Shizuoka's Sunpu Castle

Before my friends and I went to see the Gundam (checkout my previous post Visiting Gundam in Shizuoka) , we tried to see the local colors of the Shizuoka city. It was also too early and I wanted to shoot the robot during the golden hours so we checked the Sunpu Castle in the middle of the city.

There isn't much to see except the cool reflections of the castle wall from the outside.

The bridge was also pretty interesting, but that's about it. When we entered the gate, there was a wide park but there was nothing really worth shooting.

Seaside Walk and the Y2PC

A few weeks ago, it was my first time to join a meetup event of the Y2PC (Yoko-Yoko Photo Club). Meeting new people scares the shit out of me. Being an introvert, I always felt that it was really hard to connect with new people. During social gatherings, usually I would end up talking to the people I am most familiar with to avoid the humiliation of being a loner. In this event however, I came alone. No familiar friends to save me so the nerves were pretty high. What I didn't know that these people are genuinely nice and very friendly. At the end of they day I was happy meeting new people who share the same passion for photography as I do.

The group met at Kamakura station around 1:30 pm but I think we started shooting around 2pm which was really a terrible time for landscape photography. Most the people were doing street photography, a talent which I clearly lack. So, I tried my best to follow and imitate most of their shots.

Below are some of my shots that I think turned out ok.

Fisherman's Rest

Meditation Before Riding the Waves

Speeeeeeed!

I tried shooting the photographers as well. I also find people taking pictures very interesting. Here are some of the photographers of the Y2PC, all of them really nice people.

As the sun went down, I become more confident with my shots. I love shooting during the golden hour as it brings magic to your photos without you even trying hard. By this time, my nerves are all gone and I was just enjoying the company of photographers and the lovely scene.

Sunset Drama

Hopefully soon there would be another meetup event for Y2PC as I really enjoyed the Seaside Walk .

Iwakuni - A Must Side Trip from Hiroshima City

Many people come to Hiroshima to visit the breathtaking island of Miyajima for the giant Torii gate floating on the sea. But a lot of people don't know that just a few more stations from the Miyajimaguchi, there is another lovely area which can almost equal the beauty of the Miyajima Island.

Iwakuni is about an hour away from the city by train and bus. You can take the JR Sanyo main line from Hiroshima to Iwakuni station and from the Iwakuni station, take a bus to the Kintai-kyo. I suggest to get the combination ticket (Bridge + Ropeway + Bus) for a cheaper adventure in Iwakuni.

The bridge is just magnificent. No cloudy weather will stop me from capturing the beauty of this bridge. What's even amazing about it is that no angle is ugly. It took me a long time before I chose this shot because I got a tons that are as magnificent as this one.

Kintaikyo

Even under the bridge, you can still see its beautiful architecture.

Under the Bridge

And when crossing the bridge, the view is also amazing.

Across the Bridge

Visiting Gundam in Shizuoka

I was fortunate enough to visit the Gundam in Higashi-Shizuoka before they disassemble it and probably transfer it to a different location. The Higashi-Shizuoka Station is pretty amazing. I thought for a moment I was inside an airport with the very spacious grounds, walkalators(not sure what they are called) and glass windows all around. I saw this amazing view where you can see the Gundam and Mt. Fujii-san. So naturally, I tried to shoot through the window but it was too dirty so I ended up shooting the view from windows instead.

After which we proceeded, to see the Gundam. I was a little disappointed because I thought it will be mind-blowing-huge-type robot. But since I'm not really a Gundam fan I didn't really appreciate the 1:1 scale of the robot.

However, the sunset was pretty dramatic.

Because of the recent major earthquake, there was no light show. I was expecting to get night shots but they started to close it around 6pm. This was my last shot before the Japanese guards started to escort me out of the area.

Twin Lagoon

This is the entrance to the famous Twin Lagoon. It's a shame that you can't bring your camera (unless it is waterproof) because you have to swim under the rocks to enter the lagoon. It is a nice adventure for those who can swim :)

I'm happy to have a fast enough camera to take 3 exposures with no tripod on a rocking boat. The sky was really blown out but I'm glad I was able to pull out some detail from the -2 exposure.