# Spring Time In Japan...(not 56k friendly!)



## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

Well, since there seem to be a lot of Team Bayside Photos making rounds at the mo, I figured I'd put up some of my latest efforts...

All photos taken at a lake a couple mins drive from my house.





































Dave


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## hipogtr (Feb 17, 2002)

Awesome pics, Dave. You picked a great day to be able to see Fuji so clearly. Can't remember seeing it like that in a long time.

Seems like a long haul from your car to where you shot the photo. Did you take a boat? 

Cya O!


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## brooksie (Sep 24, 2003)

wow they're fantastic Dave ..


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## knight (Mar 2, 2002)

Sweet pics


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## Bubble (Oct 3, 2003)

Right, that's it - I'm selling everything and moving to Japan 

Fantastic pics there Dave


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

Superb Dave! Those exposures are pure perfection!!

Did you have a little boat to cross the lake or did you swim? 

I'll be taking this years sakura pictures this week-end...although no big snowy cones around here


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## brooksie (Sep 24, 2003)

am guessin Sakura means spring ? ?


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

Thanks Guys. 

The photos are a bit deceptive, the lake isn't that big  

Dino - don't think they'll be much sakura left by the weekend, they seem to be pretty short lived, especially when the weather's bad. Might be a good idea to take some time off mid-week 

Managed to snap 1.5 GB worth of pics over the last couple of days, including around 500MB of my second son, who was born last Monday!


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

*Brooksie*

Sakura is the Japanese name for Cherry Blossom...


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## Andy Hornsby (Mar 22, 2003)

Very good indeed. 

Would make a good jigsaw!!


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

Dave...congrats on your second born!! Hope everything went ok!

Re sakura...ehm...I'm a bit north from you...still not in full bloom here. Anyway even if I miss them I wont be too dissapointed....I have too many sakura pix anyways...but I would love to come down to your area and do some nice Fuji pix! I have a few shots of the cone but nothing special! Its just so bloody hard to find it clear that its more a question of luck than planning If I come down we should meet and go for a drive around Hakone, Izu and all those amazing roads around that area! We'll need some new tyres after that lot


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## brooksie (Sep 24, 2003)

is that where this region is ?? .. near the Hakone national PArk ?? .. lovely area that  ..


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## paul creed (Feb 18, 2003)

*Excellent pics Dave*

Youre so lucky having views like that.
Hope you didnt leave the keys in the car,while you were that far away.

Big CONGRATS to the birth of your son......well done mate...all the best to you and your family.   

Hope youre gonna share some of those amazing photos mate!! 

Paul


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## paul creed (Feb 18, 2003)

*Dino........!!!*

Very interested in some of those Sakura pics mate,any chance of sticking some on disc....trying to keep an artistic eye out for the calendar still!!

Paul


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## [email protected] (May 16, 2003)

Breath taking photo's

Nice one Dave


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

*Re: Dino........!!!*



paul creed said:


> *Very interested in some of those Sakura pics mate,any chance of sticking some on disc....trying to keep an artistic eye out for the calendar still!!
> 
> Paul *


Paul...sure, I don't have a problem with that...but they are not car related (at all in fact).


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## paul creed (Feb 18, 2003)

*Thats fine Dino*

I can manipulate,and besides,i like shots like that.better than pics of my Bonsai blossoms.


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

If you are looking for some typical Japanese nature pix then I have quite a few. I can put a nice CD together for you.

These are the only "arty" pix I have online at the mo(no sakura). I'm sure they can be used to set the mood for ceratin months


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## paul creed (Feb 18, 2003)

*Nice!!*

Is that a Deshojo Acer?...very nice.

Well thats the sort of stuff i'm talking about.By all means put a CD together.that would be great.

Thanks Dino...........

Paul


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

yep its j-maple. Gets some amazing shades...makes for a very good subject to say the least!

No probs for the CD


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## MattPayne (Apr 11, 2002)

you and that blooming volcano!!  

ive got nothing but wide expanses of nothing to take piccies against! 

ive a new wallpaper... number 3, beautiful cherry blossoms, stunning volcano and a skyline... 

perfect... 

but can you borrow a Grey 32 for next spring!!!


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## skylineGTR_Guy (Mar 23, 2004)

Mind if I put these on my site?


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

> Mind if I put these on my site?


Not at all. Feel free to use any of the images. 

Paul if you want to use any of them for next years calendar I wont say no!   

Dino, those photos are superb the fine detail on the first is simply amazing. Did you use a special macro lense for that? My F828 seems to be pretty good for macro work, but those photos of yours seem to be an a different league in terms of image detail and quality....


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## Bean (Oct 12, 2001)

Dave,

Congratulations on the new entry to your family  

Nice pics too......Dino is right, maybe we should all meet in your neck of the woods some time soon....


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

Yeah, a meet in Yamanashi would be cool and offer some good backdrops for the cars if the weather is good. The biggest problem during the warmer months is the humidity makes taking scenery photos difficult...

but aside from photos, there's plenty of mountain roads to blast around. Not sure if I'd be able to keep up with GTR boys though! 

Hey, I should mention that we named our son Sena  It can be written in Kanji, pronounced correctly by us Brits and just happens to have a connection to my all consuming passion of cars and motorsport


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## Bean (Oct 12, 2001)

Dino will probably slaughter all of us if it's twisty, Gio will have a chance if we use the Izu skyline though...

Yeah - but what does the kanji mean ?


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## MattPayne (Apr 11, 2002)

sorry for being simple, but how does the humidity make taking photos difficult???


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

The Kanji for Sena means something like Stream/brook/water flowing from a source kinda meaning, if you get my meaning! 



> Dino will probably slaughter all of us if it's twisty, Gio will have a chance if we use the Izu skyline though...


And you lot will slaughter me wherever we go! 

Matt - when the temp rises here the air becomes really humid which makes conditions very hazy - so hazy that despite being really warm and cloudless it can be difficult to make out the mountains or Fuji. That's one of the big problems with taking Fuji pics in summer - you're lucky if you can even see it, let a lone photograph it!


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## Bean (Oct 12, 2001)

Demon Dave said:


> *
> And you lot will slaughter me wherever we go!
> *


What about 'home field advantage'


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

Demon Dave said:


> *
> 
> Dino, those photos are superb the fine detail on the first is simply amazing. Did you use a special macro lense for that? My F828 seems to be pretty good for macro work, but those photos of yours seem to be an a different league in terms of image detail and quality.... *


Dave, thanks. Don't have a macro lense, they were taken with a 28-70L, just used full zoom for depth and let the qality of the lense do the rest. I think you'll find the smooth texture a common thing with Cannon CAMOS sensors. Never used to get such film like pix with my Sony. Even with the micro IXY-L I nick from my mother sometimes, if used right, can get stunning pictures.

We should definitely do the Yamanahi meet, and before it gets mushi atsui!! Even if I get ahead of you guys I wont be there long as I'll end up stopping regulary to let my brakes cool!  I wanna take loads of pix and enjoy the scenery as well though.

BTW cool name "Sena"...make sure you buy your boys a go-kart...you never know


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

*Dino*



> just used full zoom for depth


Could you elaborate on that? I'm trying to improve my macro shots, at the moment I usually zoom out to the widest angle, set the camera to macro mode and move in close to the subject (up to 2cm away) for my pics. To control depth of field I always adjust the aperature - is it possible to do this with the zoom also?

Go kart is a definite!  My older son Ken has logged plenty of hours on gran turismo, Sega GT, Rallisport challenge and the like and despite being 4 years old he's pretty damned good already! 

Yamanashi meet sounds good. Golden Week coming up, how's about sometime during then? If not, sometime in May: There are a couple of guys I know from SkylinesAustralia (Rezz and Evo-lee) who are thinking to come over to Yamanashi (from Kobe) sometime during May for a look-see, we could probably organise some kinda meet.


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## Bean (Oct 12, 2001)

I'm out of Japan until May 5th, and I think Gio was planning a trip to Oz in early May too.


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

My brother is also coming back from the UK in May so I'm sure he would enjoy the drive. I have a testdrive in Hakone on the 12th so it would be great if I could tie it in with that.

Re the zoom for DOF...by zooming in and focusing on the subject as close as the lens can focus at, you blur the background so you kind of isolate the subject by removing detail from the background. Obviously you use it in conjunction with a low Av setting to get the best result(highest bg blur). I do this because I don't have a macro lens. I also do this for work related car shots. I always use my trusty 70-200 and take pix from 30 meters or so away so I can bring out the subject. Here is an example of a 2 pix I took of Gios car


















All taken at 200mm (320mm equivalent on the 10D) and f2.8. If I would have used f22 the background would have been much more in focus. That would have been confusing to the shot by taking away attention from the subject.

Hope this makes sense. 

Post up some of your macro shots. I love close up stuff


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## Bean (Oct 12, 2001)

Sensational Dino :smokin:


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

san-q


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## Bean (Oct 12, 2001)

Can't wait to see how they've done the article in the magazine.

Hope they paid you well - cost enough in tolls, gas and time I imagine


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

Yep...I'm quite anxious to see it myself...I'll have to make sure they sent them (again!) as they should have been here by now!


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## Liam (Sep 5, 2002)

photos are excellent, what camera are you using?


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

Me? Sony F828. Dino - Cannon 10D I believe


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

some of my macro shots - heavily compressed to save bandwith and server space, but you get the idea. 





































will try and upload some better ones later. 

Seems like there is a lot of interest in photography - why not start some kind of photo thread - somewhere for people to show of their latest pics and share info on how to take better photos...


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## brooksie (Sep 24, 2003)

bloody hell dave .. they are amazing !!!! ...


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

nice shots dave! Are they all with the 828? I love the dragonfly one


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## MattPayne (Apr 11, 2002)

i cant take photos for toffy, but the missus is ok...  a few closeuppy shots here....

http://www.easytigernet.com/Photography/photography.htm


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

Dino - those macro's were all taken with my old F707! 

Here's a couple taken with the F828:

A heavily cropped bee pic. Lost a bit of detail on the wings when I compressed the jpeg...









and not forgetting one of my new born son, Sena 









/Dave


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

I've uploaded a few shots. Wouldn't call them "macro," more like close ups

























(bit sad this one)









Oh, and I also love to zoom on other things


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

Matt..some great shots in there!

Dave...noice shots! Beautiful kid you have there...(don't forget the go-kart! )

[looks like this thread is turning into a proper photography 3d!!]


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## brooksie (Sep 24, 2003)

this thread keeps getting better !! .. keep em coming lads !! ..


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

Superb pics - this is turning out to be a superb thread. Keep them coming. :smokin:

I've had several goes at getting decent pics of the moon, unfortunately one of the biggest limitations of the F828 (and the F707 before it) is the range of the zoom lens... I did manage a couple of long exposure nite shots (around 8 seconds) that gave some interesting results.

Here's one of my local park:









Yamanashi by nite:









And this one, taken with a 5 second (or so ) exposure, on a tripod, with me moving the camera through an arc. I call it double vision - my attempt to simulate how ya mates look after a few too many beers!


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

ohhh....don't get me started on long exposures!


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## MattPayne (Apr 11, 2002)

cheers Dino 

And Dave - wow!! the park looks awesome!!! love the green illumination and the white snail shaped buildings...
what are they??? offices? greenhouses? or crazy pod hotels 

Dino... do you have a higher res copy of the dolls...??? i know someone that would love that as wallpaper!


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## skylineGTR_Guy (Mar 23, 2004)

I suck at taking pictures but here are some from Arizona.









Slide rock state park, on warmer days many people go sliding down the rocks which have been worn smooth by the water.








Crappy in car shots of the rocks wich are red due to the high iron content.








Another crappy in car shot of the rock formations








more shots of slide rock















Some shots of the grand canyon
























After hiking down for about a mile the storm clouds swept in








and that is what I had to hike back up in


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## skylineGTR_Guy (Mar 23, 2004)

This fellow snuck into my backpack and stole most of my food


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

Matt - being in the countryside as I am, with all the farmers, the park I photographed is a fruit park. The domes contain gardens with fruits from all over the world....and it's a hotel too 

skylineGTR_Guy - awesome photos!  They really do give you an idea of the vastness of the canyon. Not sure I'd be willing to hike up and down it though, a little too much like hard work that!


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

*Some more from me...*




















Sunrise over Mt. Fuji, Jan 1st 2004.


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

great shots once again. Keep them coming!

I would love to go and visit the grand canyon.


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

a few snaps form Nikko


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

a lizard in my garden...









Tulip in spring...









Ralli....(car has a R32 GTR body on it, usually!









More long exposure fun with a pumpkin...









Minimum DOF...









My sons toy hotrod...









the sky...









My dad making the mistake of feeding some pigeons in Tokyo! 









/Dave


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

a two more taken at Sports Land Yamanashi, my local racing/drfito circuit 



















/Dave


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

Dave...are you into R/C cars as well?


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## paul creed (Feb 18, 2003)

*Oh Dave,what have you started!!*

I raked out a few photos of when i was in Florida.I was 19 then,and was using a Practica BC1.

This was a 3 min exposure of a boat going down the intra-coastal canal in Fort Lauderdale









This was a time exposure of the fireworks and laser display at Disneyworld lake









And this was a time exposure looking over the Epcot centre.








Sorry about the quality,my scanner isnt all that,and the photos have been stuck in an album for years.


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

Some pictures of Italy(I'll have to use links or else the server will not be happy with me )

http://203.109.195.77/foto/i1.jpg
http://203.109.195.77/foto/i2.jpg
http://203.109.195.77/foto/i3.jpg
http://203.109.195.77/foto/i4.jpg
http://203.109.195.77/foto/i5.jpg
http://203.109.195.77/foto/i6.jpg
http://203.109.195.77/foto/i7.jpg
http://203.109.195.77/foto/i8.jpg

Some more close up flower stuff

http://203.109.195.77/foto/f1.jpg
http://203.109.195.77/foto/f2.jpg


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

Dino - Yep, I was into R/C cars in a big when I was younger, though since coming to Japan I never seem to find the time. At the moment just running a Tamiya electric kit, but I'm hoping to get my hands on a decent gas powered car, especially since Sports Land Yamanashi also has a great R/C track 

The pics of Italy are awesome - just curious though, in pic 2, that roundish orange looking thing with wheels....is that your transport when you're back in Italy?  

Paul - that third photo looks great - what appears to be a giant golf ball in the background, and those trees look like huge illuminated candy floss!


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

I've recently got back into R/C myself. Had a broken old 4WD Tamiya TGX and slowly bringing it back to life. Got a new engine (nitro) and some more bits to follow. Usually race it on sat mornings at my local track...even though its a bit tiny for my car! I'm really crap at it though... 

No that Fiat 500 is not my transport while back home. We have an old Alfa 164, one of the worst cars I've had the misfortune of driving. Worst torque steer ever and I can spin the front tyres in 4th in the wet while cornering! Not Alfa gratest achievement!

..oh BTW I also have a Fiat 500 ...currently in pieces being restored (albeit very slowly...)


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## -C- (Oct 16, 2003)

Wow you guys have some seriously impressive backdrops  

Some of those pictures are amazing! I now have at least a years worth of desktop images


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## skylineGTR_Guy (Mar 23, 2004)

These were taken by Jordan owner of GTplanet.net

http://www.gtplanet.net/gallery/photos/aruba/aaa.sized.jpg
http://www.gtplanet.net/gallery/photos/caribbean/aaa.sized.jpg
http://www.gtplanet.net/gallery/photos/caribbean/aao.sized.jpg
http://www.gtplanet.net/gallery/photos/caribbean/abi.sized.jpg


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## soggy (Apr 28, 2003)

Amazing pictures people  .

Dave,

Congratulations on the birth of your son, Sena  .


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

Soggy - thanks. Are you coming back to Japan for TAS '04?

Some more taken at the winery (Suntory) just behind my place:




























and a couple more here and here 

Dave


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## soggy (Apr 28, 2003)

Demon Dave said:


> *Soggy - thanks. Are you coming back to Japan for TAS04
> 
> Bit early to say really
> might check out SEMA though *


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## hyrev (Apr 30, 2004)

*Nice*

what lake is that, Kawaguchiko? That area is nice. 
Let me know if you all get together soon, Going to Hawaii 9 May-25 May. Love to go to yokohama-racing. I can get you my cell # later.


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

Welcome fellow Japan resident! 

If you're referring to the lake in my first photos, then no - kawaguchiko is much, much bigger and usually packed with tourists! 

Where abouts in Japan are you based?


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

Ah, silly me - I see you've answered that in another thread!


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## hyrev (Apr 30, 2004)

*on base*

we are at Yokota, near Tachikawa, Fussa, Hachioji


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## Dunc (Dec 4, 2003)

Guys,

Nowhere near your standards but...
I got my Sony F717 on the way to the game reserve near our house in South Africa. It is my first camera and I don't have any idea what I'm doing so any comments would be great!

As I say, hadn't a clue what I was doing.


























This was as 'close up' as I was going to get!!! This was not zoomed in at all and he seemed to be taking a little too much interest in the fool (me) leaning out of an open top jeep for my liking!  









Is there a book or something anyone could recommend or is trial and error the best method?

Duncan


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

*Nice Pics!*

Don't think I'd have gotten quite so close to that lion 

I use Sony camera's myself (previously the F707, now the F828) and I find them to be very versitile, good quality and at a reasonable cost.

The best way to learn how to use the camera effectively is just to experiment -play around with the settings, try diffent angles etc. Still it helps to have a basic understanding of photographic principles so I highly recommend:

http://www.shortcourses.com/

They have a lot of informative articles on camera basics.

Good Luck!


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## Dunc (Dec 4, 2003)

Dave,

Thanks for the advise, I'll take a look. I thought the photo of the Lion would have been blured where I was shaking!  One of the first things we saw that day was a leopard. It was hunting a monkey but kept charging FULL belt at me then sprinboarding off a tree at the last min to try and grab it...now _THAT_ was scary!!!  It was so fast (and I hadnt got used to the delay between pushing the button and the photo being taken) that this was the best I could get!  










And this is what he was trying to catch.










Dunc


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## Dunc (Dec 4, 2003)

Back to the original thread, here is the view from my old appartment window (on a clear day).










And some others:



















Duncan


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