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Japan Diary 1



  My trip to Japan was an unsponsored trip funded by myself, so I never had any real plans for detailed updates about the journey. At the same time I love sharing images so what follows will be a rough diary. I was very relaxed about the trip and didn't pay too much attention to where we were going or what our locations were. Instead I just tried to relax and go with the flow, so expect no useful beta.

In my camera bag for the trip:

Nikon D700
Tamron 28-75 f/2.8
Nikkor 70-300VR
Zeiss 80mm f/2.8 pentacon mount with a tilt adapter
Arsat 35mm f/2.8 tilt shift
Samyang 14mm f/2.8
Samyang 85mm f/1.4

Plus batteries, cf cards, polarizers and grad nd filters. No backup body as this trip was about fun.

 First off of course we had to get there. We all booked tickets out of LAX and took my whip down the 5.


You'd be amazed at how fast Timber can destroy a tennis ball. She spent the whole drive down staring at the ones on my rack, so I had to give her one.

Samyang 85mm f/1.4

Cody double checking his audio recording setup.

Samyang 85mm f/1.4

When you ride is as fly as mine it's important to capture its raw power in full glory. Tilt shifting the soccer mom. I'd like this shot a lot more if it weren't for the pickup parked in front of the van.

Arsat 35mm f/2.8



Tilting is fun because boring shots can be entertaining to take, and marginally entertaining to look at.

Zeiss 80mm f/2.8

A quick hop across the pond, Ryan Knight and Brandy Suppi in Japan.

Samyang 85mm f/1.4 wide open

I'd heard about all the little characters, and indeed the Japanese do love them, and so do I.


Narita airport was pretty empty when we were there. It wasn't that late at night, but things had been slow since the Tsunami. What a clean airport with interesting architecture.

Shooting wide again, Nikon D700 and Samyang 14mm f/2.8

At the hostel scouting Japanese style, Yoshi shares his waterfalls book and we pick out some locations.


Japan Diary 2, some actual kayaking?

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