Memories of Hokkaido

[giantcanopy]

Another time out for ice cream.
We had ice cream at every city we stopped at. Imagine how many we had.
Japanese call them as soft cream. Very thick.
The one at foreground is the lavender ice cream ( my initial impression was the smell resembled our lavender scented detergents :bsmilie: ), the background being Milk Melon ice cream

You probably do not need to try one at every place. But treat yourself to them when you are there.

#61

Ryan

 

[zoossh]

Another time out for ice cream.
We had ice cream at every city we stopped at. Imagine how many we had.
Japanese call them as soft cream. Very thick.
The one at foreground is the lavender ice cream ( my initial impression was the smell resembled our lavender scented detergents :bsmilie: ), the background being Milk Melon ice cream

You probably do not need to try one at every place. But treat yourself to them when you are there.

#60

Ryan

very comfortable picture to look at.

by the way, what wb mode do you use? i noted many indoor shots where the cast is a little strong... i wonder if that is a preference of in-camera wb or further pushed through, or a result of wb as taken, left unadjusted without conversion.

 

[giantcanopy]

very comfortable picture to look at.

by the way, what wb mode do you use? i noted many indoor shots where the cast is a little strong... i wonder if that is a preference of in-camera wb or further pushed through, or a result of wb as taken, left unadjusted without conversion.

White balance were adjusted for a number of them, though i must admit a few were left with wb set as shade in camera.

Ryan

 

[giantcanopy]

#62

Took this shot while we were on a roadside bench sampling melons of different sweetness grades ( ok we gotta pay for it, not really free samples ) Of course to save the trouble, go for the sweetest.

Caught this boy and dad walking past us. The dad was actually trying to show his son something across the street, but he was obviously more transfixed on something else.

 

[jfoo]

#62

Took this shot while we were on a roadside bench sampling melons of different sweetness grades ( ok we gotta pay for it, not really free samples ) Of course to save the trouble, go for the sweetest.

Caught this boy and dad walking past us. The dad was actually trying to show his son something across the street, but he was obviously more transfixed on something else.

from this shot, the boy looks like he's holding an ice cream cone.

hmmmmmm, really miss the melon ice cream and the black sesame ice cream and the vanilla ice cream..............ah, need to go again. :think:

 

[giantcanopy]

from this shot, the boy looks like he's holding an ice cream cone.

hmmmmmm, really miss the melon ice cream and the black sesame ice cream and the vanilla ice cream..............ah, need to go again. :think:

Think it happened that the ice cream appeared to be beside him :bsmilie: wasn intentional

There are too many reasons to go back. Did you go northern / northeast Hokkaido ? Me planning to cover the rest of the places.

Ryan

 

[giantcanopy]

#63

K's Blowing. Where you yourself can have a try at creating glass art.

Next to it is a supermart that sells fruits. And Yubari melons and Densuke black watermelons.

 

[giantcanopy]

#64

Artisans at work.
K's Blowing. Otaru

 

[jfoo]

Think it happened that the ice cream appeared to be beside him :bsmilie: wasn intentional

There are too many reasons to go back. Did you go northern / northeast Hokkaido ? Me planning to cover the rest of the places.

Ryan

we went with tour group and covered one round of hokkaido island but there were many places we didn't visit as they were under another tour itinerary. we did go to the northern most part which was the coldest point of japan.

we went during winter and it was -20 at night. one of the afternoon we had -18 while we were at the zoo. only the penguins came out. :cry:

will probably take a few trips if you take one package after another or we may do F&E next time. we took a few days F&E in osaka after hokkaido.

here are some photos from my previous trip:
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=340076
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=339345
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=339344
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=340084

 

[BourbonCoke]

Cool effects. Nice photos.

 

[giantcanopy]

we went with tour group and covered one round of hokkaido island but there were many places we didn't visit as they were under another tour itinerary. we did go to the northern most part which was the coldest point of japan.

we went during winter and it was -20 at night. one of the afternoon we had -18 while we were at the zoo. only the penguins came out. :cry:

will probably take a few trips if you take one package after another or we may do F&E next time. we took a few days F&E in osaka after hokkaido.

here are some photos from my previous trip:
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=340076
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=339345
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=339344
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=340084

Lovely. Me and my gf are drafting out a few places to visit in winter.
We will probably drop by Hakodate again since we missed the night view at Mount Hakodate due to bad weather, the Snow Festival in Sapporo, Otaru, ? Daisetsuzan ( sunrise is beautiful ), Definitely planning Mashu, as well as the crane sanctuary!

Think I will cross refer to the itinerary tour groups offer as well.

Anyone with suggestions in traveling up north / east can drop me a pm :bsmilie:

Ryan

 

[giantcanopy]

Cool effects. Nice photos.

Thx BourbonCoke

The effects you referring to is selective focusing taken with a tilt shift lens.

Ryan

 

[zoossh]

#62

Took this shot while we were on a roadside bench sampling melons of different sweetness grades ( ok we gotta pay for it, not really free samples ) Of course to save the trouble, go for the sweetest.

Caught this boy and dad walking past us. The dad was actually trying to show his son something across the street, but he was obviously more transfixed on something else.

i would say that if he is truely transfixed on something else, the blurring on the right serve against the picture. of cos i note that if that is your lens attached, and the subject moves away, you would have no choice if the blurring is due to lens-factor.

 

[giantcanopy]

i would say that if he is truely transfixed on something else, the blurring on the right serve against the picture. of cos i note that if that is your lens attached, and the subject moves away, you would have no choice if the blurring is due to lens-factor.

Hi zoossh

The original photographic intent of the tilt was just to capture him away from the background, with the exaggerated blur to further accentuate the focus. Having the tables in focus with the boy would have been too cluttered.

The focus plane of lens was tilted along the plane that captured the boy and inevitably caught part of the ice cream shop. I doubt I could have done to capture what transfixed him since he was looking at a point far posterior on my right.

I was actually trying to capture him doing something else. This picture was part of what I got. Unexpectedly.

Here is another take.
A shop keeper with his potential customer.
It was an only one grab shot before the shop lady came and told me no photos allowed.
Usually I see and assess a scene, pre-tilt my lens for which plane i desire to have focus before i look through the viewfinder and shoot.

In this case with limit of time i made a choice to not have the bags in focus.

#63

 

[giantcanopy]

#64

A small eatery which we did not visit.

 

[zoossh]

Hi zoossh

The original photographic intent of the tilt was just to capture him away from the background, with the exaggerated blur to further accentuate the focus. Having the tables in focus with the boy would have been too cluttered.

The focus plane of lens was tilted along the plane that captured the boy and inevitably caught part of the ice cream shop. I doubt I could have done to capture what transfixed him since he was looking at a point far posterior on my right.

I was actually trying to capture him doing something else. This picture was part of what I got. Unexpectedly.

Here is another take.
A shop keeper with his potential customer.
It was an only one grab shot before the shop lady came and told me no photos allowed.
Usually I see and assess a scene, pre-tilt my lens for which plane i desire to have focus before i look through the viewfinder and shoot.

In this case with limit of time i made a choice to not have the bags in focus.

#63

a question out of ignorance. how long does it take to change from tilt to shift and does it require you to look through the viewfinder to adjust?

 

[giantcanopy]

a question out of ignorance. how long does it take to change from tilt to shift and does it require you to look through the viewfinder to adjust?

Longer than usual. Cause everything is manual, even stopping down aperture.
The 24mm PC has a ( surprisingly ) loose tilt/shift gliding mechanism, usually after tilt i tighten the tilt knob just a little and manual focus for the subjects before i take the shot.

Much slower than just AF and shoot.

Ryan

 

[giantcanopy]

#64

We were lucky we caught the tail end of the Ushio festival. ( we actually had no idea )
We checked into Hotel Sonia, just to be dismayed we were not give a high floor to see the entire Otaru Canal ( Actually our hotel is just one street across the canal )

Here is a shot of the canal. Not the best time to take the canal but it was a split between spending sunset at the canal vs going up Tenguyama for sunset. ( it was taken ard 5 am in the morning, hence there was not much of a crowd )

But to those who have not seen this canal :
A series of 5 shots stitched, the distortion post stitch was left as such.

On the left bank counting from the centre - Hotel Nord Otaru, followed by 2 pinkish looking hotels - Hotel Sonia I and II

 

[nuts]

Pretty! Thanks for the alternate view

Winter view here, although I didn't do it justice :
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128186

Otaru is very pretty and romantic in winter!

#64
......
But to those who have not seen this canal :
A series of 5 shots stitched, the distortion post stitch was left as such.

On the left bank counting from the centre - Hotel Nord Otaru, followed by 2 pinkish looking hotels - Hotel Sonia I and II

 

[giantcanopy]

Must have been thousands and thousands of people participating in the Ushio Festival.
Great atmosphere. Great crowd cheering participants on ( and jamming the local traffic ). Great food ( their *pasa malam* is what a real pasa malam should be ). And a 3hr fireworks by the port side at night.

Procession takes place from the centre of Otaru to the 3rd pier of Otaru port.

Some shots taken of the event. We followed them for a while
( then i fell my my 24mm PC out of sheer carelessness on granite floor and got a battle scar. Luckily it was as much a tank as my 85mm PC and was working fine ) My heart sank onto the same floor for a while, was a little shaken after that.

#65

#66

#67

#68

( My gf reminded me to take a picture of the little girl performer with the fan )
Should have placed the shot abit more to the left to not include the other person at the background. Probably too psyched up by the roaring and drumming.