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On brownsugar's request, here are some pictures from Japan. I took these during the Hamamatsu Kite Festival earlier today:




























Hope you like them.

awesome !!

Beautiful photos...

nice!

Where were all the women?

stunning!! beautiful composition as always retina

and holy heck! those are some serious kites they have there!
they are huge!! i hope we get to see lots more pictures hun...
i would love to see what you are experiencing through your lens

Neat!!! I love kites, but those are pretty intimidating. They take kite flying pretty seriously over there, don't they? Fascinating

Add me to the list of those who want more pictures.

Wow!
Gorgeous shots!!

Retina, I love the last flick. It's beautiful.

the first pic deserves to be in an exhibit.

It's brilliant.

Imago said:

agreed.

CarrieMpls said:

the kites look like little pieces of paper floating in air.

Kate Bush-Kite

Beelzebub is aching in my belly-o

My feet are heavy and I'm rooting in my wellios

And I want to get away and go

From all these mirror windows

I look at eye level, it isn't good enough

And then I find out, when I take a good look up

There's a hole in the sky with a big eyeball

Calling me-

(Chorus)

Come up and be a kite

And fly a diamond night

A diamond kite, a diamond kite

Ooh, what a diamond!

A diamond kite, on a diamond flight

Over the lights, under the moon

Over the lights, under the moon

Over the moon, over the moon

I feel a rush along my body like a bullet

I'm 2D, after a push and pull feeling

And I want to get back to safe home

I love the homeland dome

I got no limbs, I'm like a feather on the wind

Well I'm not sure if I want to be up here at all

And I'd like to be back on the ground

But I don't know how to get down

(Chorus)



great pics I haven't flown a kite in years. I thought about it the other day because it was so windy out. I thought...perfect day to fly a kite.

Thank you very much Mach, applekisses, brownsugar and CarrieMpls!

retina said:

thank you




i love the one of the men and their expressions

Justin1972UK said:

There were actually a lot of women there too, but I'm guessing it was at least 80% men. Things are very divided between the genders in Japan; men do certain things (work all day to earn the money for the family, drink until they puke with their friends, sleep with mistresses, fly kites and indulge in other hobbies) and women do other things (shop all day for the money their husbands are earning, go to beauty salons, take care of the kids, take care of the household, cook, clean, etc). It's a very different society compared to what most of us are used to.

emm said:

Thank you!



They indeed are. And apparently it takes at least a year to make them since they have to dry out the bamboo (in order for the kites to be light enough to fly). It was an impressive sight to see them all in the sky at once.

shellyevon said:

Yeah, they're very serious about a lot of things over here, for better and for worse. On a day like this it's definitely for the better. The excitement was in the air everywhere.




Done!

jerseykrs said:

Thanks! I think it's balancing on the verge of being cheesy, but is weighing in the right direction.

Imago said:

Wow, what a great compliment! Thank you!

I like it too. It was one of those rare moments where it's possible to take a picture that both looks good and tells a story too.

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brownsugar said:

Yeah, but they were actually pretty huge as you can see in the fourth picture. In the first pic they're just so damn high up in the air. But the effect is pretty cool.

AnckSuNamun said:

Thanks!



Yeah, I've thought about it too many times but I never seem to bring my lazy ass to the toy store where I can buy one. And the big and nice ones are just too damn expensive.

Mach said:

Really? That's great to hear because it's definitely one of my favourites too! I'm trying to take more and more pictures of people doing things since I usually find those the most interesting. But in order to do so I have to overcome my reluctance to disturb people during their private moments (because it's usually impossible to sneak up close enough to take a really good picture without getting noticed a split second after you get the shot - and that's if you're lucky!).

retina said:

it is hard to get good candid shots of people in their natural state... but when done well, as that one is ...they turn out beautifully

OOOh I like the second one! Oh, I like them all

charlottegelin said:

Cool, thanks!

I'm pretty proud of the second one actually. I managed to find harmony in that mess of criss-crossing lines, which isn't always easy.

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retina said:

it's very graphic

wow .....u have a real gift!

retina said:

I always felt the same way when creating such a shot, but sometimes they actually come out right without seeming tried. Well done.