.

Nikon 50mm f/1.4G AF-Sf2.8, ISO 400, 1/50 sec.

Urban Haikyo (or does somebody live in there?)

I come across buildings like this in Tokyo quite often, and wonder does someone live there?  I am pretty sure that this building has not be abandoned, just yet.

Nakagin Capsule Tower

The light was not that great on the day I visited the Nakagin Capsule Tower, so I'll have to try again someday soon.

Anyway, it's really remarkable that this building was ever built and remarkable that it still stands today.  Too bad that it hasn't gotten much love and needs to be restored before someone decides that it needs to make way for something more practical and less troublesome. 

I love that you can see shirts hanging inside windows.