Tokyo Christmas lights up-close
December 20, 2008 · Print This Article
Holiday lights, or “illumination” as they are referred to by Japanese, are big in Japan. I still think of them just as Christmas lights myself. I live right in one of the largest concentrations of lights in the city. Shinjuku has the illuminated windows of the Odakyu Department Store, the random lights amongst the skyscrapers, and of course all the light displays on Shinjuku Southern Terrace and Takashimaya Department Store. Thought I won’t admit it, I like them all.
I decided to only include close-up shots of the lights because I’ve developed the bad habit of not wanting to use my tripod. That’s largely because my old tripod is not stable enough for my new DSLR kit. Still, there is something much more personal about handholding shots, even of inanimate objects.
Of course couples are drawn to the lights, as can be seen in the above photo. The lights throughout Tokyo are nice, and impressive. However, I still find myself nostalgic for the neighborhood Christmas lights displays I saw growing up in the U.S. I liked walking down a neighborhood street and seeing each house’s particular creative holiday light expression.
Still, I’ll miss walking home and seeing the illuminated windows of the Odakyu Department Store over my shoulder once I leave Japan next year. To get that view, go to Shinjuku station’s west exit, then walk up the pedestrian bridge and in front of Bic Camera you can find the best view.
TOKYO CHRISTMAS LIGHTS UP-CLOSE PHOTO GALLERY:
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I really like that shot or Roppongi Hills.
What plug-in do you use for your pictures?
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Jason Collin Reply:
December 20th, 2008 at 12:54 PM
Thanks Tom.
That shot of Roppongi Hills is basically straight out of the camera, with only a tiny 1% histogram adjustment.
By plugins, do you mean Photoshop plugins? I have almost no Photoshop skills actually!
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nice pics. i have to find time to go out and see the bright lights. this year end has been rather busy. ^^
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Jason Collin Reply:
December 21st, 2008 at 10:28 AM
Thanks Ken. Metropolis just published a huge list of lights all around the Tokyo area.
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I’m sorry, I meant WordPress plugin. I’m considering making the switch.
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Jason Collin Reply:
December 21st, 2008 at 10:33 AM
Ah, ok. For the photo gallery I use PhotoXhibit:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/photoxhibit/
I like it because it pulls photos right from Picassa, Flickr, etc. That way I don’t have to resize photos manually before uploading. It saves me one step in my work flow because Picassa automatically resizes photos for me with its uploader.
WordPress has plenty of quirks still, even in its hugely revamped 2.7 version. I am trying out Squarespace for my new photography only site. I recommend giving them consideration along with WordPress.
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[...] 3. A very Japanese Christmas. Close-up photography of Christmas in Tokyo by Jason Collin. [...]
our christmas lights this 2010 would be made up from light emitting diodes which does not generates so much heat*.”
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Jason Collin Reply:
October 28th, 2010 at 9:57 AM
The change to LED Christmas lights is a good one. I can remember burning my fingers on the very large bulbs of many years ago.
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