Alfie | Japanorama's photostream  

I can finally show you this as it is now out in print but excuse the shitty copy as I have no scanner these days and had to take this in a dimly lit room with a flash.. not the best thing for copying glossy magazines.

However, you'll get the general idea from even these nasty copies of the pages that this was a nice shoot to get offered and do... and pull off.

The car photos are mine. The shots of Kumakawa-san dancing are archive stuff of his.

I'll get a full article up on my website now this magazine has arrived, with my actual shots and a write-up on how the location-planning and shoot went. But that'll have to wait for a couple of days: I'm off out tonight to shoot and then have some family stuff to do over the weekend.

This magazine is huge, by the way: A3 when you fold it out and it's about an inch thick. They only do two issues a year. I guess they really go to town on the production. And, after all, it's Ferrari's official magazine... so I guess only the best is good enough.

Even more nice, then, to have my work and name in it. Kumakawa-san was lovely to work with. Great people at Ferrari Japan to liase with. The writer, stylist and Kumakawa's agent were also really sweet people. Big thanks to +Tim Buerger for coming out to help me on the shoot.

Happy Christmas everyone! I know it's a bit early, but being a lifelong Ferrari fan, getting this mag and seeing pics I shot inside it... well, it feels like Christmas today for me.

Nikon D700
Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 AFS-G
Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 Ai
Various Nikon flashes for the main shots with him and the car, all triggered remotely.

I like cats. I like the neighbourhood variety even more. Something about their character which is very endearing.

My wife and I had dropped our youngest son, Charlie, off at his nursery this morning and then took a walk through the old Shinagawa Ginza and up to Oimachi.

We found these fellas hanging out by a little factory in a quiet neighbourhood just off the ginza.

Five seconds later this shot was gone, as the owner of the place came long and parked his van right in front of the bicycle. Lesson learned again that when you feel the urge to take a shot, follow it immediately because 'the moment' is often so quick to evaporate.

Tech Stuff on this Shot
Epson R-D1
Canon 35mm f/2 RF
Shot straight to JPEG with the Epson No.1 film curve

We timed the walk over the hill perfectly at our photowalk in Kamakura yesterday, arriving at the north beach just in time to see a glorious sunset, Mount Fuji and a bunch of young surfers ending their day.

I hovered around the surf for a while, chasing this guy up and down the horizon - waiting to get him as near to the sun and the band of water it was illuminating.

I didn't see that he had a fishing-rod until I got the picture enlarged on my camera screen, sometime later in the evening.

A perfect end to a great day out before we headed back in town, when some people split-off and headed home and others of us had a bite to eat and a few beers.

Thanks everyone for coming out yesterday and making it such a lot of fun. I'll be posting people's pics up this week.

Tech Stuff on this shot

Nikon D700
Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 ED IF
Shot with a tweaked version of Nikon's 'Landscape' picture control and straight out of the camera as regards colour and exposure. Cropped from the original portrait format to this landscape orientation.

Little kids in Japan often treat me as an object of curiosity which is fine. I have three kids myself so I am happy with and used to being treated like a weirdo. Kids are totally up-front with their feelings and their expression. I like that.

I smile back. I chat to them in Japanese - another source of surprise: 'Ooh, the hairy foreigner speaks Japanese'. Cue more hysterical laughter.

All good fun.

These two kids had just come out of school in a neighbourhood not far from where we live. Myself and the wife were walking up to a nearby 'sento' [hot-spring bath] for a bit of relaxing time without our kids. These two kids were already hiding from friends and they spotted me and made more of an effort to 'hide from the gaijin', as I heard them say to each other. Gaijin, for those that don't know the word, means 'outsider', 'alien'.

The Tech Stuff
Epson E-D1
Canon 35mm f/2 RF lens
Black and white done in Capture One.

Two ladies on the Keikyu Line, Tokyo

Just come back from a great day out in Kamakura, doing a photowalk with a bunch of lovely people. Going to hit the sack early as I have a busy day tomorrow, writing and editing.

But, before I head to bed I wanted to share this shot with you: shot on the Keikyu Line train home from Kuramae yesterday. I'd been out with my daughter, my son Charlie and one my daughter's friends.

Late afternoon light, a nice candid scene of two ladies who were sat opposite me. I really don't think this shot would have been possible with my Nikon. People give a rangefinder, which looks old and 'cool' a different reception to a large DSLR. I held the camera up to my face and the ladt on the left, who had noticed me, just really didn't seem to mind me taking her picture. I love the look on her face. It's why I took the shot.

The Tech Stuff

Epson R-D1
Canon 35mm f/2 RF
Straight out of the camera, with the RAW file just converted to JPEG through Capture One.