PHEW! I feel like I have been treading water for the past 3 months and someone finally threw me a life preserver. I'm well aware that my life has been crazy because I chose it to be, and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but man is it nice to relax a bit!
Since my last post, I spent 6 days in Ofunato where I did some more gutting, laid some bricks at a park, distributed winter items to families in temporary housing and learned how to play ground golf, a game many elderly Japanese play that is very similar to putt-putt. Sadly, that trip was my last to Ofunato, at least for now. I would like to return in the spring to volunteer some more and if that's not possible, I hope to visit again as a tourist some time before we leave.
I also spent 3 days at a photography workshop in Yokohama. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into when I signed up for PhotoFest Japan 2011, I just hoped to learn a few things about my camera and a thing or two about photography in general. Any expectations I had were far exceeded! 10 minutes into day 1, class 1, I learned how to do something on my camera that I didn't think was possible and it just kept getting better from there. Basically, there were 3 professionals that each taught a different class on a different topic every hour. Participants were free to attend which ever class we were interested in. We also went on a few different outings and were able to drill the pro's with tons of questions. I learned a ton, met some great people and got to work with a few models {a 1st for me...unless you count ones that are related to me}
At the end of the weekend, we had a "contest" among the participants. While none of my photos were chosen as favorites by my peers, one {we were only about to submit 2 each} of my photos was selected by the pro's as an honorable mentionand what they think is way more important.
Here is that photo
and a few others from the weekend
The most important thing that happened since my last blog post however, was this
Hubby {far left} finally got his company command!!! It's been quite a roller coaster getting to this point but it's here and we're excited for this part of our journey here in Japan! I'm sure there will be many vague, ranting posts to come regarding this topic =}
Since my last post, I spent 6 days in Ofunato where I did some more gutting, laid some bricks at a park, distributed winter items to families in temporary housing and learned how to play ground golf, a game many elderly Japanese play that is very similar to putt-putt. Sadly, that trip was my last to Ofunato, at least for now. I would like to return in the spring to volunteer some more and if that's not possible, I hope to visit again as a tourist some time before we leave.
I also spent 3 days at a photography workshop in Yokohama. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into when I signed up for PhotoFest Japan 2011, I just hoped to learn a few things about my camera and a thing or two about photography in general. Any expectations I had were far exceeded! 10 minutes into day 1, class 1, I learned how to do something on my camera that I didn't think was possible and it just kept getting better from there. Basically, there were 3 professionals that each taught a different class on a different topic every hour. Participants were free to attend which ever class we were interested in. We also went on a few different outings and were able to drill the pro's with tons of questions. I learned a ton, met some great people and got to work with a few models {a 1st for me...unless you count ones that are related to me}
At the end of the weekend, we had a "contest" among the participants. While none of my photos were chosen as favorites by my peers, one {we were only about to submit 2 each} of my photos was selected by the pro's as an honorable mention
Here is that photo
and a few others from the weekend
The most important thing that happened since my last blog post however, was this
What's with Japan and random ferris wheels? The one here is huge, in a shopping area, and on top of a building. Odd.
ReplyDeleteHow fun! I haven't done a photowalk in forever. And the only one I did with models was when I was a model because I couldn't afford to take the class as a student. :)
ReplyDeleteYay for Hubby! A brave new world awaits you :)
wow! you have been busy. i sooooo want to take a photography class, but i need to get a really good camera first. do you use nikon or canon? anyway, your pics are fabulous. and congrats to the hubby on his command!
ReplyDelete