dragon on the ceiling at Kencho-ji's Hatto in Kamakura - painted by Junsaku Koizumi to celebrate the 750th anniversary of the temple

As we enter 2012, I have to say that I don’t think there is anyone in Japan who is sorry to see the end of 2011. I’m not suggesting that the memory of March 11 and the impact of March 11 can be left behind or somehow easily overcome because the date has changed, but there is definitely something positive about turning the page on the figurative calendar and feeling the hope, possibility and potential of a new year in front of you.

Wishing you all a fantastic 2012!

As much as I love the little S95 for its f/2.0, its full manual functionality, and its RAW file option, point-and-shoots always disappoint for night shots and there’s one main reason: NOISE.

Before I go any further, I should add that there are many situations when I absolutely love noise in a shot (usually black and white and usually for added atmosphere), but, when shooting “standard” shots (like the one below), I have much less tolerance.

The shot below is ISO 1600 f/4 with no processing other than the RAW to jpg conversion. In this smaller size, the noise is not so noticeable; but, if you click on the image for the larger version, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

the noisy version

Of course, the easy solution is to just run the image through some noise reduction software. However, I assume that the majority of people who use point-and-shoots as their main camera would not own dedicated noise reduction software – it’s only an “easy solution” if you have the tools. Below is the same photo after running it through Imagenomic’s Noiseware Photoshop plugin (just the standard “night scene” setting).

the de-noised version

If you’re just sharing your photos digitally (Facebook, etc.) the noise is not such a problem, but, for me, because I’m used to using a DSLR with much better noise control, the noise always disappoints. I’m not giving up on the PowerShot S95 though: I really love it and I’m sure I can find some sweet spot in the settings that will make this less of an issue. It’s great to always have a small camera in my bag, night or day. I was walking over the Kachidoki bridge the other night and, remembering it was in my bag, stopped to take this shot:

Night fishing on the Sumida River

The Sumida River taken from Kachidoki Bridge

This is a stitch of five separate shots, which the app processes pretty quickly. If you have not held the phone in exactly the same position, you can then crop off any excess space around the image that did not align.

The actual output is a large image, which you can see here (but it’s 3228 x 1372, so there’s scrolling involved). I cropped it down to 1800 x 765 for on-screen viewing, which is here (or, again, you can click the image above).

In the photo, Tsukiji market is on the right (where the yellow boat is) and, behind Tsukiji, that clump of buildings is the Shiodome area. So that you can visualize the location in the context of central Tokyo, this Google map shows where the shot was taken from (the little “A” marker):

Click on map for the actual Google version

I live about a 5-minute walk from the Sumida river and I love being so close to what is, in many ways, a vital element in the history of Tokyo. The whole city was originally built up around the Sumida and, if you’ve never walked along its banks from Chuo-ku to up to Taito-ku, you are missing a big chunk of what has shaped this city since two brothers dragged a statue of the Kannon out of the river 1,380 years ago:

On 18 March 628, two fishermen hauling their catch from the Sumida river found a golden image trapped in the nets. The Hinokuma brothers, credited with finding the statue of Kannon, goddess of mercy, are remembered in Asakusa Shrine, next to the present Asakusa Kannon temple, also known as Senso-ji. Built to house the statue and dedicated in 635, it is the oldest temple in Japan.
(excerpt from Tokyo: A Cultural History, by Stephen Mansfield – a great read on Tokyo)

At the very least, if you don’t want to walk the banks of the Sumida, you should definitely hop on the Suijo-Bus and cruise up the river from Hinode Pier to Asakusa (despite the name, it is not a “bus”, but, instead, a river boat that cruises up to Asakusa at least once an hour).

9AM outside the Ginza Apple Store doors - from this angle, all looks almost normal

I had to go to Tokyo station earlier this morning and, because I live nearby, I thought I’d stroll back through Ginza on my way home and see what was happening outside the Apple store at the iPhone 4S launch.

I approached from the back of the line, which started way back – a few blocks from the store:

a tired-looking Apple Store staff-member resting on boxes of water

the line from the front end - looking down towards Ginza 1-chōme

After taking the shot above, I continued walking and literally a few doors down I passed the window of a small book store which really explains quite a bit about the level of Apple obsession in Japan:

magazines in the window a few doors down from the Apple Store in Ginza

Just before 9AM, the line stretched a few blocks, basically from Ginza 1-chōme station to the Apple store. The time says 9:20 because I mapped it out after I’d left the area, and I basically decided to map it out because I’m endlessly intrigued by the fact that people will actually line up overnight for consumer goods in 2011.

approximate length of the line as I strolled by

Obviously, as you can see from the map image, I’m an iPhone user, but NOTHING would motivate me to line up for an electronic device. In fact, it reminds me of the pictures from Russia that fascinated me as a kid: people lining up for scarce goods at GUM, except, as noted, people in the Khrushchev and Brezhnev eras were lining up for things that were scarce. Today, in wealthy so-called developed nations, we have people lining up for items that are essentially commoditized. It’s truly bizarre.

]]> http://blog.tokyololas.com/apple-iphone-4s-launch-tokyo-ginza/feed/ 1 http://blog.tokyololas.com/memories-of-the-mekong/ http://blog.tokyololas.com/memories-of-the-mekong/#comments Sun, 04 Sep 2011 14:09:59 +0000 Laura http://blog.tokyololas.com/?p=1402

the canal looking a very muddy brown this morning - iPhone + TiltShift + Instagram Hefe filter

When looking out the window this morning, the colour of the canal below was reminiscent of the Mekong River: a muddy brown that had me remembering various moments on the Mekong. One very funny one was years ago in Vietnam, where the boatman insisted on taking us to a bee farm despite our desperate mime act in an attempt to convey the following: severe allergy to bee stings resulting in anaphylactic shock and certain death on a tiny island in the Mekong Delta.

Well, obviously I survived, but we laugh about it to this day as we recall the boatman eating his free lunch (a freshly caught chicken whipped up into some tasty-looking dish), which was clearly his reward for bringing tourists to the island with the bee farm/honey store/restaurant, while we sucked on lychee nuts because there was nothing else for two non-meat eaters to eat. I do have photos of that boat ride, but they are all on film, so I’d have to dig them out and scan them.

Another favourite was stepping out from the Pak Ou caves in Laos (the famous “Buddha Caves” about 25km north of Luang Prabang by boat) and seeing this lovely scene:

looking down at the parked boats in Laos

And still another favourite moment was a late afternoon spent perched on a stool in front of a large open window watching the sun set a beautiful pink and gold on the Mekong River in Phnom Penh. I read a book and drank a cold beer and watched a man and his family push off in their small boat:

a fisherman and his family push off in their small boat

So, now, after writing this, I feel the urge to travel…

By the way, this is the usual colour of the canal in front of us: