Suck? Not at all, man! They're quite good. I'm especially fond of the sign with the stars. Nice punchy contrast and angle. The monk shot reminds me of being in Japan and the patience of them. Chaotic traffic all around while he patiently waits for coins to drop. The Toya sunrise shot is good. I'm liking the low contrast and shadow clipping. It gives the feeling of early days and just waking up where everything isn't quite yet in focus. Tranquility, too. Morning Toya is good, too. Love the clouds.
Thanks for your kind words!
Yeah, that was what I was aiming for in that monk shot. He was just standing there soooo damn patiently. And I thought I just HAVE to capture that feeling!!
I got the sunrise shot by luck in a way. I was not planning to do it whatsoever!! Yet for whatever reasons I woke up at 5am that morning. I immediately check the weather report, and found out the sun would come up at around 5:50am or so. So I gathered myself (kind of forced myself to leave the warm bed) and took off to the shore. Though very cold (around -3'C) the weather was perfect!!
The early morning hours in the Lake Toya area during the Fall season is just beautiful! The wind was blowing in high attitude that causes those clouds to appear the way they look. In some way that helps making the shot looking like it was exposed longer that it really was.
For the star shot. I originally wanted to do a longer exposure, but the surrounding street lights were strong enough to affect my shots if I go any longer. That was pretty much the best (with little prior star shooting experience) I could do at this time.
Again, many thanks for your kind words!!