Tree - Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park / Japan (Sun 16 Sep 2012)

Tree - Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park (*) / Japan (Sun 16 Sep 2012)
Maria Popova (*) writes (*):

I woke up this morning to discover a tiny birch tree rising amidst my city quasi-garden, having overcome unthinkable odds to float its seed over heaps of concrete and glass, and begin a life in a meager oasis of soil. And I thought, "my god", what a miracle. What magic. What a reminder that life does not await permission to be lived.

A beautiful tree grows just near the A-Bomb Dome (*), the Hypocenter (*) of the Nuclear Bomb (*). It was so peaceful in the canopy of this beautiful tree, which has grown out of the destruction of this incomprehendable event.

Car Park - Asakusa / Toyko (Thu 20 Sep 2012)

Car Park - Asakusa / Toyko (Thu 20 Sep 2012)
One of my favourites from the trip.

If this is it (Solo Acoutsic) - Newton Faulkner / YouTube (June 2009)

"If this is it" (*) by Newton Faulkner (*) [YouTube (*)]
Live at Cheltenham Town Hall - solo acoustic gig June 2009.

If this is it: Lyrics

No one move,
No one speak,
Please don't say that it's just me, it's not just me.
And even though I wont forget,
Just don't want this to end just yet, not just yet.

And if I had one chance to freeze time
And stand still and soak in everything,
I'd choose right now.
And if I had one night where sunshine could break through and show you everything,
I'd choose right now,

If this is it, all we have,
I know I've done all I can,
If this is it.
And we can't stop, and start again
We can't fast forward to the end
This is it.

And if I had one chance to freeze time
And stand still and soak in everything,
I'd choose right now.
And if I had one night where sunshine could break through and show you everything,
I'd choose right now,

I can take the slings and stones and fire,
Because I know you’ll make it all worth while,
Every time I fold, dissolve, I’m lying on the ground,
You drag me up again, and again,

Before the fears that I once had start coming back... again.
Oh please come back again... again,
Oh please come back again,
Oh please come back again.

And I'm so scared I might forget,
Just don't want this to end just yet,
Not just yet.

But if I had one chance to freeze time
And stand still and soak in everything,
I'd choose right now.
And if I had one night with sunshine to break through and show you everything,
I'd choose right now,
Before the fears that I once had start coming back... again.

Jenny - St George Private Hospital [11:48am (*) / Tue 23 Jun 2009 (*)]

Best of London 2012 - If this is it / Newton Faulkner (YouTube)

Best of London 2012 - If this is it / Newton Faulkner [YouTube (*)]
Amazing and inspirational footage. A beautiful song aptly applied - could be used for all aspects of our lives. I've got some ideas already.

Music: "If this is it" (*) by Newton Faulkner (*).

Fire Hydrant - Times Square / Shinjuku / Tokyo (Sat 21 Sep 2012)

Fire Hydrant - Times Square / Shinjuku / Tokyo (Sat 21 Sep 2012)
Drawn to this banal scene by the shadow of the chain and the little bit of red

Umbrella - Times Square / Shinjuku (Sat 22 Sep 2012)

Umbrella - Times Square / Shinjuku (Sat 22 Sep 2012)
The light was very nice here - soft and even.

Gangnam Style - PSY / Youtube

Gangnam Style (*) - PSY (*) / Youtube (*)
Was the tune while we were there in the first week of September.

Closing Medal Presentation - 10th Asian Dragon Boat Championships - YouTube (*) - Busan / Korea (Sun 09 Sep 2012)

Reflection and Transparency - Kazuo Nishi in Daido Moriyama (Phaidon Book)

Reflection and Transparency - Marunouchi (*) / Tokyo (Tue 15 Sep 2012)
From Daido Moriyama (Phaidon Book) (*) with text by Kazuo Nishi (*):

Reflection and transparency, such as the ones we come across in shop windows of the big city - hint at a virtual world of dreams and visions - fascinated photographers of that era.

.. and me also.

On Figuring it Out - Jim Goldberg / Time Lightbox (Mon 24 Sep 2012)

Untitled - Tokyo Station (Mon 17 Sep 2012)
Jim Goldberg (*) [via photographsonthebrain (*)] writes:

In order to figure this [..] stuff out, it’s trial and error and experimentation, and takes some time and hard thinking.

Note to self: Shutter Speed, Focus, Focal Length and ISO.

A side note. Jim is working on:

A previously unpublished series titled Coming and Going is being reworked as a series of Japanese small books.

Portrait - Jinbocho / Tokyo (Thu 20 Sep 2012)

Portrait - Jinbocho / Tokyo (Thu 20 Sep 2012)
He stopped to talk to us. He had spent a year in his school days in America and his English was perfect. He worked at a Lawson Store (*) and it was his day off. He told me about the Kinokuniya (*) in Shinjuku (*) near where we were staying - literally 5 minutes away. I would visit the book store a few days later.

I asked him whether I could make a photo and he kindly obliged. I regret that I forgot to ask for his name until after we had parted.

Realised it is going to take a lot of practice to become anywhere near as good as Shot by Shooter (*). The background is hard bit and that will come with time. Just happy to have made a start.

Natural light using my tiny Canon S95.

Yellow - Tokyo Station (Mon 17 Sep 2012)

Yellow - Tokyo Station (*) (Mon 17 Sep 2012)

Dorasan Station - DMZ / South Korea (Wed 12 Sep 2012)

Dorasan Station - DMZ / South Korea (Wed 12 Sep 2012)

Tree - Yeouinaro / Seoul (Tue 11 Sep 2012)

Tree - Yeouinaro / Seoul (Tue 11 Sep 2012)

1:47pm - Shinjuku / Tokyo (Tue 18 Sep 2012)

1:47pm - Shinjuku / Tokyo (Wed 18 Sep 2012)
Thank you Japan - an amazing country. Will definitely be back.
Lots more photos to follow over the next few months.

Water - Lake Kawaguchi / Yamanashi (Wed 19 Sep 2012)

Water - Lake Kawaguchi / Yamanashi (Wed 19 Sep 2012)

Smile - Teramachi Street / Kyoto (Sat 14 Sep 2012)

Smile - Teramachi Street / Kyoto (Sat 14 Sep 2012)
Love the red in his shoes.

Phone Call - JR Akihabara Station / Tokyo (Thu 20 Sep 2012)

Phone Call - JR Akihabara Station / Tokyo (Thu 20 Sep 2012)
He smiled to me as I took this photo. I think he knew what I was trying to do. Quite a bit of low-level graffiti (tags and stickers) around the Station.

Mt Fuji - Lake Kawaguchi / Yamanashi (Wed 19 Sep 2012)

Mt Fuji - Lake Kawaguchi / Yamanashi (Wed 19 Sep 2012)
We walked on it from the Fifth Station to the 6th Step and it was covered in cloud and drizzling. We were lucky to see more than 100m around us. Later in the day we saw it briefly from Lake Kawaguchi on a Steam Boat. The sheer scale of it's silhouette through the clouds was amazing. We were told we were lucky to even see a glimpse of it at this time of the year, so we feel very lucky to have seen this brief view.

Looking towards the Sun - Between Fifth Station and 6th Step / Mt Fuji (Wed 19 Sep 2012)

Looking towards the Sun - Between Fifth Station and 6th Step / Mt Fuji (Wed 19 Sep 2012)

Eyes - Komiyama / Jinbocho / Tokyo (Thu 20 Sep 2012)

Eyes - Komiyama / Jinbocho / Tokyo (Thu 20 Sep 2012)

Faces (4&5 of 5) - Teramachi Street / Kyoto (Sat 14 Sep 2012)

Faces (4 of 5) - Teramachi Street / Kyoto (Sat 14 Sep 2012)
Faces (5 of 5) - Teramachi Street / Kyoto (Sat 14 Sep 2012)

Trees - Between Fifth Station and 6th Step / Mt Fuji (Wed 19 Sep 2012)

Trees - Between Fifth Station and 6th Step / Mt Fuji (Wed 19 Sep 2012)
Trees (Detail) - Between Fifth Station and 6th Step / Mt Fuji (Wed 19 Sep 2012)

Faces (3 of 5) - Teramachi Street / Kyoto (Sat 14 Sep 2012)

Faces (3 of 5) - Teramachi Street / Kyoto (Sat 14 Sep 2012)

Faces (1&2 of 5) - Teramachi Street / Kyoto (Sat 14 Sep 2012)

Faces (1 of 5) - Teramachi Street / Kyoto (Sat 14 Sep 2012)
Faces (2 of 5) - Teramachi Street / Kyoto (Sat 14 Sep 2012)

What does it take ..? - Serghei Cusca (Aug 2012)

What does it take ..? - Serghei Cusca (Aug 2012)
The great thing about getting older and sticking with it, is that you have the oppotunity to see people grow - paddlers, managers and coaches a like. I have seen it time and time again and it part of the reason I am still paddling I think.

The Traditional and The Modern - Kyoto's Orange Temple / Fushimi Inari-taisha / Kyoto (Fri 14 Sep 2012)

The Traditional and The Modern - Kyoto's Orange Temple / Fushimi Inari-taisha (*) / Kyoto (Fri 14 Sep 2012)

The Traditional and The Modern - Hanami-koji Street / Gion / Kyoto (Fri 14 Sep 2012)

The Traditional and The Modern - Hanami-koji Street / Gion (*) / Kyoto (Fri 14 Sep 2012)

Poster - Inchang-Dong / Seoul (Tue 11 Sep 2012)

Poster - Inchang-Dong / Seoul (Tue 11 Sep 2012)

Kyoto's Orange Temple - Fushimi Inari-taisha / Kyoto (Fri 14 Sep 2012)

Kyoto's Orange Temple - Fushimi Inari-taisha (*) / Kyoto (Fri 14 Sep 2012)

Motorbike - Red and Yellow - Jongno-na / Seoul (Wed 12 Sep 2012)

Motorbike - Red and Yellow - Jongno-na / Seoul (Wed 12 Sep 2012)

Cat on your Back - Pasteup - Jongno-na / Seoul (Wed 12 Sep 2012)

Cat on your Back - Pasteup - Jongno-na / Seoul (Wed 12 Sep 2012)
Cat detaiil - Pasteup - Jongno-na / Seoul (Wed 12 Sep 2012)

Motorcycle - Red and Green - Jongno-na / Seoul (Wed 12 Sep 2012)

Motorcycle - Red and Green - Jongno-na / Seoul (Wed 12 Sep 2012)

Trolley - BEXCO / Centum / Busan (Tue 04 Sep 2012)

Trolley - BEXCO / Centum / Busan (Tue 04 Sep 2012)

Water - Gwangan Bridge / Busan (Sun 09 Sep 2012)

Water - Gwangan Bridge / Busan (Sun 09 Sep 2012)

Portrait - Gwanhun-dong / Seoul (Tue 11 Sep 2012)

Portrait - Gwanhun-dong / Seoul (Tue 11 Sep 2012)

Car Park - Black and Yellow - Jongno-gu/ Seoul (Tue 11 Sep 2012)

Car Park - Black and Yellow - Jongno-gu/ Seoul (Tue 11 Sep 2012)

Intersection - Centum / Busan (Thu 06 Sep 2012)

Intersection - Centum / Busan (Thu 06 Sep 2012)

Leave Aquarium - White - Busan Station / Busan (Mon 10 Sep 2012)

Leave Aquarium - White - Busan Station / Busan (Mon 10 Sep 2012)

Leave Aquarium - Blue / Orange / Lemon - Centum / Busan (Tue 04 Sep 2012)

Leave Aquarium - Blue / Orange / Lemon - Centum / Busan (Tue 04 Sep 2012)

Leave Aquarium - Lemon - Centum / Busan (Tue 04 Sep 2012)

Leave Aquarium - Lemon - Centum / Busan (Tue 04 Sep 2012)

Leave Aquarium - Orange - Centum / Busan (Tue 04 Sep 2012)

Leave Aquarium - Orange - Centum / Busan (Tue 04 Sep 2012)

On Belief - Vern Gambetta (Tue 11 Nov 2008)

Joanne and Geoff - 2012 Pacific Dragons Auroras
Day 2 / 500m / 10th Asian Dragon Boat Championships
Centum / Busan (Sat 08 Sep 2012)
Vern Gambetta (*) writes (*) on Belief:

Belief - If you don’t believe in yourself who will?

Think you are the best and you are on your way.

Confidence, believe in yourself, your preparation and in your support system.

Sat 08 Sep 2012, the light shone (*) on the 2012 Auroras.

Congratulations to all 2012 Auroras representing Australia at the 10th Asian Dragon Boat Championships in Busan, South Korea. I hope your experience and the amazing results achieved will give you confidence and strength to continue on with your endeavours in paddling and life.

A hugh thank you to Joanne who keeps me pointing in the right direction when the going gets tough. Joanne you are a legend.

500m Mixed 12 - Bronze Podium - Centum / Busan (Sat 08 Sep 2012)
500m Mixed 20 - Bronze Podium - Centum / Busan (Sat 08 Sep 2012)
500m Open 12 - Bronze Podium - Centum / Busan (Sat 08 Sep 2012)
500m Women 20 - Bronze Podium - Centum / Busan (Sat 08 Sep 2012)