It has been a busy month, 2 weeks in Japan followed by a couple of guys trips, but finally getting around to editing photos from Japan.
I had done some research prior to being in Tokyo on which of the numerous observation decks to visit. My first target was the Bunkyo Civic Center due to the possibility of seeing Mount Fuji from the 25th floor.
Our first attempt was on Sunday the day after we arrived. We were going to the Giants vs Swallows baseball game and the Bunkyo Civic Center is adjacent to the Tokyo Dome. Unfortunately the Bunko Civic Center was closed on the third Sunday of May and we were not able to get in... I did know this but didn't clue in since it was May 15th and I was thinking it was only the second Sunday... I blame it on jet lag... It was pretty hazy so probably would have been all for not...
Anyways a couple days later we were on the subway heading back for an afternoon rest and noticed we had just past the Tokyo Dome. It was somewhat sunny out and after a quick discussion with Lo, hopped off at the next stop to loop back to the Bunkyo Civic Center. To our dismay when we reached the top it was too hazy to see Mount Fuji... Was worth the shot though. I took the following picture where Fuji-san should have been and then onto our original plan of an afternoon rest. Even though we did not see Fuji-san there was a decent view of Shinjuku along with the Skytree and I would recommend going to the observation deck if you are in the area as it is free.
Hazy Shinjuku
Once home I started playing with the raw file applying Lightrooms Dehaze feature. To my surprise it was able to faintly pull in Mount Fuji! I also ran it through Nik's Silver Efex Pro to make a black and white version as the dehaze did add a fair amount of grain. Below is my current edit, still struggling with the haziness in the buildings but I am pretty happy with the results. A little disappointed I only took one shot from up there. Should have taken a couple of compositions but really didn't think it was going to be recoverable...
Fuji-san!
Slowly working through the photo edits from the entire trip. Will start posting them in the next week or so along with some experiences.