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2016 Christmas lights in the Marunouchi
On December 10, 2016, I photographed the Christmas lights of the Marunouchi. It’s a skyscraper-filled area near Tokyo station. When I was there, pop-up shops and food carts lined its streets. Local photographers flocked there. Everything was there for the LEDs that light it up!
The place I went was Naka-Dori (Naka Street). Over one million champagne-colored LEDs lit it up. They transformed the concrete jungle into a thing of beauty.
A few days before, I had photographed the Christmas lights of Shinjuku’s Southern Terrace. The Marunouchi’s lights seemed brighter. I preferred the champagne color.
Of course, many people were there. Japanese love this type of event. Couples on dates seemed especially prevalent. There were so many restaurants, food stalls, and shops on the street. Everyone had come for the Christmas lights of the Marunouchi. It had a festive air for sure!
As for the photos, I was pleased with the results at that point in my photography career. I took a tripod to create long exposures. The light trails of cars and “ghosts” of people as they walked past the lens were beautiful.
I used a Pentax K-3 with an 18-135 mm lens for these pictures. It performed well. There were no problems with it.
Now, in 2022, as I publish my old photos in this article, I’m starting to feel a nostalgic tug for Pentax. The K-3’s image quality was pretty good. The only thing missing from that system was an electronic viewfinder. That was the one thing I would love to see.
But Ricoh’s President and CEO in 2020, Shinobu Takahashi, said they wouldn’t go into mirrorless cameras. That’s understandable. They are entitled to their strategy. And more importantly, diversity in the photographic world is appreciated. If I had the money, I’d buy one of their cameras again.
Anyway, that is it for this article! If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. By the way, are there any Pentax shooters out there? Let me know what you think of your system.
Christmas lights in the Marunouchi photo gear:
- Camera body: Pentax K3 II
- Lens: SMC Pentax-DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR
To see more Christmas articles, look at:
External related websites:
- Marunouchi Naka-Dori (on Visit Chiyoda)