Two different generations of GTRs...first and latest...I'll take the first!

Nikko: I really don't know what Keroppi can provide you but some people pray to him/her (or is this Froggy?)
Nikko: Not the season but thought I'd throw this one in. Didn't think the momiji was red enough so I used a red gel over my flash only to make it too red. Maybe I should've used pink instead.

Here's a series of Taketomi-jima, Okinawa. Maybe the most beautiful beaches in Japan. Haven't travelled to the smaller islands but definitely much prettier than what I saw in Naha, Ishigaki and Iriomote...even though they also had awesome beaches. From what I gathered, not just anyone can live on the island. The locals choose who can or cannot live on this island. And, to preserve the culture, there are certain things that must be on the house (the orange roof tiles, crapper must be an outhouse, fossilized coral for walls, etc.). What I noticed and believe is that the locals of Okinawa seem to have preserved and respect their own culture a lot longer (maybe more) than the locals on mainland Japan. Not to take anything away from mainland Japan but I believe that's one of the main things about Okinawa that makes it so beautiful.

Blue sky: Taketomijima
Blue sky: Nasu

By request from H.N., here are some more hanabi pics from last year's MM21 hanabi taikai, taken from North Pier.

Here's a series of twirls... Not that you can tell or does it matter, this was taken in Nasu while waiting for some people to clear my view for another snap.
Having fun with my cell cam - My parents '05 Christmas tree lights. Couldn't spin my rist fast enough to get the whole circle effect but thought it was kind of cool.

Another cell cam snap of a Christmas tree in Shibuya on my way to the Apple store. Ended up going in and coming right out because it was too damn packed....everyone wanted a Nano.

More of Camp Drake. Most of the signs were worn from the weather and time. Some were actually still in decent shape. One of these pics shows a chimney stack from one of the buildings left standing. Getting in this area to get a closer look is a risky task. There is actually a guard inside with his own little office and vehicle. Of course, he can only travel through a small area since there is so much green. Maybe hopping the fence isn't too risky, now that I think about it...

Monochrome series of my trip to former Camp Drake in Asaka, Saitama. This used to be a US Army base from 1945 to the '70's, I believe. I can't find anything about the closure of this base so if anyone knows, please send me an e-mail or comment on it. I picked the worse time to go there in 2005. Dead smack in the middle of the summer...hot and humid as hell and too much greenery to block the remaining structures. It seems as if the land that the base actually sat on was chopped into pieces. Some of the land is used as a park, school, streets and housing. What remains seems to be the main community area of the base with a few buildings left standing and a housing section accross the street. Other things that I noticed left were: outline of parking lots and roads leading to housing courts, telephone and electricity poles, junction boxes, fire hydrants (these seemed to still be at every corner of the roads), steam pipes (upside down "J" looking things still with the silver paint), steam pipes (seen in one of these pics. this area is now being used as a fire-fighting area), manholes and road signs were still left in many places. I'm sure there is a lot more but this is all I could see through all the thick greenery. Seeing what I could see brings back a lot of memories of when I was growing up on other military bases here in Japan. Most of these kinds of things don't exist anymore and is sad. Look for more Camp Drake pics in the future because I plan to go back and shoot more when there is less green and more visibility.....like dead smack in the middle of the freezing winter.

Having a little fun with a gift that my brother gave me last Christmas. These were shot with a "pin-hole" lens (Lens-in-a-cap) and a macro attachment from Loreo. Focusing is harder than hell because it's done basically by moving the camera closer or away from the subject. But the pics that I managed to get we're surprisingly clear for a "toy" lens. I also used a red gel over my flash to get the rose and green more red.

The first blurb about my photos: I was sent on a business trip to Singapore a few years back with the company that I used to work for. On my free time I was exploring the city and these are a few of the snaps that I took.

Camera: Fujifilm Finepix 4900Z