Photos from Japan

Took a brief trip to Japan this summer before heading to India.  I stayed around Tokyo and Tateyama Kurobe Alpine for most of my trip.  These are some photos that I would like to share with you!

This is taken at a traditional market in Tokyo.  The grandfather rode a bike and took his granddaughter out for a stroll. I saw the grandfather pointing out some dolls in a display cabinet, so I quickly took a shot of it.  There wasn't much time to compose the picture, but I included the out-of-focus racks on the left to give the picture more elements, and also gives the viewer a sense of the viewpoint I was shooting from.

This is a temple in Tokyo.  There were events raising money for earthquake relief  in the temple.  What captured me was the smoke from incense coming from the small temple on the right of the picture.  I only included the roof of the small temple because this simplified the picture, letting the viewers focusing on the smoke and the main temple in the background.

Another temple in Tokyo, there are way too many temples :P. What caught my attention was the bright contrast between the red lanterns and the green trees.  There's nothing special about the composition of the picture.  This is simply a process of elimination:  I made sure I only focused on the green trees, the red lanterns, and the roof of the temple in the background; any other elements added to the photo will most likely distract and decrease the effect of the bright color contrast. 

This is taken in a tunnel of a water reservoir at Tateyama Kurobe.  I was amazed at the color of the moss on the walls of the tunnel.  However, there wasn't much to work from:  the tunnel's empty and without a subject.  While I was pondering how to take the photo of this scene, a couple walked in front of me, and I knew that they have to be in the picture and fill the empty spaces.  In retrospect, The picture might be better if I could create a shallower Depth-of-Field by using a larger aperture, focusing on the couple.

Taken at a tradition market in Tokyo.  This is the type of photo where is really depends on the timing & luck.  The sign on the right says "get off horses", which I guess means "no cars allowed" in ancient times :)  Despite the sign, the man is in the process of getting on a bike and start riding.  A bike is sometimes called "iron horse" in Chinese, so this irony made me take the picture.  I desaturated the photo to create a more ancient, old, feeling.  But I guess I'm the only one who will understand this horse - car - bike relationship :P