35mm Monday

• Monday, March 28, 2011
• Posted in Tokyo
• 15 Comments

Day 1 in the Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 rotation.  I have to say that shooting for a week at 21mm really helped my photography overall.   I remember before when I would shoot my 35mm I would get my viewfinder up to my eye to determine if it was a good shot or not but noticed today that I could tell if I had a good shot or not without touching the camera.  I also noticed that I had all ‘keepers’ except where I bracketed exposures or reframed a shot.    I was surprised how much I was able to shoot today especially as I was just snapping along while I commuted to and from work.    I didn’t specifically go a different route looking for things to shoot.   I also love how light the M9 feels with the 35mm lens on it.    This is a much smaller and lighter lens than the Summilux-M 21mm or Noctilux 50mm.

I of course started off with the shot of my street.  I think I like the 50mm version best.

The local temple was having a funeral this morning.

I find it strange that there is actually a bike parking lot in Nakameguro but people continue to park their bikes all over the streets, everywhere.  I’ll need to go down in here one day and see if there are actually any bikes parked here.    Maybe the issue is it is full or people don’t want to pay the 100 yen.

24 hour Soba… It is sad to admit that I never noticed this place in the 6 years I have lived in Nakameguro but good to know!

OK, let’s review these rules again as there appears to be some confusion.    If it is after 7:25AM and you are not a women, handicapped man or primary school aged boy, you can’t ride in this car.   This is for women, girls, young boys and handicapped men.

8:08AM…

Can you use the SOS button if there are 4,000 people in front of you shuffling forward at a snail’s pace?

It’s hard to trust a noodle marker who is this happy…

More cute warning signs…

A group was protesting in front of my office building saying that a company on the 20th floor didn’t pay them.   Thankfully not my company!

I need to warn you that there will probably be a blog posting in the future about a Bacon Double Cheese Burger, Onion Rings, Fries and a Diet Coke.   I know diet is sort of defeated at this point but I like the taste.   I keep craving BK and know I will be sucked in one day.  This stands between my office and the Leica Shop.  It is only a matter of time…

Meet Megumi… She is one of the good souls working at Second Harvest Japan.   She called me this morning to see if I could come over and take some more photos for them.   I adjust my schedule a bit and skipped lunch and headed over for a quick shoot.   They have made 18 trips already delivering food and supplies to the effected areas.    Great people doing great work.   If you want to learn more you can find their website HERE.   If you want to donate you can do so HERE.

This guy is a famous Japanese Wrestler and he was here helping to move boxes.

Here is one of the smaller trucks that was covered in messages delivered up North.   There were also messages from up North to the people back in Tokyo.

There is always need for supplies, volunteers and donations.   Everyone has something to offer, see how you can help.

Perhaps I am the only one who finds humor in the fact that the sponsor for this Judo match is a noodle company who’s slogan is ‘Smiles for All’…

It is still hard to get use to how dark Tokyo is after sunset.  I feel like I am out way too late…

These people waiting for friends at ‘Hachiko’ were only visible by the glow from their mobile phone screens.

Looking forward to Day 2!

 

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• Show comments (15)
  • May 01, 2011 at 9:19 am, Dave said:

    Thanks Graham. It to see you around.

  • May 01, 2011 at 4:54 am, Graham McDonnell said:

    Hi Dave, I hope you can shake your cold. I am continually pleased by your photo trips around TokYo. Thanks for lugging your camera wherever you go.
    Your night shot of Shibuya which impressed the editor in Russia impressed me too. Graham

  • March 31, 2011 at 9:33 am, Dave said:

    Good question Jen. There are a lot of signs in English. I am not sure of the logic of why the police cars are, maybe to make them noticable to non-Japanese but it is pretty obvious what they are. Regarding Cameras, a few people were asking this last week. Pieter chimed in with his expertise, I reposted his response below. Sounds like the Fuji Film x100 is the one to get.

    —from Pieter—

    Dave asked me to chip on my experience with compacts and M34.

    This is my biased recommendation:

    Compact: Lumix Lx5 or Leica Dlux5 — great camera, small, light, wonderful lens, RAW, always delivers. I had a LX3, DLUX4 and have been enjoying this for the past 2 years plus. Canon G series is too heavy, Nikon Coolpix lags behind. Olympus has come up with a LX5 copy, not sure if it is any good. Video is fun too.

    Bargain – get a Lumix LX3 or DLUX4 second hand. Almost the same for less money.

    Micro43

    Lumix GF1 – compact, great form factor, great still camera. Get it with the 20mm f1.7 pancake lens. Avoid the GF2 – is smaller, but not good for shooting.
    Lumix GH2 – best Micro43 camera on the market. Bit more bulky. Awesome video. Very fast auto focus.

    If you’re looking at the Sigma, I would recommend you consider the Fuji X100. Much better shooter camera as it is fast and has great image quality. Video is awesome too. Light and robust. The Sigma is good for landscape only – anything inside or with people is not going to work well. Though in landscape the Sigma delivers great imagery.

  • March 30, 2011 at 9:49 pm, Jen said:

    just curious – why would the police car be written out in english? and if you had to purchase an everyday pocket camera – something to take decent pictures and not on the professional level – what would you suggest?

  • March 29, 2011 at 5:56 pm, Diego Tomasoni said:

    An Alfa Romeo “Giulietta” in Tokyo. It’s so amazing ahah!!!

  • March 29, 2011 at 8:09 am, Dave said:

    Thanks LeeAnn. I liked that one as well. It is hard to tell the story of darkness but I thought that image captured it nicely. Aftershocks seem to be dying down at least in Tokyo. We had one yesterday but I was in the shower and didn’t notice until I saw everyone tweeting about it. I had to confirm with my wife that we actually had one. Perhaps I have become numb to them… or as my favorite tweet I saw on the topic said “equilibrium has been destroyed…vertigo is now constant…need to look at chain hanging from light to determine if this is really an earthquake”.

  • March 29, 2011 at 7:53 am, LeeAnn said:

    You’re night time photos are amazing! I just love the one with the peoples faces being lit up by their mobile phones, that’s one awesome shot!
    I’ve been hearing that there have been more after shocks the last few days, how are you holding up?

  • March 29, 2011 at 7:44 am, Dave said:

    My workflow has completely changed since getting an M9. Basically it is something like this; shoot, put card into Mac, import into Lightroom, convert to .jpg, post on blog. I do next to no post processing of my images other than converting to .jpgs. Maybe 5% of the time I do small adjustments such as cropping the imagine, adjusting exposure, or adding vignette in Lightroom, other than that it is all straight out of the camera. I haven’t touched Photoshop with my Leica yet, no need. The colors and contrast are all products of Leica glass.

  • March 29, 2011 at 7:36 am, Dave said:

    Macro this is the beauty of Tokyo. Cars like this are easy to find. The fiat was parked in front of a house about 2 blocks from the Impossible Project Space. This red Alfa Romeo was parked in front of my office.

  • March 29, 2011 at 7:29 am, Kevin said:

    Dave, I wish my lenses were that fast so that i would -have- to buy ND filters! What is your workflow like? Has it changed now that you’re shooting with the M9?

  • March 29, 2011 at 7:25 am, marco barsotti said:

    The photo of the two persons with their mobile is absolutly incredible.

    And…A Duetto (“graduate”) that is, an Alfa Romeo! Yesterday it was a 500 from Fiat, Torino, and today a Alfaromeo from Milano!

  • March 29, 2011 at 7:12 am, Dave said:

    Thanks Kevin. I love Bokeh. I actually had to buy ND4s for all of my lenses (ND 6 for my 50mm .95) so I can shoot them wide open during the day. Leica Lenses are designed to performance optimally wide open so they are a pleasure to shoot and NDs are a must.

  • March 29, 2011 at 5:38 am, kevin said:

    I just wanted to say how absolutely beautiful your pictures are.
    They bring me back to a familiar Tokyo everyday. I especially like the train station pictures (Yoyogi/Yotsuya). Love the bokeh!

  • March 28, 2011 at 10:48 pm, Dave said:

    Enjoy your ‘Bread Papa’s’ Kat… There aren’t rolling blackouts but power consumption is reported at 90% so most Neon through Tokyo is shut off, most stores and offices have limited lighting, etc. After dark, it’s dark…

  • March 28, 2011 at 10:42 pm, Kat said:

    Going through this the strongest thought that came to mind was “Beard Papa’s!” Now I want one. I think I’ll pass by the store tomorrow.

    Glad to see Tokyo’s getting back on its feet. Although are there still electricity rotations?