paper chain made out of hand-made Japanese paper
purchased at the Isetatsu store in the Yanaka / Sendagi area of Tokyo

While in Tokyo this past summer I asked my wife if she wanted me to bring anything home. She wanted some of the unique paper that can only be found at a little shop near where I was staying in Yanaka. I didn’t know which styles she would want so I started taking photos to send to her. The shop owner came flying out of the back and was quite angry that a photo had been taken. I tried to explain, but she didn’t care if my photos were going to help her sell more paper. I probably should have just left. Instead I bought some of the paper and brought it home. Last week my wife turned the paper into one of the world’s most expensive paper chains to decorate our house for the holidays.

Posted on December 16th, 2013 under Japan. Tags: christmas, isetatsu, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR G lens, Nikon D600, yanaka. Comments: 3

I’m selling my manual focus Nikon 50mm f/1.2 lens as I rarely use it. $450 delivered in the USA. $435 if you pick it up in Southern Oregon.

For some samples images I have taken with this lens (on my Nikon D600) click here.

For an extra $10 I’ll throw in this Fotodiox Lens Mount Adapter (and cap) which will allow you to put any Nikon Lens onto a Canon EOS Camera Body.

Canon adapter to mount Nikon lens on Canon camera

This lens has been sold. If you would like to purchase a new version of this lens click here.

I still have the Canon adapter for sale and the Sigma 85mm f/1.4.

Posted on December 14th, 2013 under Other. Tags: Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR G lens, Nikon D600. Comments Off on Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 AI-s lens for sale (works on Canon cameras with adapter)

Photomerge of Ninna-ji’s South Garden
Kyoto, Japan

When I lived in Japan in the 1980s I didn’t get the chance to travel outside of the Tokyo and Yamanashi area. I purchased a set of postcards at the time and looked at them often. Probably half or more were from Kyoto. The only two scenes in these twenty or so postcards that I actually saw in person in the 1980s were Mt. Fuji and a Shinkansen.

Fast forward 25 years, and I was riding a bike through Kyoto stopping at any place that looked interesting without any prior research. I ended up at the entrance gate for Ninnaji and payed 500 yen. After walking around the grounds I felt a bit ripped off. Just before leaving I saw someone hand their admission ticket to a man and enter a building so I followed suit. Moments later I realized that my 500 yen was well spent. This was one of the scenes from one of those postcards I had looked at so fondly decades before! Not only that, but the place was mostly empty. Occasionally another person would wander in and gasp at the beauty of the South Garden (dantei) before heading back out, but for the most part this was my garden to meditate in by myself.

Posted on December 11th, 2013 under Japan. Tags: buddhist, garden, japan pictures, kyoto, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR G lens, Nikon D600, Ninna-ji 仁和寺, panorama, photomerge. Comments: 1

Buddha statues fitted with unique beanies @ Miyajima’s Daishoin

Posted on December 9th, 2013 under Japan. Tags: buddhist, Daishoin 大聖院, miyajima, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR G lens, Nikon D600. Comments Off on Buddha beanies

Shofukuji palm trees
Fukuoka, Japan

Japanese maples and pines are common at Buddhist temples in Japan, but this may have been the first palm trees I encountered. Rain began falling, and this was my place of refuge for a few minutes.

Posted on December 6th, 2013 under Japan. Tags: fukuoka, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR G lens, Nikon D600, Shofukuji 聖福寺. Comments Off on Temple palm trees