Photography
A small, growing archive of pictures from the road, the trail, and the occasional empty street.
Looking North
The bridge from Golden Gate Overlook, on the Presidio side. The cypress frame it cleanly, and the crowd thins out the moment you walk fifty feet past the parking lot.
Under the Pier
Looking up through the pilings beneath Santa Monica Pier on a cold, flat afternoon. The water held this aquarium green for about twenty minutes before the wind came in.
Last Train
Union Station after the last commuter train pulls out. There are fewer people in the great hall after 10pm than in any other public room downtown.
Speer at Speed
Eight-second exposure off Speer Boulevard. The skyline holds still; everything else turns into a stripe.
Shifen Curtain
Shifen Falls, sometimes called Taiwan's Niagara. A slow shutter turns the cascade into a single hanging sheet.
Queen's Head
The Queen at Yehliu, slowly losing her neck to the wind and salt. Geologists give her maybe twenty more years.
From Elephant Mountain
Taipei 101 from the trail up Elephant Mountain. The facade cycles through patterns I never figured out, even after two trips up.
Dotonbori
Osaka's neon canal at full volume. Same wattage as Shinjuku, different texture; you can hear it as much as see it.
Kiyomizu, Lit
Kiyomizu-dera during the autumn illumination. Worth the elbows in the crowd; the maples are lit from underneath and the whole hillside glows.
Bamboo Vault
Looking straight up through the Arashiyama grove. Phone shot, not the camera; sometimes you just want to point and look.
Hozu Moorings
Pleasure boats tied up below Togetsukyō Bridge, with the maples turning behind them. Nobody was renting at this hour and the water was still glass.
Tō-ji
Tō-ji's five-story pagoda, framed by autumn maples. The current structure is from 1644; the temple itself goes back to 796.
Marunouchi Yellow
The ginkgo avenue on a late November evening. Twenty minutes after sunset is the only window where the yellow really reads against the buildings.
Skytree from the Sumida
Tokyo Skytree across the river. At 634 meters, you have to walk farther away than feels reasonable just to fit it in the frame.
Pavilion
A teahouse over the pond at Hama-rikyū, Edo-period grounds with the Shiodome towers behind. The contrast is the whole point.
Empty Bench
A garden bench just before the morning crowds. The maples were maybe two days past peak and the whole path was red.
Asakusa After Hours
Sensō-ji's main hall once the souvenir shops have rolled their shutters. The pagoda glows, the crowds thin, and you can finally hear the temple bells.