Japan

TWOI: 5/21/18

Good morning, and welcome to another new week!

This week’s set was very difficult to sort – I love them all for different reasons!  I hope you like them, too.

This first one is of Yosemite’s Three Brothers.  We ventured out early to catch them in the first rays of dawn, and we had to hike through several inches of snow to reach the viewpoint.  Truthfully, I didn’t make it all the way to the official spot selected for this shoot; I was too distracted by the beauty of this vantage.  But that’s ok; I like my angle better, anyway 🙂

Moody shot of the peaks of Yosemite's Three Brothers | LotsaSmiles Photography

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TWOI: 5/7/18

Another week, another seven photos!  How are you folks liking the new style?  I’ve been trying it out for a while now, and though I like the new consistency it lends to my feed, I’m not always pleased with the muted colors.  I have some more ideas that I’d like to try with my Instagram, so I might be rolling some of those out soon.  I welcome your thoughts below!

This first picture was from a sunrise attempt in Tokyo.  Honestly, while we were vacationing there, we didn’t give much thought to planning an official shoot.  We merely walked across this bridge the night before, saw the cool tunnel effect the buildings lent, and noticed it also happened to face east.  We just got up the next morning and hoped for the best.

As is often the case, the sun wasn’t in the right position to shine down this canal, and it was a bit cloudy anyway.  However, I did appreciate the flock of seagulls that all took off from the water, giving me a more interesting subject to this otherwise mediocre scene.

Seagulls flying over a river between two rows of buildings | LotsaSmiles Photography

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This Week on Instagram: 4/14/17

My efforts on Instagram haven’t been as successful as I would have thought, so it appears I need to experiment a little differently.  No new inductees to the 100 Club.  We’ll see what next week reveals.

Once again, I was surprised this first image didn’t get more love.  I absolutely couldn’t get enough of Landscape Arch.  I didn’t initially have this picture in monochrome, but I kind of like how it turned out.

© LotsaSmiles Photography 2016

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Japan – Day 12: Arashiyama

Day 12 marked our last full day in Japan.  While we reconciled the fact that we’d be departing soon, we biked from monkeys to bamboo, from a castle to Japanese music videos.

I had one final must on my list that had not yet been reached: the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove.  Aaron was also excited about the associated monkeys, though I didn’t remember that in the brochure.  We hopped our (t)rusty bikes and pedaled across Kyoto to Arashiyama.  Though we were out by 8am, I still felt it was terribly late; I was desperate to beat crowds to something I knew would be quite populated. Continue reading →

Japan – Day 11: Kiyomizu & Osaka

Day 11, we left the ryokan, braved the crowds, and biked to a shrine.  We rounded it off with a trip to Osaka for their famed okonomiyaki and takoyaki with a good friend.

Two days at the ryokan really went by very quickly, and we were already to our last morning.  We packed up our things and headed down to our last fancy breakfast.  I was surprised to find they weren’t expecting us; the 7am memo must have gotten lost this time.  I felt bad as they raced to put everything out, nearly tripping in their haste. Continue reading →

Top Pic(k)s of 2015

Over 27,110 pictures taken this year.. how do I choose the best??  Somehow I managed to pare it down to my top 50 (that was so hard!!).

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Japan – Day 9: City Hopping

Day 9 was a transitionary day, marking the end of our time in Tokyo and the introduction of a new city.

With a train leaving earlier than the hotel’s restaurant would open, we instead ate our Cup Noodles made the other day, along with some snacks purchased at the convenience store the previous night.  It was a measly breakfast compared to the mackerel to which I had grown accustomed, but it served its purpose. Continue reading →