I accompanied my girlfriend to Fukuoka the other day. While she was busy I walked around and shot a few photos.
Being rainy season it’s often cloudy and today there was this layer of extremely low clouds (high fog?) that obscured the tops of buildings, while it was fairly clear at ground level. It made for some great black and white photo opportunities.
I shot these on B&W film and developed them myself. I tried a new developer dilution combo that I hadn’t used before and it gave me a wonderful grain (from a 400 speed film who’s grain is usually not too bad.) It worked for these photos though!
I snapped this interesting photo at a recent inter-high sports competition. The match (between two schools in my prefecture) was hosted by the main school that I teach at.
**this is posted with the permission of kyoutou-sensei (the vice-principle)**
Shortly after I got my first paycheck in Japan I bought a nice bike to get me around. Buying a bike was a challenge, MANY, MANY Japanese bikes are simply proportioned badly for your typical sized American! My knees came up too high and almost hit the handle bars on many, and the handle bars couldn’t be raised that much. I bought one and returned it 1hr later because the pedals were only 7cm off the ground and my toes kept hitting the ground while pedaling and taking turns!! Also MANY bikes don’t have gears and are what we could consider a "woman’s" bike in the US with a sagging central bar or granny handlebars which bend back towards the rider. Bikes here in Japan really suck for the most part. Despite the plethora of $100 bikes, the only ones that fit me comfortably were around $300 on up :-\
In the 10th bike shop I visited I finally found a bike that I liked and that fit me. Strangely, it was made by the company that made my Japanese cel phone! It’s been OK, but I kept having spokes break because they were too weak! A serious design flaw. I got mad at the bike shop and in order to get rid of the angry foreigner they quickly replaced all of the spokes for free with heavier gauge ones at no charge. It is super-useful to understand the finer points of wielding the Japanese language. You have no idea how shocked Japanese people are to hear a foreigner speak anything other than the polite Japanese (teineigo - desu/masu) that we learn in textbooks. I told the shop owner 割り箸はこの自転車より強いだよ！(very bluntly: "Disposable chopsticks are stronger than this bike.")
I was out shooting a few photos with my girlfriend the other weekend and took these of my bike. I have put SOOOOOOO many miles on this thing. It’s taken me EVERYWHERE.
I shot this on a roll of Kodak Tri-X 400 that I bought by accident and LOVED this film. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this film and can’t wait to buy and shoot more. I developed it myself in D-76 stock.
Miyajima is one of my favorite sights in Japan. I returned there a few weeks ago to show my mom who was visiting Japan from the states.
Shot on B&W film and developed myself.
I shot this on B&W film (self developed) on my recent second trip to Miyajima.
Miyajima is considered one of the most beautiful places in Japan and officially designated as a "world heritage site." It is the home of the ever so magestic and famous floating torii.
My girlfriend and I went to Beppu, Japan’s most famous hot-spring town. It has more hot water bubbling out of the ground than any other city on Earth. The town is literally steaming.
Among Beppu’s attractions are 8 地獄 (Jigoku) which translates into "hells" because the water and steam coming out of the Earth bubbles and boils like the image of hell in so many cultures.
These photos were taken at the Onishibouzu Hell where the Earth’s heat causes pools of bubbling mud. To the eye it looks like bubbles and splats, but if you freeze it in time there are some quite interesting and artistic forms that only exist for a fraction of a second.
(C) William Milberry
Every day, even Sat. and Sun. (because of club activities and sports), students diligently put on their uniforms in Japan and go to school.
I shot this candid shot on a local train in the countryside of Japan early on a Sunday morning. It is such a representative scene of daily Japanese life I couldn’t resist, even though I am generally apprehensive about doing candid shots of students.
The Japanese use mobile phones to an extraordinary degree, but unlike American’s they don’t chat on them non-stop, they use them for e-mail.
I don’t do candid shots too often. I really love the way this shot came out.
As I said in my last post, I’m not currently having fun with sterile, overly clean, digital photos anymore so I’ve been shooting film, trying to create images which are affected by their medium and have character without digital manipulation.
This photo is as-shot on IR film with no digital editing.
I have been shooting a lot of black and white and learning and experimenting with film and developing it myself. I don’t really have any spectacular photos to show for it yet, but I am really enjoying the process. I’m tired of the sterile, clean, colorful look of digital. I want my photos to reflect their recording medium with grain, and maybe even a little dirt, imperfect focus, etc. Much like the roughness and texture of texture and paint take away clear details, yet contribute overall to the aesthetics of a painting.
This is a rice field shot on infrared sensitive panchromatic film through a deep red filter.
I took a Nozomi Shinkansen from Kyuushuu up to visit Kyoto and Osaka for a few days a few weekends ago.
These badass trains travel at around 285 KM/hr and are smoooooooth. They look awesome too!
In their 40 year history there have been ZERO fatalities due to accidents or derailments (including accidents caused by earthquakes and typhoons.) That probably makes them the SAFEST form of transportation in the world.
The inside is quite clean and comfortable too! Even for a big Westerner like me.
The only way to travel!
