4- Hanoi, Vietnam

A few shots from my time in Hanoi to add to the Travel Photography Feature at the top of the blog. These were sepia-d up for effect. My favourites are 1, 2 and 4. What do you think?

Travel Photography Update

Destination Number 3 is Tsukiji Fish Market- check it out at the top of the page.

Tsukiji Moriyama-d

Daido Moriyama, or stevesayskanpai? I Moriyama-d up a few pictures I took at Tsukiji Market, Tokyo a while ago- let me know what you think. Incidentally, its amazing how many photos I have stored away that I’ve never properly finished up and put on the net- if they’re not in “Best” folders, I tend to leave them alone, but I took a hell of a lot of pictures in Japan. Here are some of them- “Moriyama-d” to the max…

All About Nikon Camera Stuff

Today’s blogging topic, to occupy the final few hours of work I have before leaving for Japan tomorrow, is Nikon cameras! I don’t usually blog on camera equipment, as I very quickly feel out of my depth on the issue. Added to that is the fact that there are numerous camera websites out there, and camera blogging is itself a very technical issue (although I’m discovering that baseball also involves a fair degree of numerical analysis!).

Nonetheless I’ll introduce the new shiny stuff I’m thinking of upgrading to once I get back from Japan. First up is a change in camera- from the entirely capable D40 (that helped me win my Guardian award) to the even more capable Nikon D90.

I won’t go into the differences- just google “D90″ and you’ll find them if you’re interested. What I will talk about is the lenses that I’m considering buying for them. At the moment I  have an 18-55mm, a 55-200mm and a 50mm f/1.8. “f/1.8″ refers to the maximum apeture of the lens- the lower the f number, the shallower the depth of field is. In practice this effects the area of sharpness, creating the “blurred” background you get with good portrait shots, with the sharp figure in the foreground- see this example.  The mm measurement is the focal length of the lens. 18mm is standard wide, 55mm is mid-range, and 200mm is a zoom length. I’m considering buying the following new lenses for the D90-

16-85mm VR

18-105 VR

18-200mm VR

The differences to consider are the focal lengths, the build quality and the sharpness.

But I think I’ll stop there- unfortunately any serious interest in photography inevitably drags you into the geeky world of comparing pin-cushion distortions, sharpness and various apertures and other non-comprehensible statistical analysis. Its a unique hobby that combines the scientific based-geekiness that attracts some, and the arty photographic style-ness that attracts others, though to be honest all of the stats can become fairly meaningless in practice.

Joy On Itaewon’s “Hooker Hill”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevesayskanpai

Canvas Picture- Final Choice

Its come down to a choice of two- the best Hokkaido ice picture (compositionally speaking) and the Mount Fuji scene. Both have a timeless appeal which means I won’t get bored of them, but they’re both quite different from each other. I really can’t decide!

Canvassing Opinion- Which Picture?

I found out my prize for the Photo Comp is to have any image I want blown up to 100cm x 70cm and digitally scanned onto a canvas. This leaves me with a problem- which image should I choose!? Obviously its got to be one that has meaning to me, as well as being striking enough to look good on a canvas that size. Also- given the spread of my photos- it will almost certainly be a picture taken in Japan.

So far the candidates are…

1.Fuji from Tokyo

2. The Inland Sea from the Seto Ohashi Bridge

3. People on the Sea, Hokkaido

4. One of Two Landscape Shots from Hokkaido

5. Train Picture!

6. Sumo Picture!

As you can see I haven’t really narrowed it down that much- in fact any image for this or this set could really be included in the shortlist. The key is to remember that I want to choose an image that looks good at 100cm x 70cm.

Guardian Photography Award Winner!

I won the November competition for my photo of snowmen in the Sapporo Snow Festival, Hokkaido! Check it out here and here

My picture on the front page of the Guardian! Inconsiderately placed in a side bar rather than as a main story, but above the fold (or should that be scroll)

At least here it’s centre-stage…

Click the images to enlarge!

SteveSaysKanpai Wins Guardian Photography Award!

Hurrah! Britain’s number one liberal-intelligentsia newspaper and tip-top international website Guardian Unlimited has proclaimed me winner of their November Photography Award competition!

The image that won- one of snowmen at the Sapporo Snow Festival 2007, is a theme oft repeated in photos and I’m a little disappointed they didn’t pick one of my other entries. Still, a win’s a win. And this win means a £200 laser-scanned canvas print of my pic.

Most importantly I can now declare myself a “Guardian Award Winning Photographer”.

Success!

Victorious Image

Image I Thought Should Have Won

Check out a selection of my Hokkaido pictures by clicking here.

Repetitions In Focus

“Snowmen”, Sapporo, Japan (Feb 2008)

“Steps”, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Dec 2007)

“Yachts”, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong (Dec 2007)

“Thai Glamour”, Bangkok, Thailand (Aug 2007)

“T-shirt Vending”, Harajuku UNIQLO, Tokyo, Japan (Feb 2007)

“Buddhist Statues”, Miyajima, Japan (May 2008)