While I would write a longer summary on the trip at the later time, this post is technically to record a very interesting encounter I ran into during the trip.
Being asked about photography
During the course of the trip, beside getting denied for photography (at the temple and somewhere in Gion district), which is usual for travel photography, I found that interestingly I got asked the camera I used during the trip a couple of times, which I don’t mind to answer that question at all.
When I was asked by my friends, it was a bit easier to answer because my friends understand English very well. However, when I was asked by a middle school student at Kishiwada Castle in Osaka, who apparently very passionate in photography and cinematography, it became very challenging to explain in Japanese. So, I tried to explain in my broken Japanese about the idea behind my work and somehow that student seemed to get it. So, I was glad that that communication went through nicely.
Here is the conversation flow I had with that student (as far as I can remember). By the way, for full disclosure and entertainment, I am not paid by Nikon. It is just my camera of choices.
(After the student apoligized for stopping me mid-shooting and explained why he stopped me…)
- Student: What camera do I use?
- Juti: Nikon (Z6)
- Student: Is Nikon good? Would you recommend it?
- Juti: TL;DR: The brand or gears do not matter. It is all about storytelling.
(Then I showed him a sequence I shot on iPhone to convince him not to try to buy expensive camera like how I started.)
The encounter with that student is surely weird but the most interesting one during my solo time. I felt at least I contributed on someone’s inspiration or future. :)
Now, what am I actually using for the trip?
In the past, usually, I carries two cameras on the trip (D810 as a primary and anything as a backup). However, in the past few years, as I did some serious videos, I ended up carrying two primary cameras: D810 for photo and G85 for video.
This trip was the first time in many years that I went down to Nikon Z6 as the only primary for both photo and video gig and iPhone 8 as a backup.
The result was pretty amazing. I can switch between video and photo without interruption and as a result, I get either photo or video at the right moment most of the time. The only issue I have with Z6 is that in low light situation, Z6 gives a barely usable shutter speed when I shoot the video in either apature or shutter priority mode, despite the fact that I have the minimum shutter speed locked. This forced me to shoot video in the manual mode.
Well, that is it for now. I’m currently sipping through 300 GB of data from this trip. So, there should be some photos posted on Facebook soon but the video is probably have to wait as I have to combine with the footage from the trip in last August. The next short film is the first one that I spent a couple months in planning and about 5-6 months to complete the actual filming.
Thanks for reading. I hope you come back to this block again.