I am very pleased to present my new website. It has taken me a while to get there, but now it is live. Have a look around. Tell me what you think. And thank you for all the support and kindness you have given to me over the years.
Two photographs from Tokyo today. DSLR is rainy Tokyo – always raining there, it seems.
brendanose.com
And the iPhone is all about rain too.
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Two photos today. The first is a location in Shibuya with the most wonderful graffiti that I would have loved to have written myself. Love Tokyo! Oh ya.
I love Tokyo
The iPhone photograph is also from Tokyo – shot on a wild and wet Shibuya night. Man, does it rain a lot in Tokyo.
Things to do in Tokyo
Two more shots from the short trip to Tokyo again today. I was there for only four days and it rained so much. The first time I had been in Tokyo it also rained a lot. Being a real Irishman, I never feel the need to get an umbrella. Umbrellas and rain gear are really just for tourists when they come to Ireland. The rain in Ireland comes mainly in showers and having to carry an umbrella around is a pain in the ass, to be honest. But in Tokyo when it rains, it seems like it never ends. Back in 2012, when I met Michael Kistler one of the first things we did together was to enter a convenience store and to my surprise Michael bought me an umbrella – a transparent one. OK, I thought. Why not?
Now when I am in Tokyo I make sure to get a transparent umbrella. Why? Because it allows me to get these beautiful shots of Tokyo through the transparent umbrella. Here is one of those I got in 2012.
This one I am posting today was shot on the Fuji X100t on an early Friday evening in Shibuya. I like the girl making eye contact on the right of the frame.
Keeping Dry in Tokyo
The iPhone image was shot on a Saturday morning – when it was not raining – in Ginza, which to my surprise has the main street pedestrianised at weekends. I had been in Ginza a few times, but had never really liked it that much in comparison to other Toyko districts. But being able to wander around the street unencumbered by traffic was a great experience.
I am always drawn to lines (pun intended). I found these diverging lines and I knew how I wanted to compose the image. I wanted a couple to approach and part on either side of these lines. Now, this is much easier to imagine in the inside of my head than to actually occur, what with me lingering on the line waiting to snap the approaching passersby. I had to pretend I was talking on the phone. I saw this couple approach and like so much of photography – patience met luck and as they came to the line they parted and walked on either side of the line. Click! I got the shot.
This divide between us will be filled with love or loss
I wish I had more time to sit down and document all the things that have happened recently, but I seem to be playing catch up with so much at the moment. Hopefully, things will calm next week and I will get around to recording all the great things I have experienced in recent weeks.
Here are two images from the recent short trip to Tokyo. Is there anywhere in the world where the people are as obsessed with keeping dry as in Tokyo? Everyone, except this for this guy it seems, carries an umbrella.
Conform?
This iPhone shot was taken late on my last night in Tokyo. It had been raining for more than 24 hours solid. These young people are handing out flyers to passersby to attract them into their nightclubs and bars. They didn’t hand any to me. I must be getting old.
Shibuya Night
A quick post today. Need to find time to document all that has happened in the past week. Am truly honoured to have won the Mira Mobile Photography prize. Click through to see details.
Posting two shots today from Tokyo. One taken in Shibuya and one in Akihabara. This one taken in Shibuya was shot through a transparent 500 yen umbrella. The four days I was in Tokyo I constant rain for three of them. It does allow for beautiful colour reflections.
Shibuya, Tokyo
The iPhone shot comes from Akihabara – also known as Electric town as it is full of electronic shops which attract huge numbers of tourists. I saw this bus approach with a wonderful, circular window at the rear of the bus which framed this elegant lady reading a newspaper. I had to get a shot of it. I took my life into my own hands and hopped over the barrier and into the traffic. I had to get as close as possible to get a good shot. I think the poor woman was shocked to see this crazy foreigner approaching her. I got a few shots. In the end we shared a smile and a bow. The bus went on and I was stuck in between two lanes of traffic. All just to get that shot.
Tokyo
Today a dash of Ireland. The first image is from Ladies’ View in Killarney. A view made famous by Queen Victoria, and her ladies-in-waiting, who, by all accounts, loved the view. She was a regular visitor to Ireland during her reign. I was lucky while there that a foxy-headed, young lad was bobbing around while I was there and added to create an even more Irish scene.
A boy at ladies’ view
The wonderful thing about Irish villages is the colour and pride people take in their houses. Passing through Irish villages on a sunny day, you get to see beautifully painted houses with lovely flowers in all the windows. We love the sun in Ireland, but the sun….
Keep Walking, Sunshine!
More images shot in Milan. This first one created with the Fuji x100t (which is sick and recovering in the Fuji hospital in the UK – wishing it a speedy recovery) in a underground station in Milan. We had a marvellous time while we were there, but one of things I wish I had was more time to create photographs. The woman blurred out in the image is my good and patient wife whose holiday was punctuated with my photographing. Had she not been with me, I would stayed and worked these locations much more, but I had to work quickly here. Now, don’t get me wrong. I would not have changed anything about the two days we had in Milan. But of course, I do see photographic opportunities lost.
Punctuating Patience
In Milan, I was struck by the strong characters I encountered. The men had such expressive features. This iPhone image is one of those. I saw this man in a stopped tram staring at me. As I approached with the camera, his gaze intensified.
Milan