Photo blast from the past

First day back at work today after a nice little week holiday. Right now here in Okinawa is the off season for weddings as we come into the hotter summer months and the airline prices skyrocket. So I was able to catch up on all my wedding editing and just had some time to kill. So I decided to go back and have a look through some of my older shots I posted to Flickr years ago.

Its always fun to go back through old photos from time to time and see improvements and style changes etc.. Anyway I thought it would be a good idea to dust the cobwebs off a few oldies and bring them back in the spotlight for bit. So without any further ado here are a few of my old shots that don't get any love anymore.

My old Subaru WRX STI ver5 gc8 cruising through some tunnels in Fukushima with my Canon 40D and Sigma EX 15-30mm. I had the camera mounted on my old trusty Manfrotto tripod and strapped to the seat with the seat belt and remote cable in my left hand. Shutter speed was 4 seconds. 

Serious Air! Shooting Big X at Ebisu circuit with the Sigma EX 15mm fisheye mounted on Canon 40D

Ok getting really old now. This is one of my first attempts at seascape photography. Back on my Canon EOS Kiss III film camera. This was shot back on the Gold Coast, Australia. This is when my love of seascapes started. 

Lightning is one of my favorite subjects to shoot. Unfortunately we don't get that much of it down here in Okinawa. This was shot in Fukushima over looking the city on a Canon EOS 1 film camera.

This was a shoot for Japanese wedding magazine Zexy. This was a very expensive kimono this girl was wearing. And they were not too impressed that I had her sitting down on the dirty temple steps. 

My old home town Fukushima city. Looking down from Shinobu mountain during twilight.

While still on the Fukushima city theme here is one of my early Photoshop attempts. Here I wanted to make a tilt/shift effect to make it seem as though the city was miniature.

Lost in Translation. 

During my first visit to Yokohama city I decided to try and set up my tripod and camera in the train station and try to capture the hustle and bustle of rush hour in these big Japanese cities. I tried to stand as still as possible during the long exposure as people passed by me with confused expressions on their faces. 

Thai monkey and the Magic Drainpipe. 

Before leaving for a trip to Thailand I was lucky enough to chance apon the old and rare Canon 80-200 f2.8L AKA The Magic Drainpipe. I picked up this lens in mint condition for only 25000yen which is around $300US. That's a bargain! I've since been hunting for these on Japanese auctions, buying them and reselling on Ebay. But they are getting harder and harder to find in good condition.

Ah the early days of HDR imaging. Here is one of my first attempts back in 2007 at some park in Fukushima. The famous Azuma ko fuji can be seen in the background. 

My clones. While working for a wedding company in Fukushima I thought I would try something a little crazy in our traditional Japanese wedding chapel called a "Shinden". It took about 15minutes to shoot the 30 images of myself. Obviously a lot longer in Photoshop to put it together. 

An old shot I particularly like, shot through some thick acrylic glass at the Aquamarine in Iwaki.
The reflection from the top of the water frame the fish nicely I think and give it a more abstract feel. 

And last but not least another shot of my old daily ride from back up when I lived in Fukushima. The WRX STi GC8 at sunset. Again another HDR with 5 handheld images from the Canon 1DmkIII.