Snap! Interesting Japanese Folk, Part 2

I really enjoyed photographing the people in Japan, as well as tourist attractions, architecture, and nature. The bottom row are typical workers. The top row includes people dressed up to work with tourists: a group of Samurai that stopped for ice cream and to take a selfie and someone willing to transport tourists in a rickshaw. Linking up with Helena's Snap! photography meme this week.

Snap! Interesting Japanese Folk, Part 1

When we travel, I try to do more than just take photographs of the standard tourist attractions (although I do take plenty of those shots). I also enjoy taking photographs of interesting people I see. So, I thought I'd share a couple groupings of interesting Japanese folk as part of Helena's Snap! photo meme. I took the first photo at the Inari temple, spied the second pair trying to decide which bus to take in Kyotoa, and the last two at a baseball game. More interesting folk coming next week.

How's the hunt going?

Item #12 A Window, Option 1

It's been so much fun to watch the 2016 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt Facebook page and instagram hash tag filling up with Scavenger Hunt photos. For my blogging friends out there, how's it going?

Item #12 A Window (option 2)

I know I've seen a few posts, but I just wanted to check in. Let me know if you have any questions. So far, I've got seven and one alternate found (although I haven't blogged them all yet). Plus, today I'm going to go crop with friends, so I'll be able to tick off number 8 very soon.
1. A "wild heart" - a naturally occurring heart (like the rock above, but it doesn't have to be a rock)
2. A footprint or pawprint
3. A skeleton, bone or x-ray
4. A book or magazine read during 2016
5. A porch or deck
6. A camper (caravan)
7. A family gathering
8. A drawing, art project, artistic photograph, scrapbook page, greeting card, or art journal page created by you.
9. Someone playing with, in, or around water.
10. A bicycle
11. Fresh produce
12. A window13. The moon
14. A buffet of food
15. A team logo16. A map showing a trip taken during the time period
17. Twins
18. A supermarket cart, basket or trolley full of groceries 
19. A seasonal cocktail or beverage20. Someone laughing
21. A photograph of you with a newspaper or calendar page from the time period covered in the Hunt. Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.
Alternatives - if you're having trouble finding any of the above, you may substitute from this list (but you may not substitute for item #21):
alternative 1: a lighthouse
alternative 2: a baby (human or animal)
I'll be hosting a link up at the end of the month. And, if you haven't started yet, no worries. There's still plenty of time. The summer solstice is still about a week a way, and the hunt lasts until September.

A Visit to the Deer Park (Nara, Japan)

One of the delightful places we visited in Japan was Nara, home of a temple and a large park where the deer are considered sacred. They wander among the tourists (including large groups of Japanese school children).

They are very tame, and they have even been trained to bow if you offer them a deer cracker.

One of the things I did on my vacation was to keep a travel journal, where I wrote about the day's activities and added simple water color drawings and sketches. Here's the page I did about Nara.

I really enjoyed the process of sketching during the trip, and I"ll be sharing more pages, along with photos of some of my favorite places in Japan.

Cheap Amazon Books and First Summer Read

SPSH  Item #4 A Book Read in 2016

I'm making reading a priority this summer, and I have finished my first book! 
It was a very fast read in the psychological thriller genre and generally well-written. I think the very end of the book took a few wrong turns (no spoilers), but on the whole I'm glad I picked it up. Especially because it was very cheap! 
I bought it off the Amazon website, choosing the "used paperback" option. The book only cost .97. Even with $4.00 for shipping, the book was still the least expensive one I have bought in some time. It arrived in very good condition and quickly, even though it came from the U.K. The book had not yet been released in the U.S when I ordered it, so I took the used paperback option. I used to do that a lot when I was buying out of print kids books for my son. I think I'll do it more in the future. Maybe you can do the same.
The book also qualifies as Item #4 on the 2016 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt. I wrote a post about my summer reading plan here if you want to check it out.

Snap: Japanese Street Hole Covers

While traveling in Japan, the variety of street hole covers caught my eye. I decided to take pictures of them in the hopes of turning them into an entry for Helena's weekly photo meme called "Snap!" that features a visual set of photographs. The first photo was taken in Tokyo on the street where our hotel was located; the second features deer and was taken in Nara, home to a park full of wild, sacred deer (blog post coming sometime this summer).The third was taken near an amazing bamboo forest (blog post coming sometime this summer); and the last was a fairly typical one taken in Kyotoa (but I loved the characters).
Thanks Helena for hosting this meme. It's something that I do think about and have created other sequences for almost every week, even if they didn't make their way to my blog. 

Did I mention I went to Japan?

Yesterday I wrote about how I've been away from my blog as part of the ebb-and-flow of the creative process. But, there are other reasons - like work and kids and travel. Yea for travel!
Paul and I went to Japan for two weeks (one week based in Tokyo and one week based in Kyoto). It was amazing. I will no doubt blog more about the trip over the next few months, but I wanted to share one of my favorite photos, taken in a temple garden in Kyoto.
Have you been anywhere lately?
Got any trips planned for the summer?