Windy Iwate Mountain, originally uploaded by jasohill.
To start this off I present you the first picture of Iwate Mountain I took this year. As you can see, it’s fairly windy up near the top, where the snow is being blasted off the side of the mountain. I went on a twenty minute drive to find the best shot for this. The entire time, I was worried the winds were going to die down. Lucky for me, they actually got stronger. This is why they don’t recommend you climb this sucker in the winter.
Takizawa Morning, originally uploaded by jasohill.
La Lune, originally uploaded by jasohill.
Many of my students has no idea how a lunar eclipse happens, so I spend the first fifteen minutes of my classes today giving them a quick astronomy lesson. Most seemed bored, but there were a fair number of students that wanted to know more. I’m glad I was able to reach out to them.
Update: English meaning section. I almost forgot to post what the Japanese word for Lunar Eclipse is. In Japanese you say gesshoku(月食) for a lunar eclipse and nisshoku(日食）for a solar eclipse. They mean “Moon Eat” and “Sun Eat.” If it’s a total eclipse of sun sun, you say kaikishoku(皆既食）、and of the moon, kaikigesshoku(皆既月食.）The more you know…
It’s not all that bad, however. One of the nice things about this time of year are the flowers. You can see many different kinds, and if you are lucky, you can grab a good picture of them as well.
Is it a dream?, originally uploaded by jasohill.
I used the great June weather to go out and capture this beautiful field of violet flowers. In my opinion, the best time for flower photography is near sunset or just after sunrise. Any other time and the light is just too harsh. If you must shoot in mid day, consider a polarizing light filter, or a shoot with a lower F number to keep those harsh sun beams from overexposing your shots. If you can wait for some clouds to come it might just provide a little softening on those harsh shadows. Enjoy!
Stormy Sunset, originally uploaded by jasohill.
Spring Textures, originally uploaded by jasohill.
Long March Icicles?, originally uploaded by jasohill.
To give you a perspective, I took a picture of this icicle farm growing behind a building. The constant melting and freezing is keeping people scrambling around on the icy streets. It should be all over soon, I hope.
[This picture comes to you courtesy of my camera phone. The Sharp SH902is]
Iwate Mountain, originally uploaded by jasohill.
Sadly, because Japan is such a humid country, scenes like this are rare, and the mountain is usually masked in cloud. It was a real blessing to capture the mountain in this light.
On his way, originally uploaded by jasohill.
There was a gerneral competition and a competition set aside for pro competitors. You really have to attend a live biathlon to understand all the work that goes into competing in this grueling sport.Not only are all the athletes expert marksmen, but they are also flawless cross country skiers. Missing just one target will cost you precious time, so they train to hit all five targets every time. My local board of education was responsible for running the event.
New photographs from Hachimantai will be posted every Thursday. All hachimantai photos can be found in my Hachimantai set on flickr.
