Beautiful Leika
And here’s one for you Leika fans.
35mm lens, F4, 1/400 sec
I love your smile!
Charming Taiki & Kippins in Flight
A few beauty shots of our charming and speedy son.
Taiki showing off his fine physique.
Too much speed and charm for a guy so young.
So today we went out together to a small petting zoo, and before heading home we asked the kids to jump while I was taking photos. Here’s Kippins first jump which was quite successful. She cleared a full 2 cm…
And here’s her second jump which turned out to be more of an attempt to fly. The flight was short, however it made us all laugh and was a clear sign for us that it was time to head to our next activity.
A Time for Everything
A Time for Everything
1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
- Ecclesiastes 3
What these passages mean to me today:
There is a time to stay put and stick it out, and there is a time to go somewhere else.
There is a time for rules and regulations, and there is a time for freedom and autonomy.
There is a time to teach, and there is a time to be in the learners seat.
While all of these are extreme opposites and can seem to conflict with each other, for each activity there is a time and season.
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time - Ecclesiastes 3:11
Before and After
Here’s another one I played with today, since it was my day off 
. Again I took a single RAW file, and went through the HDR process to bring out as much information I could from the burned out and blown out parts of the image. I’ll include the “before” image so you can see what it looked like originally.
The “After” Image
The “Before” Image
Just like food can be overcooked, an image can also be overcooked in the HDR world. So with my second attempt in HDR, did I overcook?
Sunset View from Shinkansen
Here’s a photo of some of the beautiful scenery that sped past me on my Shinkansen ride to Sendai. Not the sharpest of images, but for going at about 250 km/h, I think it’s ok. This is also my first attempt at HDR. I took the single RAW file and exported 4 jpegs with different exposure settings. Then did all the mixing manually in PS.
This is one of those times when taking bracketed shots is not an option. From my limited knowledge on the subject, decent HDRs can be made from a single RAW image. I had fun with this photo and can see myself getting into HDR .
The workshop in Sendai went very well, I had plenty of time to talk with the 研修 team leader and witness to him as well. I also got to do some networking with some of the others I met there, and we hope to be working together in the future.
And It Was a Great Day
Before heading off for the job in Sendai, we had a great day with the kids. Leika found yet another beautiful park not too far away, which we only explored a tiny corner of. But boy, was that corner of the park fun! Here are a just a few photos from the set. I may just have to post more form this day as there were so many happy moments to capture that one post cannot do the subject justice.
Taiki – Loving the Feel of the Wind
Yuichi Ray – Looking more and more like a teenager.
Leika – advertising a few choice products
For the RYO fans
Here’s a quote that is both thought provoking and convicting:
“Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them.”
- Richard L. Evans
And just a few more beauty shots of Ryo, who has high highs…
“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”
The Eyes Have It
I’ve started taking photos at the birthday parties I perform at. I hope to include it as part of the service in the future. For now I’ll be getting experience, building a portfolio, and seeing if birthday party photography is something that people are interested in or not. It’s made the parties that much more interesting as I get to shoot a few photos throughout, and the parents are happy to receive a photos of their kids after the party as well.
This photo was touched up mainly in Lightroom, and a touch in PS. I didn’t do anything in particular to the eyes, they were like that naturally. Amazing!
I’ll be going to Sendai the day after tomorrow to do a balloon art workshop, for the store owners of a new LaLaPort that opened there. This is that job offer I had previously mentioned. They pay for the 新幹線 and hotel, and it pays quite nicely for a one day job. With all the changes and our move hopefully just a month away, I’m very thankful for this job. It seems like I’ll be working with this company in the future when they host customer relation seminars (the president sent me my meishi as well as a contract). All this has reminded me of the God Factor. We can and should do what we can, but in the end “except He build the house…”
Keep the job, and also the house hunting in your prayers. We’ll be applying for a house over the next few days.
Congratulations Aiki & Mary
Aiki and Mary, thank you for inviting us to your wedding. It was beautiful, and I’m so glad we were there to celebrate with you. You’re a beautiful couple, great parents, and a whole lot of fun to be around. We hope to see you again soon.
The more I think it over, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.
- Vincent van Gogh
Marriage is not a noun; it’s a verb. It isn’t something you get. It’s something you do. It’s the way you love your partner every day.
- Barbara De Angelis
His Left Foot
Taiki’s Left Foot
D90, 35mm lens, f1.8, 1/30 sec, half a beer, some snacks and good company
I went to look at a potential house today… After checking out a few other options, we’ll need to decide on which house to apply for. Thanks for keeping the house hunting in your prayers.
Little Man in Black
This guy is getting so fast at crawling, I may just enter him into a crawling race.
