Wake up…and create something already.

Coming to a blog post page soon will be images from a day trip to Hakone to see Mt. Fuji. It was a great day in spite of the weather (a recurring Tokyo theme). The trip included transportation on a guided stagecoach to and from Hakone. On our way back to end the day there was a quick moment of debate. We stopped at a train station on our way back into Tokyo and our tour guide gave the group a choice: take a train back into Tokyo for… I don’t remember, maybe around 7000-9000 yen, or stay on the stagecoach (for free) but with the threat of experiencing up to three hours of traffic on the expressway.

A self created mantra that I’ve used lately when having to make decisions is “always stick with the original vision.” It’s pretty self explanatory, and it’s helped me cut down on minutes of anxiety when trying to make a choice. In this case, the original vision was to ride the stagecoach back into Tokyo, so without hesitation, in spite of many of the members of our group deciding to take the train, I stayed on the bus. My plan was to nap and simply wake up once we arrived back in Tokyo.

The greatest surprise is that the threat of traffic was not real. I did end up falling asleep, and I remember the clock inside of the bus reading at slightly after 7:00PM. When I awoke, it read around 8:30PM and outside of the window were the lights of central Tokyo. Wow. Always stick with the original vision.

As excited as I was, something struck me to take out my camera and capture the lights outside. I cannot remember exactly, but I’m pretty sure we were heading east on the E1 (which becomes the 3) Expressway. There was an abundance of lights flickering and streaking by. At first, I was trying to capture intersections quickly with a fast shutter, but then it hit me: why not capture it as it feels? I was tired, just waking up. The lights felt obscured as I gained my consciousness back. I switched into long exposure and allowed the lights to fly. Great day:

I’ll end with this shot of the Tokyo Tower that is in plenty of focus. I loved the reflections of the light inside the bus adding something to the composition:

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