Long time between drinks

Over the past few months (7 to be exact) there have been a few interesting updates that I think I should share with you...
I spent another few weeks in the amazing Japan before heading to China on a ferry. I saw the great wall, ate some very strange foods, got in a huge car accident, saved a damsel in distress, and spent a couple of nights in a chinese jail. Oh yeah, I also spent nearly a week in a middle-of-nowhere Chinese hospital where during the course of my stay I honestly thought I might die.

So thats's the short version. Sure there are some minor details missing but who wants to hear about how I put a thug in hospital because he was beating up a young woman? Or how I had to sleep in a bathroom because I was so ill I couldn't even walk? Or how I got to the middle-of-nowhere hospital on the back of a 50cc motorbike for 60kms whilst having the most violent case of the squirts you could ever imagine?

Now I'm back and it's time to knuckle down, work hard, and do what I do best, shoot.

I'm not dead!

To say that I've been a little slack with this whole blogging thing would be a massive understatement. My last entry was on the 27th of December 2009 and it was titled week 2. It is now the 13th of February 2010 and I'm coming to the end of week number 9.

My most humble apologies.

So after our time in sleepy Yokohama, Marc and I went back to Tokyo for another week or so. While there we ate a lot of food, did a heap of walking around, and bought ourselves some snowboards.



Then, of course, it was off to the snow.



Nagano, home of the 1998 Winter Olympic Games, and for three solid months, home to half of the Australian population. Seriously, every restaurant, bar, ski lift, rental shop, or hotel you walk into you'll be greeted by that familiar nasal twang of the Aussie accent. Apart from the amazing powder snow, beautiful scenery, and uber cheap prices, you could easily think you were snowboarding in Thredbo.



Ok, enough jibber jabber…
Marc and I snowboarded for two weeks before our cousin Tim and his girlfriend Yael arrived to join us for the third.

Here's Tim after I attacked him with my clippers.



Of course me being captain fearless, decided to try every red run, black run, half pipe, and tree run. The latter ending in two cracked ribs, a swollen jaw, a mouthful of blood, and a mild concussion. Not fun!

They had a nice comfy bed waiting for me.



During my recovery I somehow scored a gig shooting the opening of the High Cascade Snow Park.











Stay tuned for the next episode…
It will be posted within the week, promise.

Week 2 : Yokohama, Japan

Another week has passed and I'm beginning to wonder about the rationale of our complete and total lack of planning. We originally set out to come snowboarding in Japan, and that was the extent of our plans. Then the idea kinda snowballed (pardon the pun) into this massive world trip which included snowboarding and bouncing around Japan with our cousin and his girlfriend too. Don't get me wrong here, I'm actually really excited to be travelling with them, but they don't arrive for another four weeks which is why Marc and I are just kinda hanging around in Tokyo killing time.




Sure, I can think of more than a handful of places that would be a lot less fun to be hanging out in, but I have this little issue about wasting time. We are heading out to all these strange out of the way places, where the two of us won't see another tourist for an entire day, and I've really started knuckling down on planning the Central Asia leg of this trip, but I still feel like we're just doing nothing. Still, it sure as hell beats being chained to a desk.

Marc and I spent another weekend in Tokyo before packing our bags and catching the train to Yokohama. Yokohama is a sleepy port town with a mere 3.8 Million people. Now I'm not sure if 90% of those people choose to reside somewhere a little more "happening" over the winter but even at lunch time when restaurants and cafe's are usually bursting at the seems, Marc and I felt like the only people in the entire city.


The ferris wheel was running, but not once did we see anyone on it.




Hmmmm.... Whale in a bird cage.




I tried to talk with old mate but he seemed to have his head somewhere else.




We stumbled into this funky store with all these wicked cameras, I helped the store clerk mop up the drool.




The name of the store was a little off putting.




All this 'spare time' has enabled me to take more photos, try new techniques, and just play around a bit. Shooting from the hip, manual guess focusing, and shooting with the wrong eye have given me a few more tools to add to my bag of photographic tricks.













Until next time, have a safe and happy new year.

Simon

Week 1 : Tokyo, Japan

I only just realised that it's Thursday today, which means we've been on the road for exactly 8 days. I suppose that's just one of the many things i love about travelling, the total and absolute disregard of the 9 to 5 working week. While you sit in peak hour traffic banging your head against your steering wheel, I'm either still fast asleep or sitting in some random Japanese cafe being served piping hot coffee by a teenage girl dressed in a French maid outfit. Ah yes, the hard life of the tight-fisted backpacker.

Getting used to hostel living and backpacking again has been quite effortless. I suppose it helps that my hostel for the last week has been Khaosan Backbackers Hostel in Asakusa, Tokyo. A pretty handy place that's clean, comfortable, and bloody cheap. $18 a night. The hostel is about a 5 minute walk from the nearest train station, but on the plus side, I do get to pass the Asahi building which has now been officially dubbed 'The Golden Jizz'.





And the view from the Asakusa bridge isn't too shabby either.



Being in Tokyo for the third time is a little strange. The excitement of being overseas is still there but I don't feel the need to rush out and spend every second of every day maundering through the crowds of Japanese business men trying to locate that elussive art gallery or museum. I suppose it's not such a bad thing. My eyes are more open photographically and I can just let go and enjoy my time here.

Harajuku for example consists of two main streets that the guidebooks recommend tramping up and down, Takeshita Dori and Omotesando Dori. What the 'Lonely Planets' of the world often omit are the hundreds of strange little side streets and alleys that are only a matter of blocks away. Marc and I spent hours just strolling around the funky clothes stores and all the other kooky Japanese gift shops.







There are a handful of "interesting" people to meet in Harajuku.



The usual tourist stops have all been descended upon but this time with a more substantial sense of reality. From shrines and temples to amusement arcades and nightclubs, the blend of old and new radiates through me like nowhere else.


Shibuya main crossing in front of the subway.



Until next time, sayonnara.

Simon

A few small changes

So quite a bit has happened since my last post on here. I quit my job, sold my motorbike, vacated my apartment, and jumped on a plane with my brother to Japan.

I love everything about this country. The people, the food, the culture, the food, the insane architecture, the food, did I mention the food?

Going from 35 degree days in sunny Sydney to 4 degree days in rainy Tokyo has taken a little getting used to, but it'll all be worth it when we hit the slopes. After sitting down with the calculator I've come to the conclusion that including accommodation, food and a moderate amount of booze, it's actually cheaper being in Tokyo than it was just paying my rent in Sydney.

Only a short entry today, and only one image; a shot out the window of a beautiful sunset.

Peace and love from the land of the rising sun

Simon

The Old Girl

Post number three, and this one's a little introduction to the woman in my life... my 1983 Yamaha SR400.



She's old, dirty, moody as hell, but she sure is fun.

The bike has been an ongoing project for the last 6 months or so. Fixing little things here and there, replacing old and broken parts, and just keeping it running and on the road. I've recently fitted a new exhaust, clip on handle bars, Mikuni 36mm carby, and have rewired pretty much the entire thing - 26 year old wiring is not pretty.

I'll post up some shots of all the new bits and pieces in my next instalment.

Until then, Peace & Grease.

Yesterdays Shoot

Ok, post number two.

Here's the first processed image from yesterdays photo shoot with the gorgeous Tara.
We've been talking about collaborating for a few months now, it was good to finally get something organised.

Lighting and exif info...
Shot with a square softbox from the left but no flash, just used the modelling light.
ISO 800
f4.0
1/80

The Big "1"

Drum roll please........................................

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, this is where it all begins.

My name is Simon Taylor and I'm a photographer.
It's not what I do but what I am.
I love every second I have my camera in my hands.

Sydney has been my home my entire life and I've enjoyed living and working in such an eclectic city, but now the time has come to move on.

This December I'm embarking on a trip with my younger brother to "shoot the world". First stop, Japan.

Marc (my brother) and I will be spending three full months in the land of the rising sun. We will travel by any means, whether it be by foot, motorcycle, plane, train, or thumb. The only constant will be my trusty camera, through it I will document every step of our journey.

From Japan we are yet to decide where to go. Maybe we will come to a decision together, maybe we'll get drunk on sake, put on blindfolds and throw darts at a world map, only time will tell.