Still travelling in Japan

[bakubo]

I have been travelling in Japan for the last month and will probably be here for another couple of months. I just arrived in Matsuyama on Shikoku Sunday and plan to take a rest for awhile. A few weeks of travelling gets you a bit tired. Did a bit of hiking in the mountains too and have seen some wonderful autumn foliage in a few places. In other places it is still a bit early.

So far, I have been to Tokyo, Takayama, Magome, Tsumago, Nagoya, Ise-shima, Futami, Meoto Iwa, Himeji, Kagoshima, Kurashiki, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Takayama again, Shirakawa-go, Kyoto again, Hiroshima, Miyajima, and Matsuyama. Of course, I have taken a lot of photos and I will add some new ones to my website as I get a chance. I have started working on them while I take this break in Matsuyama and hope to have some on the website in the next week or so. While travelling with the backpack I have been carrying a netbook, but here in Matsuyama I have my 17" notebook with all my software loaded on it.

For now, you can also see many of my previous Japan photos from many other trips and when I lived here by checking out the Japan gallery on my website:

http://www.bakubo.com

[David Kilpatrick]

Envy!

All I can say.

David

[bakubo]

Japan is a wonderful country to travel in and also for photography. Although back in 1985 and 1988 on my first trips here I didn't really have any problems I have to say that it is easier to travel now than it was then. Many more English signs and explanations and people here have more experience with foreigners than they used to. Plus, I can speak enough Japanese now that I can get by reasonably well. The only real bad point about this trip is that in all the times I have been here in the last 24 years this is the worst exchange rate I have experienced while here. It is making things even more expensive than they usually are.

I have been carrying the A700, 11-18mm, 18-250mm, 50mm f1.7, F36AM flash, and Canon digicam. Just like last year in Mexico though I regret carrying the flash plus batteries. It adds weight and bulk and, again as last year, I haven't used it once. I think this will be the last time I bring it on this kind of trip. I have used the 18-250mm the most, but have also taken a few photos with the 11-18mm and 50mm. So far, I have taken about 2,450 photos (A700 photos in cRAW) which is about 30gb. For the first time I have also been carrying a netbook plus a 500gb external hd (one of the very small ones that gets power from USB). I have been downloading the cards to the netbook (it has a 160gb hd) and then backing it up to the external hd.

I don't know how I got by in the days before image stabilization, adjustable ISO, etc. because now I rely on it all the time. I generally keep the camera on auto ISO and aperture priority when I am walking around so I am more or less ready, but when there is time I select the ISO myself. I have my auto ISO set to 200-1600, but I wish Sony would allow me to set it to 100-6400.

[Birma]

Hi Henry - great to see an update - I was only wondering yesterdsay how you were getting on. I'm really looking forward to the new Japan galleries that I'm sure you're working on. Have you seen many/any Alphas while you've been there? How is the A700 holding up?

[aster]

I prefer seeing your newest photos Bakubo.

(Twiddling my thumbs on the keyboard.....)

Yildiz

[bakubo]

Hi Henry - great to see an update - I was only wondering yesterdsay how you were getting on. I'm really looking forward to the new Japan galleries that I'm sure you're working on. Have you seen many/any Alphas while you've been there? How is the A700 holding up?

I have seen an A700 and an A200. That's it, 2 Sony DSLRs in a month. At Fushimi Inari Jinja in Kyoto I saw a foreign woman using a white Olympus E-P1 on a wrist-strap and then she started using an A200 around her neck.

My A700 is working fine, but the sleep mode bug is annoying as hell. It is like getting an energetic child to go to sleep and then even without touching the grip sensor or getting close to the eye sensor it often wakes up on its own. I HATE that! I have my doubts Sony will fix this bug like they still haven't fixed the bug where the rear LCD lights up when you have your eye to the camera and change the ISO. It is the biggest thing I miss about the Canon DSLRs and the KM 7D. For some people this seems like a trivial thing, but I detest this aspect of the A700. In other ways though it is a wonderful camera. As I have said before, I don't know how I got by without SSS and adjustable ISO before.

[bakubo]

I prefer seeing your newest photos Bakubo.

(Twiddling my thumbs on the keyboard.....)

Yildiz, I am working on them now! Maybe by next week I will have some uploaded to my website. I will post here when I am done. I think I will take a break from it for much of today though and go to Omogo in the mountains a couple of hours from Matsuyama by car. We are staying here with my wife's family for a rest. I got here on Sunday and she got here about 11 days ago. Sunday her older brother and his wife and their 2 boys (12 and 6) came over and we all had a big dinner together.

A few days ago my wife and her mother were going to throw out a box with some old stuff that had been in a closet for years. They quickly looked through it and found the father's old Minolta X-7 that they hadn't seen for over 20 years. It looks a lot like the X-700 I bought in 1983, but the shutter speed dial on the top just has markings for +/- 2 stops of exposure compensation, X, and B. Apparently, it is automatic only -- maybe aperture priority. Anyway, as she was holding it I casually mentioned that it would be cool if there was still some film in it. She handed it to me and I noticed that the film counter was on 27 so I rewound and sure enough there was a roll of film still in the camera! No one had any idea when it was taken or what was on it, but it had to be over 20 years old. We all were full of anticipation and took it to get developed. It turns out that it was photos of my wife and some of her high school friends about 22 years ago!

[aster]

Hi Bakubo,

Lucky you! Vintage box gems are always exciting to go through.
Apparently you're enjoying a family reunion in a way too as well as a good chance to take some wonderful photos. The stops you made already are very inspiring to my thoughts. Looking forward to the photos.

I need a vintage box that will spring out gems as well! Some good-quality excitement would be good for the soul at the moment.

Don't forget to take some photos of the food and table settings too! I love their traditional approaches to food and table manners.

Keep us updated...

Yildiz

[Dr. Harout]

...A few days ago my wife and her mother were going to throw out a box with some old stuff that had been in a closet for years. They quickly looked through it and found the father's old Minolta X-7 that they hadn't seen for over 20 years. It looks a lot like the X-700 I bought in 1983, but the shutter speed dial on the top just has markings for +/- 2 stops of exposure compensation, X, and B. Apparently, it is automatic only -- maybe aperture priority. Anyway, as she was holding it I casually mentioned that it would be cool if there was still some film in it. She handed it to me and I noticed that the film counter was on 27 so I rewound and sure enough there was a roll of film still in the camera! No one had any idea when it was taken or what was on it, but it had to be over 20 years old. We all were full of anticipation and took it to get developed. It turns out that it was photos of my wife and some of her high school friends about 22 years ago!

I adore such surprises.
And of course I envy you too. Wish you a very very nice and happy shooting (so we all enjoy them too )

[bakubo]

I thought I would be further along with working on the set of photos from the first 4 weeks of travel, but since arriving in Matsuyama a week ago I went on a full day trip to Omogo on Thursday and then early Saturday morning went on a 2 day trip to the Iya Valley in central Shikoku, Oboke, and then on to Kochi -- all places I have not been to before. Just got back a couple of hours ago. I have now added almost 400 additional photos to the almost 2500 ones from before. At this rate I will never catch up.

[bakubo]

For the first time I have gone over 10,000 on a digital camera. My latest photo is DSC00100. I have had 10 digital cameras since 2001 (5 DSLRs) and the DSLRs usually only get to about 4000-6000 before I sell them and get a new one. I have had the A700 for 19 months so that is about average for how long I have owned my other DSLRs. The thing that has been different though is that in between trips we have been living in Hawaii so I have used it a whole lot there too.

About 2 weeks after we got to Japan 5 weeks ago I dropped one belt hole. It always happens when I come to Japan that I lose a bit of weight. Different food with generally fewer calories does it.

[David Kilpatrick]

India can have that effect too, but it has nothing to do with the calories

David

[bakubo]

I want to get to India one of these days. While we were still in Hawaii a few weeks ago I had thought I might go this month leaving from Japan, but with the Japan travels and the need for an India visa, which takes a lot longer for a non-resident to get in Japan, and not being in one place long enough where I could do without my passport for one or two weeks I have had to postpone that idea. It became clear that I was just trying to cram too much into this fall. Well, maybe next year....I have been saying that for a decade though.

[bakubo]

I have started a new thread that has a link to my website where I have just uploaded a bunch of new photos from my current Japan travels. Also, I posted a few sample photos in the thread. Here it is:

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/vie ... =17&t=3414