Photo Story: American Carnival still lives

American carnival experiences still live in Snell Isle Florida

To my surprise, only a five minute walk from where I live, a small carnival suddenly sprung up.  Like most children, I loved carnivals and everything about them from the unusual rides to the games to the cotton candy too of course!  

This photo was made using my Nikon D300 with Nikkor 50mm 1.8D lens while walking up the stairs to the tall burlap bag wavy slide ride.  Yes, I was able to slide down at great speed and still keep my kit safe.  

When going on the standing centrifugal force ride, however, I laid the D300 down behind the scenes of the ride with the blessing of the entertaining ride operator.  He spoke of how he wanted to visit Japan some day.

The basketball game pictured next to the ferris wheel got $5 of my money.  For sure on my third shot I thought it was money, but it only clanged off the front of the rim.  Long, long ago I spent nearly $50 trying to win at the same game at a different carnival!  

No doubt nothing more mysterious and exciting can come to one's own backyard than a carnival.  Overnight an amusement park can replace a little used soccer field.  These thoughts bounce through my head:  who dreamed up these kinds of rides?  when were they last inspected for safety?  do I like the sense of danger of possibly hastily assembled rides?  and I sure hope they have funnel cake!

Photo Story: Weeki Wachee River HDR Sunset

Weeki Wachee River HDR Sunset in Hernando County, Florida

We visited old friend Margo at her home in Weeki Wachee yesterday.  Despite heavy rain on the Howard Franklin bridge through to the Veterans Expressway interchange, then heavy traffic into Pasco County, we arrived in plenty of time to capture what sunset there was.  

I was standing on a floating dock to make this image, and was unsure if I could get any kind of sharpness at all in the 5-bracket HDR image I wanted to make.  

This is an extremely peaceful place with many very affordable properties right on the Weeki Wachee River.  The day after the above image was made we rented a flat bottom boat and went up river passing no manatees, unfortunately, but we did get a brief visit from an otter.  I will return to this area soon to photograph a great bayou.  

PURCHASE this image.

Photo Story: Asakusa Souvenir Stands

The best place to buy souvenirs in Tokyo is Asakusa

I would guess the number of foreign tourists and residents that visit Asakusa is near 100%.  One can find souvenirs and gifts covering the full range of Japanese culture from paper fans, to lacquerware, to katana, to real kimonos.  If you are a foreign resident of Tokyo, if you have any Japanese friends, one of the first places they will take you is Asakusa.  Likewise, if you are a longtime foreign resident of Tokyo and you have friends or family visit you from abroad, no doubt you will in turn take them to Asakusa.  This is how it worked for me.  

Photo Story: Cotton Candy Man

If you job is selling cotton candy at parades, how can you not smile?

When I lived in Japan I was often asked what my favorite food was.  I always answered straight-faced:  watagashi -- which is the Japanese word for cotton candy.  I was only half joking.  It is definitely my favorite candy.  I like the texture, a texture truly fitting its name.  I also like the texture when you squish and roll up a wisp of cotton candy, which makes it hard and almost crunchy.

I photographed this cotton candy vendor while waiting for a parade to begin in downtown St. Petersburg.  I was surprised to draw his attention from across the street as I photographed him using my Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8 D lens at the full 200mm length.  Him looking into the lens and smiling I think greatly improves what otherwise would have been an anonymous street photography shot.

Cotton candy is a ludicrous $500 ($5) in Tokyo.  I was disappointed to see that it is still expensive ($3) even in the U.S.  However, no matter what the price, this time, like most times, I could not stop myself from buying a bag.  I prefer pink over blue in case you ever wanted to ever surprise me with some.

Photo Story: Alpine Accentor at Takigo-yama Summit

alpine accentor on perch

Whenever I move to a new country, area or city, I quickly establish customs and traditions . . . and favorites.  Then I return or revisit these each year I continue to live in that place.  Hiking to the summit of Takigo-yama was my favorite hike to do in Japan.  In fact, I did it 7 times.  photo made at the summit of Takigo-yamaIt offers spectacular views of Mt. Fuji on clear days, which were the majority when I summited it.  My third time hiking it was with Aya and a group of others.  At that time I had no idea that by the time I summited it for my 7th, and last time, it would be with Aya again, but this time with her as my wife.

It was also the first time to summit Takigo-yama with a DSLR.  I even took my very heavy Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm F2.8D lens with me.  When we reached the summit and Mt. Fuji was shrouded in clouds, I was very disappointed because I knew I'd never get to see my favorite view in all of Japan again, and also that I broke my back for no reason.

However, then I spotted this little fellow, an alpine accentor, on a perch on the summit.  I quickly put on the 80-200mm lens and was able to make the above photograph.  Just that single image made it all worth it and on the descent I thought how glad I was to have brought that heavy lens!

This photograph is also basically my only wildlife photograph of Japan.  The gray background is from the mist shrouding the summit and blocking Fuji from view.  

Photo Story: Dolphin surfacing at Vinoy Park

click to purchase this photographDolphins are a semi-common sight in the coastal waters of west-central Florida, yet spotting them, even for long-time residents like myself, never ceases to delight.  They usually attract a bit of a crowd as well.  If you see someone standing on a beach or a pier, or in this case a seawall and pointing, chances are they are pointing at a dolphin.  

I have noticed that dolphins hunt along the seawall of Vinoy Park.  This is a behavior I never witnessed in the first 14 years I lived in Florida.  Since returning after a 9 year absence, I have witnessed this hunting behavior twice.  The dolphin rockets along parallel to the seawall in pursuit of fish with 50% less direction to go.  The water has always been very murky along the seawalls so I have not been able to see the catch of the fish in detail, never mind photograph that moment.  

However, this time I was able to predict the dolphin's surfacing patterns and capture an image where you can see the droplets in the water from when it took a breath from its blowhole.  

WHERE THE DOLPHIN WAS SIGHTED

View Vinoy Park dolphin spotting location in a larger map

Photo Story: The bird rookery that stinks up millionaires homes

Photo Story is a new addition to the Jason Collin Photography website.  In these posts I will tell in detail the story about the featured photograph.  That story may be what is actually captured in the image, or the story of what it took me to make the image, or both.

I was not even sure about this photograph because of the unusual composition I tried with it (framing it with the boat docks).  However, it received no criticisms on flickr even though I asked for them.  I often use flickr to gauge what the general public thinks of my photographs, as what I think is cool is often not necessarily what attracts the most attention on flickr, a more general, albeit informed, photography audience.

Anyway, the island in the center is a crowded rookery for quite a few species of bird (pelicans, ibises, herons, etc.).  This gathering of birds creates a very large . . . stink.  Even though the island is in fact a good distance from the sidewalk I was standing on, and the houses are further behind a small street, no doubt if you'd open a window the odor would waltz right in.  I have cycled past this island quite a few times, and the wind seems to always carry it in the same direction.  I always think, "these people have million dollar homes, but it stinks a lot of the time."  This fascinates me for some reason.  I like thinking of the conundrum of, "you could be given one of these homes, but you'll have to live with the stink."  I also wonder if the owners of the houses were fully aware of the stink, or if they someone got lucky the first few times they checked the house out and the wind was blowing the other way so they had no idea of the smell until after they signed the deed?  

The photograph above cannot relay the smell to the viewer, but if you ever find yourself near the Snell Isle area of St. Petersburg, give it a pass by and think if you could make the compromise of living in a million dollar+ house, with the windows closed all the time.  Then let me know what you decide in the comments below.