EATING THROUGH JAPAN

a little over a year ago i was fortunate enough to go on my dream trip and visit the wonderful country of japan.  ever since i was a wee little samurai, i have had an interest in everything japan had to offer. i can't pinpoint exactly what drummed up this interest within me but if i'm speaking honestly it could be a lot of cliche things that my grade school self thought was truly authentic "japanese" - ninja's, sushi, white faced geisha girls, bonsai trees and mr. miyagi.

over the years, i learned that japan is so much more and for whatever reason i still kept pushing it out in the future in favor of other destinations around the world.  and even in visiting these other exotic locales (sometimes more than once) my mind wouldn't let go of the idea of the need to go to japan, even if it was by myself. so in the early spring of 2015 i packed my bags and ventured out on my own to discover the wonders of the land of the rising sun.

now i could go on forever about how awesome the trip was and how each passing day only added another day of proof that i needed to visit again. but instead of using my words, i'll let the photos do the talking.  at first i wanted this photo essay to be my big embrace to japan and all its storied history, culture and people but then i realized that should be a work in progress and i'll never capture it all in one slideshow.  so instead i focused my attention on one particular aspect of the country that had me buzzing from the moment i stepped off the plane in tokyo to the minute i landed back on canadian soil....FOOD.

this is by no means an attempt to flood your senses with emotional, beautiful photographs the way someone like Peter Lik or Steve McCurry would (those will come later on in a future post) but rather these images are only intended to make you salivate and tug at your tastebuds for the savory sweet art that is japanese food.  in fact, many of these images are captured directly from the iPhone and still you can get a sense of how simply inspiring dining is in japan, let alone how delicious it is.  from sushi to curry and ramen to rice bowls, the only way to really enjoy authentic japanese food is by going there yourself and spending yen at the nearby izakaya, the local hole in the wall noodle house or even the closest 7-11 or lawson's.  and if after you watch the slideshow and you still have absolutely no cravings for a succulent piece of tuna nigiri or a piping hot bowl of ramen, i feel sorry that you have no heart.  go enjoy a bowl of cheerios and ice water and talk to me when you want to enjoy life again.


have any questions or comments? did i miss out on something that i should enjoy the next time i'm there (and there will be a next time). find me and drop me a line on either facebook, twitter or instagram.

de jesus. irasshaimase! and then out.
  

FROM THE VAULT: BIRD'S EYE VIEW

when in cappadocia, it is highly recommended to do a hot air balloon ride at sunrise.  some travellers may grimace at the idea as it is the touristy thing to do, but as the saying goes, "when in rome..."  the beautiful natural landscapes of the area and awe inspiring views certainly make this a must do when visiting the area and i would definitely recommend it to anyone. having never been on this mode of transport and only mildly uncomfortable at heights, i did not hesitate at the opportunity to enjoy an early morning wake-up and ride in the sky to start my day.

cappadocia, turkey (2013)
photo credit: me

i really enjoy this image because of the contrast of perfect and imperfect lines that make your eyes dance around the image and the vivid pop of color from the balloon below which break up the earthy warm tones from the rising sun. by composing this image downwards towards the ground, i hoped to show that it wasn't necessary for me to highlight where in the world i am, but rather where in the moment i was - flying hundreds of feet above ground just like a bird would.

it truly is a unique experience to be this high off the ground and hear nothing but the wind - no mechanical engines, no flight attendants explaining how to buckle a seat belt, no kids screaming two aisles back.  occasionally, you might be snapped out of the calmness by the combustible roar of the hot air balloon intended to keep you afloat, but just as quickly you can revert back to the serenity and peacefulness of the breeze gently blowing through your hair and whispers of the wind speaking in a hypnotic silence. seeing our world from a bird's eye view brings a new perspective that helps us appreciate the colors and lines that our winged friends in the sky get to enjoy anytime they want.


de jesus just below the clouds. out.

RECENT AWARDS

at a wedding shoot this past weekend, an adorable middle aged woman asked me where they could see my work.  naturally i directed them towards my website and then she asked me if i had won any awards for my photography.  odd question i thought, "honestly..." i said,  "not for my wedding work, but i have been fortunate enough to win a couple of awards for my personal work."  i have never submitted anything for my wedding work, largely because i'm still searching for that perfect image that i know represents my voice but i do on occasion submit images from my personal work.  i've always liked competition and i've always enjoyed my work being reviewed by professionals in the industry who have a trained eye and know what to look for.  often times their honest critiques have made me a better photographer and allowed me to explore abilities outside of my comfort zone.

photography is truly a subjective art much like paintings and poetry, but there is always something in each image that can connect with an audience.  something that allows it to stand on its own and sometimes stand up above others.   i would love to be able to capture images that fit this criteria all the time, but sometimes images are made in the moment, you just happen to have a camera in hand when it appears.  other times, it's a carefully constructed composition which balances the elements of light, shutter and aperture to create the mood the way it was intended in the photographer's eye. heavyweights of the industry like Peter Lik, Ansel Adams or Walter Iooss know how to achieve both and ultimately has made them successful in connecting with their fans through their work.

as an amateur photographer, i'm always happy to get a couple of memorable images i know that not only mean something to me, but to others as well.  the validation is not essential, but it is nice to know that these accomplished experts connect with your work and would honor you with an award amongst the thousands of amazing entries that get submitted.  so for that charming lady who asked if i had won any awards and for the few hundred people who follow me, here are a couple of recent awards i have been fortunate to receive from the good people at the Worldwide WOW Photo Competition, based out of calgary.

2014 contest - "eager to learn"

2015 contest - "downtown mosaic"

as per submission requirements there is a short description for each photo, but i can certainly elaborate more in a future "from the vault" post.  stay tuned...i think you will enjoy the story behind each photo.

i still feel photography isn't meant to be judged but rather appreciated.  the old saying, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" really does ring true, but if judges can appreciate and connect with an image when they see one, i'm not one to stop them from letting people know about it.  semi-colon closed bracket.

de jesus.  still searching for the superbowl-oscar-grammy-stanley cup-gold medal photo. out.

MANNY VS THE MEDIA

it's been a week and i won't validate the atrocity boxing fans witnessed in last week's title fight between manny pacquiao and timothy bradley.  i was compelled to write and vent about it here, but i encourage you to do a google search on the fight results and it is clear that my opinion wouldn't be unique at all.

instead, i wanted to post the column i did write before the fight that talks about how the match itself was being overlooked in favor of the persona that manny pacquiao has developed in recent months.  whether it is a distraction now or in the future, only time will tell and i'm sure boxing fans will agree that using last saturday's match isn't a fair benchmark to know what this version of manny pacquiao is really like.

bonus: the good folks at mabuhay also encouraged me to contribute a photo for their monthly feature entitled "mabuh-eye".  big thanks to the editors for the opportunities they've given me the past few years.  and a big congrats to my good friend jeff cruz on his recent engagement.  who in the heck would want to have the pressure of photographing his wedding?

courtesy: mabuhaycalgary.ca

de jesus. still fuming. out.

TEXAS WITH MY IPHONE

at first, i intended this post to be about the experience of san antonio and austin, the people i met, the food, the sights and sounds of these two "little-big cities" that texans really pride themselves with.  then as i ran through my photos, i remembered the story of the images and felt that writing about the process of the iphone-only-photo-project was more intriguing.  so here goes...

in an effort to challenge myself as an amateur photographer, i armed myself with only my iphone 4G and head out each day to find and create images in a new and exciting place.  using the capability of the iphone and a selection of apps, i wanted to see if i would still be able to tell the story of my travels similar to what i could do with my more expensive and more cumbersome  SLR gear.  and to answer your first question, yes - i felt a little naked without my usual gear for this trip, but in order to really challenge yourself, sometimes you gotta run alone in unfamiliar situations.

there definitely is something liberating about not having to lug around a pack of equipment as you wander the streets of a strange place.  you really never quite know who is watching and licking their chops at a chance to rob you and steal your expensive equipment from under your nose.  having all of my necessary photo gear in my front pocket was definitely both convenient and comfortable.

as i walked around, i immediately noticed my first real limitation of only having my iphone camera at my disposal: it wasn't possible to capture all the images my eyes were seeing.  what i mean by that is that i couldn't zoom in/out with the kind of accuracy i'm accustomed to.  the iphone really put limitations on how i traditionally like to compose my images, whether the subject is an object or a scene.  and the zoom on the iphone is terrible, diminishing the quality of the photo with every mm of digital zoom.  i only shoot iphone images on the default focal length...no zoom.  ever.  the solution was to use my legs as my zoom and really look at things differently, managing my physical position to compose the image whether it was a flower or an architectural detail of a building.  sometimes i couldn't really capture what my eyes saw and though there were some failed images, the need to move around and find the image was definitely a good exercise for my eyes and brain.

after composition, the next problem i had was exposure.  because the iphone is essentially a watered down point and shoot device, the issue of exposure is magnified since there is even more lack of control on an iphone.  depending on the time of day and the position of the source light (i.e. the sun) iphone photos tend to be ridiculously overexposed in the day and severely underexposed in low light conditions.   to combat these issues, i am reminded that great lighting during the day is usually found in shaded areas or around sunset. failing that, i tried to use image hot spots as part if not the main point of interest of the image, almost using it to add dimension to an otherwise plain image.  in low light situations, i put the camera into HDR mode and trusted that the iphone's software would do its thing to bring up detail in the dark areas (if that's what i wanted).  HDR on the iphone is not the most accurate way to do real HDR, but it's a nice try (i think i'll address HDR in a future blog).  photos in low light also tend to have a lot of noise in the dark areas and are usually quite blurry.  unless absolutely necessary, i usually don't go for a lot of night shots with the iphone.

so after a bit of complaining, it may sound like that the iphone-only-photo-project was a complete disaster.  actually - no.  one of the things i really enjoyed was the immediate creative aspect of iphone photography.  photography apps are an inexpensive way to take your iphone and make it a canvas for your artistic talents.  you don't even need to have artistic talents to take an image and enhance it with the numerous preloaded filters or selective color edits that can be bought in the app store.  personally, my iphone is loaded with colorblast, instagram, camera+ and photosynth.  these apps do a great job of giving personality to any of my iphone photos that need a little "oomph".  load a photo, press a few buttons and i can take any ordinary photo and add vignette, a fancy border, over saturation or even make it look vintage.  but my favorite app by far is photosynth, which allows me to take a string of overlapped photos in order which is then automatically stitched in a way to make it into a panoramic image.  love this app and the product that is generated after a few short minutes of capture/calculation/rendering.

edited with photosynth

like any travel photo project, it is the images that tell the story.  and instead of putting a caveat on these images and almost excusing myself for taking them with an iphone, i'm pointing out proudly that these great images were in fact taken with one.  composition, exposure, quality are just technical jargon that may make an image easier to look at, but not necessarily be the complete reason why we like an image over another.  sometimes an image reminds us of a place, feeling or moment and at face value might not be a technically perfect image.  the key lesson learned on the iphone-only-photo-project is that taking the best image for a particular time/place does not have to be achieved by use of an expensive SLR and high quality lens or even composed by the conventional "rules" of photography.  just take the photo with whatever works for you and freeze the moment.  no matter what it looks like, you will always appreciate it afterwards.

de jesus.  just shoot.