Another Night in the Snow

I very much have a favourite among these pictures, but I would be interested to know which of them you find most appealing.  I can't really put my finger on why I like this particular one the most, but it certainly jumps out at me as being the best - there's simply no competition!  These are in no particular order (beyond that determined by blogger) so I hope the sequence doesn't prejudice the results.

So there was another snow event in the Tokyo area (snow event as in weather event, as is all the rage to say nowadays).  I was originally going to wait until the next day to take these pictures, but it started raining around 11PM and showed no signs of letting up.  This would have meant losing the snow, but it also gave a unique opportunity because wet snow has several interesting properties.  One such property is the magnificent roundness everything seems to possess when it gets wet.  I can't really explain this phenomenon, but upon seeing the pictures it was obvious that the flowing curves were missing from my previous set of pictures.  Again, I can't really explain it, but I think you'll see what I mean when you compare these ones to last weeks video.
The rain also had another side effect; that of making the snow exceptionally difficult to navigate.  It became increasingly arduous to maintain balance while walking because the snow wasn't solidifying underfoot.  It became a layer of snow on top of a layer of ice, and even when the ground underneath wasn't frozen over, the snow itself would turn to mush and give way far too easily.  It wasn't as idyllic to walk through as the pictures make it appear.

Having said that, the snow looks particularly snowy because of the rain, so I'm not complaining too much.  When you have buckets of snow it can sometimes look fake.  It tends to look like a blanket, in that the effect is of someone throwing a textured duvet over a surface and being done with it.  The rain really changes the texture into something far more snowy (to look at, at least).


It's absolutely fine to think I'm mad for walking around in the snow until 4AM (truth be told, my battery ran out at 2.30 but I got lost) just to take a few pictures.  I probably am.  Oh well.

Party Time

So I'm uploading these from the party the other day.  The camera is a Nikon D90, and I have no permissions for any of these pictures.  Let's hope no one finds out.  Then again, they can sue me for all they want, because I have no worldly possessions anyway.  (And no money for that matter).

First up, a picture of me; because everyone always moans that I don't post enough pictures of me.  Here is a picture.  Shut up now everyone.

It's in black and white because I'm wearing a particularly uninteresting coloured shirt, and it was taken with a flash - so the colours aren't that great to start with.  I'm also closing one eye to mask the fact that, by this point, my eyes are working entirely independently, and as a result, are facing in completely opposite directions.  It must be something to do with drink, and or tiredness.

Anyway, moving on...

This woman is also an English teacher, albeit at a different school.  She's pretty quiet, but was an (un)willing model for my first few dozen attempts with the new camera.  Thank you very much!

I don't know the  legalities of blog posting, so you shall remain without a name!

The flash was pretty harsh, as you can see, but there's not a lot you can do about that.

The girl on the  right owns the camera, the girl on the left could be anyone.  I've literally no idea who that is.  I may or may not ever see her again, so here's to hoping that she doesn't speak English, otherwise I'll end up in prison for misrepresentation or something.

Thanks for letting me borrow your camera, girl on the right!  (Again, no names for lawsuit purposes.)

My favourite picture of the night, and it's not even an animate object.  The picture looked pretty cool in colour, but it looks awesome in black and white.

It's now the desktop for my little baby laptop, and it will become the background for my work computer once I get in tomorrow.

If you click on the picture you can blow it up to full size.  It's a pretty low quality picture, but as of yet I have no means of copyrighting or anything, so have  at it, internet.  I also need a watermark for my pictures, once I get a nice camera.  If anyone wants to make me one, I'll give them a cookie as payment.  Sent anywhere in the world.

There are tons more photographs, but I need to check that it's okay to put them on the interwebs.

Watch this space.