A Stranger at a Time: Day 7

Along the Yodo river going to w*rk this afternoon, I saw a man with a paragliding sail practicing catching the wind. I jumped at the occasion and went to ask him if I could take his picture. As with yesterday, I started by taking action shots, but then went for a portrait. In the ensuing discussion, I learned that this young 67-year old had started paragliding only 2 years ago and couldn't go enjoy it these days because of a knee injury. Pretty cool for a man past conventional retirement age and sporting a necktie while practicing his hobby (during his lunch break I assume).

A Stranger at a Time: Day 6

Armed with my trusty D40, my engagement present, I spotted this lone man dancing in the park. I'm a little disappointed with the picture, if only because it isn't a portrait per se. He's doing his thing for me, but it doesn't engage us as viewers very much. But, as far as one of my primary goals with this challenge is to get the nerves to go to strangers and ask to take their pictures, I can say mission accomplished.

A Stranger at a Time: Day 5

Today I failed to get the portrait of someone. As a result of yesterday's injury I spent the whole morning - early afternoon at the hospital. I guess I could have asked either the doctor or the nurse who fell in love with Kazuma, but let's just say my head just wasn't into a photographic state of mind, even if I did get some x-ray done.

Later I tried at a busy station, Kyobashi. After many unfruitful attempts, it dawned on me that the only strangers asking questions at night there are offering evening services, either food or otherwise... Maybe if I would have shown my camera right away, their reaction would have been different. I'm afraid to show it immediately based on recommendations from others, but in this case, maybe it would have been better.

Oh well, let's not give up!

A Stranger at a Time: Day 4

Again a (kind of) lucky day for me. The shot is of one of the people I did capoeira with to get my new cord. I actually blocked very well one of his attack, I was quite happy with myself. Sadly, later as I joined the open roda, I dislocated my shoulder... As a result, this shot was taken with one hand only. I guess he wasn't a complete stranger, but chance meetings are often good opportunities for pictures. So far, I think it is my favorite, he nicely posed for me under a light above, creating a natural vignette effect.

A Stranger at a Time: Day 3

Today was a little easy again as I could get a shot of the owner of the dance studio where I do capoeira. I really wanted to get a shot of her when I noticed a Makoot doll on the wall. These dolls are created by Makoto at Atelier Corners, and the link above goes to the article I wrote for Kansai Scene on the artists there. Sorry if I'm late putting the shot up, the weekend was pretty busy.

A Stranger at a Time: Day 2

With a capoeira lesson in the evening in Minami, Osaka, I decided to go down early and hang out at Triangle Park to find subjects. It was relatively easy to get couples and single guys to pose, but every attempt with a single woman proved fruitless, not that I asked so many. The area is a popular 'nampa' pick-up spot, so the women probably thought I was doing just that. Perhaps in the daytime it would have been easier.

The picture below is a bit over-exposed, but at least now I know what settings I need on my camera and flash to get good results. I removed some highlights to make it more presentable. It was the guys bright red hat, glasses and jacket that caught my eye first. I guess they were out on a date.

Thirty Day Challenge: One Stranger at a Time

Since seeing this TED Talk, I've been doing 30-day challenges; in October I opted to do sit ups daily and failed, while in November I decided to go dry, and except for a few moments, especially during OEFF parties, it was much easier than anticipated.

This month I've decided to go out of my comfort zone and try to get the picture of consenting stranger a day. After what I think were failed opportunities, I got the courage to strike up a conversation with a benevolent Osaka citizen who was raking leaves on a path I often use when riding to work, only to get rejected.

Luckily by coincidence I ended meeting a spectator of the OEFF and while enjoying some refreshments (OK, post-w*rk suds) I took this shot of the bar's (only?) staff. I cropped to 4x5 and converted to B/W; history will tell if I do the same with the others (4x5 more likely).

On the Way To and Back from Takatsuki

As a personal challenge and for some cross-training towards the Sanjurokumine Mountain race in less than two weeks, I rode my bicycle to w*rk in Takatsuki, about 26km one way. Of course, you know me, I had some of my camera gear with me, in part for Kameraoke 6, and here some shots from the journey. The last one is a B/W conversion with quite a bit of post-production done in Aperture 2.

Kameraoke 6

You have less than two weeks to enter Kameraoke 6 and record pictures of the six senses! Having woken up at some ungodly hour and not being able to fall asleep, I decided to take the first train to Sumaurakoen station to explore a sea platform I thought could be a good location for long exposures. As I was paying my access (What? ¥200? At least it's cheaper than ¥1,200, what fishers need to shell out), I noticed beautiful colors in the sky, but they sadly disappeared as I was making my way along the wharf. Oh well, the colors weren't the main purpose of my visit, although they could become it on a future visit. I looked around and found some great angles to shoot. I may end up using one of the shots under the theme 6th sense. Here's an view of the ensemble. As T-800 said: "I'll be back."

OEFF Wednesday

Today was the last day of the festival. After little sleep, I went back to the Hotel Elsereine. Fatigue started to really affect some volunteers, but not to the point of giving inadequate service. One of the most interesting thing was seeing Thierry Faber reaction to the attention he was getting; he is 'only' a film editor, he is not used to the spotlights, but I feel he wouldn't mind getting more! I think most remaining guests and volunteers probably went out for dinner but I declined, having some editing of my own to do tonight for their website, needing to wake up early tomorrow morning, and most importantly, wanting to see my son for more than a few minutes!

Well, I hope you enjoy my posts and you should be able to see some pictures on the OEFF website in the near future. The picture below is of the Kindergarten program where children learned about cinema through animation, getting the chance to do some stop-animation; since it was for children of all ages, I joined, too!