japan day 2 -- snow monkey pool party

long story how we got to the jigokudani snow monkey park.  let's just say yesterday's peak moment was getting on the 7:24am Asama super-express bullet train from Tokyo to Nagano (1hr and 20min) and just went completely downhill from there.

here's a picture i managed to snap from the train.

and here's the snow monkey pool party.  it was cold and snowy.  the monkeys basically lounged around the "hot tub".  cool trip, but very difficult to get to.  i'd recommend going with a tour group if you want to check it out.

japan - day 1 (nostalgia)

about 11 years ago, pete and i spent a semester in japan -- perhaps the funnest and certainly the most carefree period in our lives.  we were able to re-live some of that today -- ramen for lunch, american 90's pop music everywhere and engrish (when the words are english, but when strung together, they make no sense at all).

some pics of shibuya, shinjuku and harajuku.

pete in shinjuku and us waiting for the train back to shibuya

for lunch we had ramen.  first order by ticket machine and then ramen comes!

in harajuku, a seriously crowded street and a relatively empty side street

engrish

and more engrish

a little quiet in the middle of chaos

some european inspired stuff

lung cancer with style

after living in NYC for over close to 10 years, i thought i couldn't be amused / entertained / not be bored by another city.  but tokyo, some things here just make me think, WTF!!!

what hedge fund guys in toyko do with their spare change and time

briana + taylor

briana + taylor are simply two of my favorite little girls and they got all posed and pretty for their annual holiday portrait.  this is my second year photographing these ladies and what natural models!  they had lots of giggles and poses to share so made my job super easy.

some of my readers requested details on my camera set-up so for those interested, see below.  the portraits were naturally lit by a huge window in their toy room.

camera - nikon d600
lens:  50mm f/1.4
ISO:  400
aperture:  f/4 (set on aperture priority with 1/3 stop over-exposed)
post-processing:  radlab effects, my own special recipe which i named "christmas coolness"

bowery + houston

into the woods

wandered through the woods in western MA.  stumbled upon a hunk in grey cashmere and his family who guided me along a secret path to garnet rock.  oak, maple and birch leaves covered the forest floor  and crunched beneath our steps.  sun filtered through the stand of bare branches.

i love fall.

sitting at the top of garnet rock

happy birthday, petey!  i love you.

betty + steve engagement shoot

meet betty and steve.  they love each other.  they love to travel.  and they love whimsy.  

the location is rockefeller state park in upstate new york.  i put together a fall-inspired bouquet for the shoot that was muted but incorporated the elements + colors of the season.  we couldn't have picked a better day for the pictures.  actually, it was a perfect fall day.