Got my first Macro lens the other day and still learning but having a blast with them. Two days ago I spent about an hour goofing around with the lens and decided to take a break to play baseball on my cellphone. "Hey! Might as well take a pic of that for my brother!" It was a little difficult throwing a strike and pushing the shutter button at the same time. BTW: I'm the "B" team and I ended up losing this game 6-3 and later ended up 4th in the season (4 out of 6 teams).

Looking out the window of the apartment that I used to live in, this is what I used to see. This was taken with my 10D and "Lens in a cap". The 63 you see on the right side is the USS Kittyhawk.

OK...I thought I posted this before but I couldn't find it. If I did post it, here it is again. Since I'm in the "speak of freaky things" mood, here's my little story.

Back in Fall of 2006, I went to Gunma with a friend who is also into photography. During the day we went around to famous tourist sights and so forth shooting mostly leaves and ropeways and etc. On our way back we decided to stop one last time, as it was getting real dark and our camera batteries were almost dead. We stopped along a river that is famous for it's 14 or 16ish water falls. My friend was shooting close-ups of rocks and the water flow. I thought I'd get away and shoot something else. Since it was dark, along with my camera I brought my strobe and colored gels to try something a little different. I would say I walked about 100 feet and got this shot off to test my strobe and to see if yellow was the color I wanted. I then walked in between the two trees in the center of this photo and was planning on walking down towards the running water. I stopped right at the two trees and I remember thinking what a nice sound the water was making and how my brain was "refreshing" from all the minus-ions I was breathing in. It was so peaceful!

I then looked to my right. Right next to me...I mean RIGHT NEXT to me was a rope tied and hanging from the tree. My body got so cold and talk about freeze! My body was stiffer than a rock and I stared at the rope for a few seconds. I turned away and walked to where I came from. Forget about the photo taking. I was FINISHED! If you're not familiar with Japan, suicide is and has been a common escape for people in trouble or in shame or for whatever crazy reason. And that was the first thing that crossed my mind. Anyway, I waited for my friend to finish shooting before telling him. The second I told him he got spooked, didn't ask where it was but walked straight back to his car quicker than I was even able to....and he didn't even see the rope.

The next morning I downloaded the photos to my computer and that was when I noticed that I actually got the rope in this photo. You'll find it next to the center-right tree. I'd like to say that the rope was too close to the tree or it was a prank or maybe even used for something else (what else...I don't know) and not for committing suicide. But that was the thought that crossed my mind then and still now and for whatever reason it was there for really freaked me out. There, there's my little freak story.

Nothing too fancy here. Just a shot of Kita-Kamakura station. The train you see is the JR Shonan-Shinjuku line heading towards Zushi sation.

Before moving to this area when I still lived in Yokosuka, I used to go out on strolls or hop on the train to come to Kamakura often (I would say on an average of twice a month)! Now that I live here, I went out on a stroll only once! This one was shot when I still lived in Yokosuka.

Speaking of, I found out that one of the back roads that I walked just the other day (the road that leads from the mountains to this station) is a sight of a ghost!!! An old lady, all white and pushing a cart or stroller. Apparently, she walks up and down this road. A friend of mine has seen her a number of times. Freaky! I'll post if I see her or catch her on camera.

This is for you Jess! I posted one like this just last month. I wasn't going to post this but thought it was different enough, from the previous one, so why not?!?! As the rollercoaster goes under, water sprays up from around the tunnel. If you notice, I was able to catch the spray on this one....sometime between 7:33 and 7:34.

A few wishes for 2008.

This was taken at Miyajima, Hiroshima. For whatever reason, I love street signs and posts and have a taken a quite a few and this is one of them.
This one was taken just a few minutes from my house. It was on my first walk to Kita-Kamakura after moving.