# Alain's photography (Non Urban photos)) - 日本 / Japan (and more) !



## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

I mean it !


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

thank you  sooo, here is today s update !


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

*Moved from page 1 in order not to overload the first page* 

Then here are a few images from *2008*, still Japan, then I will make a break to see if you want some more or kick me out


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## Þróndeimr (Jan 14, 2003)

You should do one picture each post or something, which makes each page limited to only 20 pictures. Similar to what i did in this thread, http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1131477

You won't get kicked out for posting great pictures!


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

yes, that is a good idea  as of now, the page seems not so heavy to me, but we have fast connections in Japan, I am waiting for some feedback on that if some people think it si a pain 

I saw your thread before, it is very interesting, I know some sweedish people and never got the opportunity to go there so I looked the sweedish ones with a lot of curisosity


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)




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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

Excellent pics! But now they're a little bit too big on my computer screen.


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## Þróndeimr (Jan 14, 2003)

^^ get a bigger screen! 

Great pics, love the size of them. 

(for those who enjoy high resolution imagery, a recommendation: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1141539 )


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## bakasaurus (Jan 16, 2009)

Superb as always!

Keep posting!


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

Yellow Fever > sorry, I can only support the "buy a HD screen" advice, they are notso expensive now 

Bakasaurus > I am on my way to Kyoto to shoot a few more today


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

^^ Its ok, at home I'm still using my very old desktop with a cheap monitor. At work, I use the apple wiith a HD screen and your pics are just fine.


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

very good  I got very lucky today and shot a few more that will make good use of that HD screen of yours


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## bakasaurus (Jan 16, 2009)

AlainPhoto said:


> very good  I got very lucky today and shot a few more that will make good use of that HD screen of yours


Waaah, Kyoto is a dream place for photography! Went there last early winter. Would have wanted to return in spring time but I had field work in Iriomote, Okinawa. Would surely go back this next Autumn.

Can't wait to see your Kyoto pics. And my expectations are very high coming from you, hehe but I'm sure you will more than meet them.


I actually bought my entry level DSLR 2 days before my Kyoto trip last year and I only had 2 days to learn so my photos were a bit sucky. Haha.


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

I'm no kenjutsu expert but I'm just curious that why you didn't show his face. Doesn't the expression alone on the kenshi's face could determine the outcome of the battle between two sword men?

Btw, I'm still waiting for more of your HD photos to fill my computer screen!


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

bakasaurus > you bet, Kyoto is the most beautiful city on earth, after Paris for sure 

In fact, most of my images come from Kyoto, it is a place I have fallen in love with, culture is so rich there ...

I hope you enjoy your next trip there !

Yellow Fever > he is a she  not a martial demonstration, it was a dance in a Shinto festival !

but you are right, I cut the head so the eye can focus on the body rather than the face, because too often a face decides the outcome of the image ... I want people to forget about this and find meaning and grace in the body position 

here is another shot :


by the way I am now closing the Japan/2009 serie, here is the last image !


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

AlainPhoto said:


> Yellow Fever > he is a she  not a martial demonstration, it was a dance in a Shinto festival !


No wonder "he" got no hair on "his" skinny arms!


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

now that Japan/2009 is closed, I have a few Bali images to share, then we will go back to Japan/2010


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

ok here is a first Bali shot !


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

Nice !!!!! but only one photo?


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## nouveau.ukiyo (Sep 20, 2007)

I just wanted to say that I enjoy your pictures. I live in Japan as well and like to take pictures, although I don't have any serious equipment. If I ever get the funds, I'd like to invest in something though. In the mean time, I'll be looking out for your work as you post more!


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

Yellow Fever > yes because I need to dive into all the shots I took and I am very lazy (and have zero time lately because of other reasons) !  other will come soon, nothing so special, I was just a tourist with basic local culture knowledge !

ukiyo > whatever camera you have or get, you can have some fun and learn both about your subjects and photography, so I hope you enjoy the country as well as your photography


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

okay here is another one before I leave again for one more business trip ! 

dancer in royal palace, Ubud, Bali


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

that little thief trade glasses back for that egg !


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

The photos are so sharp that I can see there are some small hairs above that thai girl's lips.


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

well the 200 f2.0 helps a lot indeed


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

another one with the 200mm :


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

more Bali dance !


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## Þróndeimr (Jan 14, 2003)

Awesome pictures! :cheers:


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

thanks !  Bali is just a beautiful place !

roasted corn for sale (background is a plane landing, I had poor light so needed something)


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

Finally, something other than human or monkey!  j/k

Excellent shot!


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

unfortunately, in Bali, I did mostly shot dance and monkeys, the rest of the image will proove that, sorry


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

Oh, no! no more monkeys please!


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

they are coming back very soon and will steal your glasses 

Sacred offering, Bali


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

dance !


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## Herbie Fully Loaded (Aug 28, 2009)

So stunning, so cultural!


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

monkey + banana


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

:goodnight


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)




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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

no update this week but I have a little extra 

I really loved that kimono


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

Whats that white paint on her neck and back?


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## Jhun (Mar 25, 2007)

best pictures i have seen in a while, keep it up. more japan plz and maybe a bit of your hometown, Paris, I guess?


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

Yellow Fever > well this is traditionnal make up for Maiko (geisha in training), the face is white, shoulder and back too, neck shape is characteristic 

if they do not have this white make up, it basicall means they are in casual atire 

Jhun > thanks 

you can see more image on my website, I have posted images from every year since 2004 so there is quite a lot to see  I recommend year 2008 as I started to get good quality that year I think ...

usually I post one image a week, first because it is difficult for me to make good images, second because it forces me to post at least once in a while since I am very lazy 

I will finish Bali soon, then [email protected] will start, I have a few good ones to show already 

then about Paris you can find very few ones on the site, but it is not a subject I am reall covering, it is already quite a huge task to cover a part of Japan 

please note I am semi-pro : I have a day job (very intersting one fortunately) so I only shoot/edit on free time


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)




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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)




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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)




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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

well it is pretty dead in here


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)




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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

hum, I start to feel like a madman posting alone 

anyway I am done with Bali, nothing so good left, so let s go back to Japan for the 2010 series ! (edit : I showed this image a while ago as an example with my new camera, but it was not public on my site, now I am starting the 2010 and this is the first image, the second is the butterfly kimono on last page ...)


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

I want to see some young and hot japanese girls!!!


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

well, she is young and beautiful, isn t she ?


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

I'm sure her daughter is!


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

hum, that is a good test, how old do you think she is exactly ?


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

she looks 40s!


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

well, you got it all wrong 

she is a maiko, that means a future Geiko (Kyoto name for Geisha), so she is between 15 and 21 

if you see pictures of older women in maiko atire, they are tourists who dress up like maiko for fun, they are popular with other tourists because it is very easy to take picture of them 

but the above image is a real one and therefore probably less than 20 !


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

wow, she is only a kitten, the makeup really make her look so much older.


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

here is an older one, and without the make up and kimono ... she is a Geiko (Geisha) in casual attire for an event 

Geiko Tamaha, of the Tama okiya, Kyoto, 2009


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

I actually prefer this cougar over that kitten!


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

well she is one of the most stunning ones 

Tokyo Dome, clic for some air-supported structures info


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

The BC Place (home of the Lions football team) of Vancouver had a similar roof for over 20 years and now its under renovation and the old air supported structure will be replaced by a brand new retractable canopy.


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

I will have to look that up, thank you for the tip ! I think it is a very intersting building trick !

A lady mikoshi as you can tell from the hands


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

I actually think your thread would have a better explosure in the Showcase section, I will move it there and see what kind of response we would get and go from there! Don't worry, I can always move it back here if you decide to come back.


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## Ni3lS (Jun 29, 2007)

Excellent Pics! I just wish they were a little bit more focused on urbanity instead of people


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Indeed great and very nice photos :applause:


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

Yellow Fever > let s try it this way 

Ni3lS > well some people have a great eye for urbanity, wich I don t ! this is why I am here : to learn on urban-gifted photographers 

my eye flows with people, details and tradition, and I like to share images I believe I am good at - for the other ones, I need learning first 

Tokyo has a lot to offer for urbanity, I will get to it one day ...

christos-greece > thank you and welcome on board !


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## diskojoe (Apr 8, 2009)

your photos are good but getting boring after repetition of so many similar images. just go walk down the street and take pictures of people or buildings or whatever. try to be more spontaneous. you can do it. more like the first picure would be good. thats what we want.


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## diskojoe (Apr 8, 2009)

Here is a link that may help you as well. simply amazing tokyo urban shots

Tokyo - Citylife


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

diskojoe > sorry that I bored you 

please note there is a misconception here, my pictures are not urban, there are of subjects that I like and think I am good at capturing

I thank you for your recomendation of shooting the things that you like, like going out and randomly shooting the big cities, but I am not so good at it and you have undreds of thousands of people doing just that every year in Japan - when I will be able to do something better than them I will do that - but please note that the subjects I shoot are in general very specific details of old Japan culture, comparatively very few people shoot that kind of images so I believe it will be of interest to some 

as said just before your post, my images are in this forum because they are self made, not because they are urban ... 

Yellow Fever > maybe the previous forum was more adapted, it seems to create confusion if placed along urban shots only


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

I think we should change the title of this section so that it's not just for urban photos only. Leave it to me Alain, I'm going to talk to the admin and see what we can do for you.


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

don t bother changing the whole set up for me


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

AlainPhoto said:


> christos-greece > thank you and welcome on board !


Weclome and thanks: keep it up kay:


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

thanks !

I checked, I cannot change the topic title, but I will had a bit more info in the first post 

Mr. Yoshinobu Shigeyama performing in Naki-Ama, Kyogen, Kyoto, 2010
# 4-011-572-1


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## diskojoe (Apr 8, 2009)

AlainPhoto said:


> diskojoe > sorry that I bored you
> 
> please note there is a misconception here, my pictures are not urban, there are of subjects that I like and think I am good at capturing
> 
> ...


it is obvious that your photos are not urban. thats cool. they are very very good. but you did state yourself that you were interested in doing more urban photography so I gave you some advise on that subject. and you say you are not good at urban photography but i think you would be great at it. plus you can do both old and modern and you do not have to give up one for the other. 

and lots of people shot pictures of historic japanese culture. just not many post them here. this is skyscrapercity so inherently there is an urban emphasis. but there are also lots of photography enthusiaists too. so keep posting whatever you feel like and do not think i am implying for you to stop posting your photos. that would be a shame.


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

thank you for your argumented feedback, it is always very interesting 

yes I shoot little urban/modern japan, it is because first I am not so in love with modern Japan, and also it is difficult because places like Tokyo are overshot. So I come on this forum to see, learn and improve. I started this thread to share back the images I am good at.

But contrary to what you may think, good pictures of traditionnal japan are more rare than modern ones, for sure you have a ton of people snapping at both every year. But igh level tradition requiers a good deal of local integration, travel, and japanese language - very vew people actually live in traditionnal areas. Compare to that you have the anonymous and english speacking Tokyo and other big cities where many photographers live.

So, cities like Tokyo have been extensively shooted, and there are a lot of fantastic images, so just taking pictures in the street will not get to any interesting point, it is really hard to make an image that can survive the mass of other ones ... so until I figure out how to play that suject, I cannot show a lot ... 

lately I have been searching for this kind of new subjects but 2010 has been busy and I hope 2011 will get better ! one thing I have been working on is called ... helicopter


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

Maiko Katsuru


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)




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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

@Alain: so far your photos, shots are great  as i said keep it up kay:


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

thank you !

Here is my favorite from 2010 (sorry not yet available in HD) and my best wishes to all for 2011, on the photo side 2010 has been small but a real pleasure for me and I hope 2011 to be as fun !


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)




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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

Shichi-go-san


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

maiko Katsuyakko first day, under humid and hot sun


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

I did a small review on the first pages of this thread; very nice photos you got


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

Hello

I just wanted to say that I am fine and will not be posting new images for a while since I am working away.

See you back soon 

Alain


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

Back on tracks 
I am still working on many stuff, but done some fun shoots lately !


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

Long time no see, Alain and welcome back! :cheers:


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

Hi all !

Due to many reasons, I have very little time to shoot, and even less to post, but I am still around. Here are 2 shots from this year (as links as the files are pretty big). 

Two Geisha in a garden.

http://www.alaindavreux.com/photography/Alain-Davreux_4-040-509-1W.jpg

http://www.alaindavreux.com/photography/Alain-Davreux_4-040-787-1W.jpg

Cheers

Alain


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Welcome back and thanks for your updates


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## Linguine (Aug 10, 2009)

very nice, thanks for the updates...kay:


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

no time for photography lately ...


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

Here is some more, the last one from 2011  number 3 is from Odaiba, Tokyo !


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## Linguine (Aug 10, 2009)

very nice, lovely photos from Japan...thanks for sharing.:cheers:


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## inefekt (Jan 5, 2011)

your photos are amazing! :cheers:


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)




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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

^^ Great shots as usual, bro! :cheers:


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## Linguine (Aug 10, 2009)

I agree...thanks for the updates.


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

thanks !

Geiko Kikuno, this time in HD !


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)




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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)




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## fieldsofdreams (Sep 21, 2012)

^^ Just stumbled by your collection, and I am deeply pleased with your photography that shows the beauty and magnificence of the Japanese culture. I especially love the ladies in kimono: such a glorious sight to behold! Well done! :applause:

Hopefully, you can post updates as you wish since those are pretty picturesque and calm indeed.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Once again, very nice and great photos. Well done :cheers:


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

fieldsofdreams > I take the compliments for my subjects, who do all the hard work 

to see more please simply take a look at my website 

christos > thanks again then !


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

Maiko Fukumi


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## AlainPhoto (May 19, 2010)

I'm not dead, just super busy shooting for the book project !


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