It would appear my phone company have been a little premature in cancelling my contract and have disconnected my phone, if anyone has tried to call me please email me at Paul@strikingshots.com with your number and I will call you back as soon as possible.

I’m brushing up my complaining Japanese….

*UPDATE* I’m back in the land of telephony, apparently one department had decided seeing as I was leaving, not to send me a bill, while the other had decided that as I hadn’t paid the bill (which they had not sent) to cut me off. $40 later and I’m back to getting 50 spam texts an hour…

On Sunday I was lucky enough to attend the opening of up and coming photographer Kyle Flowers’s first exhibition here in Tokyo, a nice small affair with some excellent music provided by the Matt Stansberry Band.

I‘m unsure if Kyle has a web presence, if you do drop me a line and I shall get you some linkage from here. Anyone with a spare few hours should go and see his work while it is still hanging at Cafe Pikey, close to Ebisu, if nothing else the food is excellent…

It was a very relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon after what had been a pretty fraught morning…

Spring is here, strawberries are in season, it’s not quite as cold and now it’s raining. Perfect…

For anyone wodering how this was done, it’s a very simple two light setup, with a single light providing the background, just metered it to f/16 and shot at f/11.

The main subject was lit via a second light being bounced off a sheet of white card held at an angle in front of the strawberry. I bounced off card for two reasons, firstly it gives a nice soft light, but also it gives much nicer “specular highlights” or “catchlights” than just using the flash directly…

Today I’m going to the aquarium so expect to see fish pictures in the near future…

Nikon D200 28mm f/2.8 1/2s ISO 100

I just got home from Fukt, an artists’ collaborative evening. I’m tired and need to sleep but I will bring you pictures (and more words) later today…

Nikon D200 50mm f/8 1/250s ISO100

So as with all good things my time in Japan is coming to an end. My reasons for wanting to stay are multitude but at the end of the day I’ve been feeling myself getting into a rut and I know that soon after I’d cease to have fun which frankly is what life for me is all about.

As a result I have given notice to my corporate agency and have my last wedding firmly booked on the 28th of March. I have a fortnight afterwards to get myself packed up before heading south to spend some time in Sydney. Due to the joys of the commonwealth I have a working visa for a full year with the option to extend it for a further 12 months if things go well.

As a result of this move I will not be taking any new bookings after March 28th. If you think you have an appointment (of the business nature) with me after this date contact me ASAP as you are not in my organiser. If anyone in Sydney is looking to have their event covered please do contact me as I will be looking to work as soon as I arrive.

Huge thanks to all of the awesome clients and friends I have met while in Tokyo, you have succeeded in making the past two years memorable beyond belief. I shall without doubt be back in Japan in the future so keep your eyes open to see when I will be in town…

Obviously this whole adventure is subject to the question which I start every day with…

“Am I having fun?”