Zach awry in Japan » Family

Family B&Ws

Zachary — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:08:41 +0000

I’ve been wanting to take some close-ups of eyes for the next meeting of my photography group, and foolishly thought that maybe I could get my kids to cooperate. This first photo here happened basically by chance, but none of the others were what I was aiming for. So much for getting my kids to hold still. Still I took the opportunity to grab some nice photos of everybody. Here I used a plugin called Silver Effects Pro for the B&W conversion.

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Whereupon I Post Way Too Many Pictures of My Family Eating Xmas Dinner

Zachary — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 12:35:57 +0000

Today was Christmas Eve, and we enjoyed it eating a nice dinner together cooked by other people.

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Zoe got a new ballet leotard today, which she wanted to show off as soon as we got home.

Very composed
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Followed by a graceful bow that somehow went wrong…

or Not So Composed
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“Christmas cakes” are a big tradition in Japan. Do people do this in the States as well?

I have no idea what Genbo is doing or thinking
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Zoe and Me

Zachary — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:55:09 +0000

I don’t know why, but I like this shot of Zoe and me, taken by Genbo. Maybe because it does a good job of revealing Zoe at what I think is a sort of tipping point in her development. Up to now she has been the quintessential “little girl,” but now she is getting into ballet, learning how to read, learning how to write…All things that are taking her into the next stage of her life, which is poignant for me to watch and take part in.

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Marathon Man

Zachary — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 13:14:22 +0000

Japanese people call any running over about 30 seconds “marathon,” which is incredibly annoying to someone like me who prefers to assume that words mean actual things. I wouldn’t mind it if “marason” was simply a loanword from English to Japanese that came to mean “running” or something like that. But, Japanese people know that it’s supposed to mean a 42 km race; they just generally feel free to mangle meanings of words that come from English. It’s as though Americans knew the word “sushi” was supposed to mean vinnegared rice with raw fish, but felt perfectly justified using it to refer to hamburgers as well, because hey, that’s meat and starch too, and it’s just a foreign word, so who gives a shit.

Anway, Genbo and his class ran a “marason” the other day. They had been practicing for it for a long time, and he was pretty excited about it, so I went down and snapped some photos. This particular marathon was 1 km, and Genbo came in 14th place out of 59 boys in his class.

Home stretch
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Almost there!
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Here are some photos of him I snapped the other day…

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Muir Woods, Pt. II

Zachary — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:37:10 +0000

Here are shots of everybody at Muir Woods.

Dunno why giant trees inspire giggles…
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Into the woods…
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Waiting for their turn in the tree…
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Hanging out in the burned out bole of a tree
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This giant tree had fallen over the path. You can see where it fell from in the middle of the frame. Genbo is standing on about the midway point of the tree, and it continues way past the edge of the frame to the right.

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Muir Woods, Pt. I

Zachary — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 06:30:13 +0000

Today we went to Muir Woods, a grove of huge redwoods that I remember fondly from when I was a kid growing up in the area. It was great to be able to take my own kids there. Although they didn’t approach the trees with quite the same quiet, pensive reverence that I prefer (to put it mildly), they had their own fun take on the environment and pursued it with abandon. Pictures of G&Z will have to wait until next post, because this one concentrates on the trees.

These are all taken with HDR, or the technique of mixing a light, normal and dark exposure to mitigate the camera’s limited ability to record a wide range of luminosity at once. Using it is a big benefit in this environment, because the forest makes for a whole lot of shadows. This is the first time I’ve really experimented with HDR B&W, but I think it suits the subject.

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These last two were taken outside the park…

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Minnesota, Pt. II

Zachary — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:22:47 +0000

We’ve been spending more time at their cousin Linnea’s. Most of these shots are of them playing in her back yard. I’ll leave off the commentary; they’re just doing what kids do when we don’t make ‘em do something else.

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In these last few, Genbo is doing homework, Linnea is coloring while being irked she can’t understand Gen’s Japanese homework, and Zoe is reaping the rewards of pillaging Linnea’s closet.

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Minnesota, Pt. I

Zachary — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 04:49:06 +0000

Genbo, Zoe and I survived the 24 hour trip from Kyoto to Minneapolis. It was actually not nearly as bad as I had mentally prepared for; the kids are definitely getting easier. There was the hiccup at Osaka International when the check-in agent informed me we three wouldn’t be seated together, but that was resolved after I rationally (didn’t lose my cool at all; nope, not one bit) convinced them that it was in their own best interests not to seat us separately.

We’ve been playing with their cousin Linnea. Here we are at the pool, followed by Linnea’s house.

Genbo doesn’t really know how to swim, but he can snorkel.
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Linnea and Genbo
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A fetching Zoe…
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God I love the 85/1.4!
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Whereupon I Post Way Too Many Photos of My Kids in the Park

Zachary — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 07:49:58 +0000

I’ve been working a LOT lately, which has left precious little time for really quality family time, or photography, or shakuhachi. I was work-free this past Sunday, though, and sent Genbo and Zoe out to play in the next-door park with friends while Maki and I watched this program about a painter who had been commissioned by two elderly people to paint a portrait of their daughter who had been killed in an accident. By the end I had tears streaming out of my eyes while I grabbed my camera to go take pictures of the kids while Maki just laughed at me.

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I used a nifty program called Posterino to create this image, which I will be printing big just as soon as I get a chance.

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Kids Growing Like Vines

Zachary — Sat, 21 May 2011 13:22:49 +0000

Today was parents’ day at Zoe’s daycare. We got to go and watch them do daycare stuff. Genbo got to go and play with lots of friends he hasn’t seen since starting first grade. I got to go and take lots of photos of blooming wisteria vines with my 85/1.4. Maki got to get peeved at me for spending 90% of my time taking pictures of plants, and not our kids, specifically the one we were there to pay attention to.

Wisteria 1. I don’t usually go for high-key lighting, but this just happened and it kind of works
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Wisteria 2. This low-key is definitely much more my style
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Wisteria 3. Nice, if a little boring.
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Genbo playing soccer with old friends
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And, finally, Mommy and Zoe engaging in meaningful parent-child interaction
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