Spring is one of my favourite times in Japan especially early April when the cherry blossom or “Sakura” comes into bloom.

In fact I’m off out now to see if my local park has any blooms out yet…

Francisco Allendes is a Chilean DJ and producer who was in Tokyo as part of the Parties4Peace Patagonia project.

We spent some time hanging out and I took some portraits for him in and around Harajuku which gave us a lot of energy and character to work with…

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Hope everyone has had a great holiday season, I have been taking things pretty easy for the past few days recharging my batteries both literally and metaphorically.

Back in the saddle from Wednesday though…

I’ve had a couple of really chaotic months with a several fundamental changes in my life (more on those soon). I have some big plans for the new year which I’ll be unveiling over the next week or so.

How did everyone else’s 2009 finish up? What’s the most awesome thing you have planned for 2010?

I woke up to hear that Evan Tanner had been found dead in the desert after having difficulties with his latest adventure. At the time I wrote a little bit about Evan, what he believed in and why his passing was such a shame.

One thing that Evan was all about was giving back to others, something that is really close to my heart too. As a result I’d like to ask people who have links with charitable groups and good causes in Tokyo to let me know what things we here at StrikingShots can offer you.

Are you holding an event which you want the world to know about? Do you have staff members who you would like photographing for your website? Or as a thank-you gift? Would you be interested in raffling or auctioning off a portrait session? All these things are possible, so please do not hesitate to contact me. Causes particularly close to my heart include homeless charities, those helping people deal with addiction and those working with community projects.

In addition December 12th sees the Help Portrait project launched. I’m currently trying to find both photographers who are interested in helping on the day and also trying to find the perfect group to help with our efforts, I’m pretty excited and hope that things will grow even further over the next couple of months…

This weekend I let my hair down and saw a few of my DJ friends play out at club Fai in Aoyama. A great time was had by everyone as far as I could see.

Pictures including a rare self portrait are over here.

This week has been both hot and busy here in Tokyo, so without further ado here is the second batch of 10 faces from the “fifty faces project”
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While most of my work involves shooting people especially weddings and engagements, the part of the human form that I really love is the face. I really find face fascinating and have quite the collection of pictures of them now.

I’m going to put together a rolling project, with my favourite fifty faces (the pictures, not the actual faces, though I do find some of the pretty too). As I find a new face that I enjoy I’ll roll it in for one that isn’t quite doing it for me.

I’m also thinking about putting together a book with these in too..

Anyhow the first 10 candidates, selected at random from the opening 50, are after the break… (more…)