In Search of Perseids
Category: Art and Photography

I got up at 4:30 AM on Monday August 13th in the hope of catching a "falling star."  Unfortunately, I didn't see any.  I did, however, take this cool shot of my neighbourhood at that hour.

Click on the photo to see its page on flickr.

Enjoy!

Currently listening : Mr. Buechner’s Dream By Daniel Amos Release date: 01 October, 2001

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Nico Hopscotch
Category: Art and Photography

Taken yesterday:

Currently listening : The Fragile Army (Bonus Dvd) By The Polyphonic Spree Release date: 19 June, 2007

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Jars of Clay in Concert
Category: Art and Photography

We saw Jars of Clay on their "Live Monsters" tour last night.  It was a fantastic show - we had a great time!

We saw them for the first time on May 29, 1996 at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern.  It was an amazing experience to see them in such a small venue.

The next time we saw them was at the Cornerstone music festival in Illinois, in July, 1997.  I'm sure that there were 10,000 + fans in attendance.

Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer fame ("Kiss Me") opened the show.  Her solo CD "Blue on Blue" produced by Pierre Marchand is definitely worth checking out.

The next opening act was NeedToBreathe.  They were very energetic.  I picked up their CD - I'm looking forward to giving it a few spins!

You can check out my Jars pix by clicking here.

Since there was so little light, I took all pictures at ISO 400.  The workflow for the pictures was:

1) Run each image through Neat Image to reduce the noise from the high ISO.
2) Update each image with its original time & date and Camera using Exif Pilot.

Thanks for reading.  Enjoy!

Currently listening : Good Monsters By Jars of Clay Release date: 05 September, 2006

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another photo featured on torontoist.com!
Category: Art and Photography

This cute photo of Nico at the Ontario Science Centre is featured on torontoist.com this week.

To view the other featured photos click here.

To view my photo's page on flickr, please click on the image.  To check out some other pictures from our trip to the Science Centre, click here.

Thanks for reading.  Enjoy!

Currently listening : With a Little Help from My Friends By Todd Rundgren Release date: 27 May, 2003

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flickr Explore
Category: Art and Photography

For only the second time, I have a photo in flickr Explore!

flickr Explore contains the top five hundred most "interesting" photos uploaded to flickr each day.

For some reason my "Bladerunner, Tokyo at Night Panorama" concoction made the grade!

My "Mississauga Sunset" photo made it into flickr Explore earlier.

Currently listening : Squint By Steve Taylor Release date: 11 January, 1994

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My Tokyo Pictures "Reloaded"
Category: Art and Photography

hyrskylahti on flickr created three cool collages based on my Tokyo pix.

Currently listening : Breakfast in America By Supertramp Release date: 11 June, 2002

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taking pictures at St. Luke's Garden Observatory in Tokyo
Category: Travel and Places

St. Luke's Tower is part of the St. Luke's Garden complex in Tokyo.  St. Luke's Tower is the taller of two building in the complex.  The shorter building is St. Luke's Residence.  The Hotel New Yankyu is located on the top seven floors of the St. Luke's Residence building.  The two buildings are joined by a walkway.

Click here to find St. Luke's Garden on Google Maps.  It's on the North side of the Sumida River close to Ginza and the Tokyo Central Wholesale Market (aka Tsukiji Fish Market) and between the Tsukudaohashi and Kachidokibashi Bridges.

In Tokyo St. Luke's Garden is referred to as Seiroka Garden.  Similarly, St. Luke's Tower is referred to as Seiroka Tower.  Your cab driver might shake his head when asked to go to St. Luke's Tower, but will have no trouble taking you to Seiroka Tower.

The closest Tokyo Metro station is Tsukiji Station on the Hibiya Line.

For fantastic views of Tokyo for sightseeing and/or photography go to St. Luke's Garden Observatory on the 47th Floor of St. Luke's Tower.  According to this web site, the Observatory is open daily from 9:00 AM to 8:30 PM.

To access the Observatory, take the elevator to the 46th Floor.  There you'll find another elevator that will take you up to the 47th Floor to Restaurant Luke.  There may also be stairs that take you up to the 47th Floor Observatory.  After having lunch at Restaurant Luke I took some pictures from on of the restaurant's outdoor "observation" platforms.  This link shows you what the "Tokyo Tower" side looks like.

I hope that this blog was useful.  I'd love to see your pictures from St. Luke's Tower Observatory.  Enjoy!

Here's one of my shots of St. Luke's Garden:

St. Luke's Garden Logo:

This sign directs you to the Observatory:

Currently listening : Action Figure Party By Action Figure Party Release date: 22 May, 2001

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Yet Another Tokyo At Night Panorama
Category: Art and Photography

Here's another  panorama  I created  using AutoStitch.

I stitched four long exposure shots taken indoors from the 46th floor of St. Luke's Tower on Thursday August 3, 2006.

A piece of the Chuo-ohashi suspension bridge is in the mid-right of the panorama.

This picture reminded me of the near future city at night shots from Bladerunner.

I hope that you enjoy another wonderful night view of Tokyo from St. Luke's Tower!  Thanks for reading.

Currently listening : English Settlement By XTC Release date: 25 June, 2002

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another Tokyo At Night Panorama
Category: Art and Photography

Here's another "Tokyo At Night" panorama.  This one was creating by stitching three photos using the fantastic AutoStitch.

The photos were taken from the Tokyo Tower on Tuesday August 8.  The view is (pretty much) South East towards Tokyo Bay.  The Rainbow Bridge is in the top of the photo, just left of centre.  The Odaiba ferris wheel is in the top left of the photo.

You'll notice the empty black square in the bottom left corner of the photo - unfortunately I wasn't thinking of panoramas when I took these shots, so missed a chunk.  I won't make the same mistake next time.  :->

It still gives you a sense of one of the wonderful views to be had from the Tokyo Tower.

Click on the photo to view its page on flickr.

Thanks for  reading.  Enjoy!

Currently listening : Love By The Beatles Release date: 21 November, 2006

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Tokyo Panorama
Category: Art and Photography

I stitched this panorama from four photos that I took on August 7, 2006 from my hotel room window in Tokyo.

I used AutoStitch to create the panorama.

Please click on the photo to view its page on flickr.  You can click on "All Sizes" to view all the detail that's available.

Thanks for reading.  Enjoy!

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