A few years back I put together my favorite photos of the year (see it: part one and part two). I decided to resurrect the tradition, and I hope to keep it going in the coming years!
Onto the pics!
February
I visited Yosemite twice, first by myself and later with my friend Kevin.
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For this shot I drove to the empty Bridalveil Falls parking lot and placed an LED lantern in the middle of the parking lot, then shot straight up. I was super happy with the way this turned out.
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Interesting tree stumps around Pinecrest Lake area, in the snow.
March
At the end of March, I quit my job and ended up in Japan again for the next few months!
One of my favorite photos from the entire several months was taken from the first night at the hotel. I had a corner room in the Star Gate hotel, which towers over south Osaka and has a great view of the Kansai International Airport.
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April
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(see more photos and video from the Nara Monju-e Ceremony)
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I’ve always wanted to ride the shinkansen (bullet train) as far north as I could, and I finally did it. I boarded the bullet train in Kyoto and ended up at its terminus in Hakodate. The final stretch of bullet train to Hakodate had only opened days before, and they were still celebrating its completion.
They’re currently building the final stretch from Hakodate to Sapporo, but it’s not due to be complete until sometime in the 2030s or so.
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
This isn’t a super great photo, but I thought it was interesting for a few reasons. There were these stone markers occassionally by the tracks. And there was also a whole lot of trash, mostly fisherman trash like baubles.
Kind of surprising how much trash was along the coast here, especially for Japan’s reputation for cleanliness. Was this remants of the 2011 tsunami? Well, it’s five years later and this stuff is still here…
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Hakodate is a fun little town. Of course I had to take the tram up to the top of Mount Hakodate, then watch the sunset with all the other tourists…
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Mount Hakodate at sunset was swarming with tourists. I’m glad I did it once, but I wouldn’t do it again.
Around Hakodate there was this trendy hamburger place called Lucky Pierrot, which looked more like a carnival. They had some interesting vending machines propped up outside their shop. Looked like something out of a video game:
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Sapporo was still a bit snowy in April!
…And I was totally unprepared. I took some photos, then had to duck inside somewhere to warm up. I found a mall with some ramen restaurants and a Uniqlo - both of which had things that could help me warm up.
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May
In May I visited Indonesia with Yuka, but I was too afraid to bring my DSLR, which was a stupid idea in retrospect. I took some video there, and took lots of photos with my phone, which I guess I’ll have to post eventually.
Here you can watch a Muslim parade, and here you can listen to me ramble on about my experience in Indonesia.
When I came back to Japan, it was time to explore some more!
I returned to Byodoin Temple in Nara, which had been restored to its original vermillion colors since my last visit a few years back:
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
This probably isn’t a super interesting photo for you, but I actually walked past this, then thought better of it and walked back to snap a photo, because I thought it was just interesting. It jumped out again for me when going through my photos, so I had to include it among my favorites just for the subject matter. The hiragana reads “Diving School”.
Yuka had been wanting to take me up to Mount Rokko for a while. It was a fun experience riding the cable car to the top, then eating some good food at the top.
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June
In June I tried something new: I gave myself a photo assignment. Just to go out on a mission, and come back with some tangible decent photos.
I know Kyoto is amazing at night, with lots of things to discover in the nooks and crannies of the city I’ve spent the last few years exploring.
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I posted a few more photos from my Kyoto photo assignment here.
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I had mixed emotions about visiting Shirakawago, a UNESCO World Heritage site with a bunch of interesting old thatched houses. The place was incredibly touristy, and I had a run-in with some pushy Japanese grandmas who unabashedly cut in line in front of me at a gift shop.
It was an interesting place - I may be back eventually in the winter, which is the more common time to take photos of the truly interesting old-fashioned houses.
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I brought my DSLR to a short weekend trip to Busan with Yuka, but didn’t take many good photos there. I did like this one shot of a cute dog in a traditional market though:
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October
Back in the US!
I took a few road trips, especially to capture the changing seasons in California.
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November
My mom spontaneously booked a trip to New Orleans, and I agreed to tag along. It was a nice return to a truly interesting city.
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See more photos from my New Orleans trip.
December
One last road trip of the year! Just before Christmas, I took a drive to Zion National Park. I am definitely returning to this beautiful place, and I’m already planning future hikes and photo shoots here.
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