Richard Ersted > thank you very much for your detailed comment, once more
about the colors, there is no crazy postprocessing here, japan is a very colorful country and during matsuri (festivals), the costumes are alway vivid
about cropping : I like to keep it to a minimum the image must be built in the viewfinder, not after
because the viewfinder is not 100%, beacause it is not 16/9, because AF points are not exactly where you want (MUCH better on the 1D3 than 20D) for each image, because you can't always know how a dancing person will extend his arm, it's sometimes nedded to crop a little bit, but more than this is bad
Hex > thanks I'll think about the white frame, I never thought about it being too bright ...
I wish you a happy new year ! 2008 has not been easy, 2009 won't be, but still with some efforts I got lucky and 2008 has been a great year of change and progress.
I have many projects for 2009 and will try to take you deep into the present japanese society, with it's big flashy town and urban modern life.
I wish you a great year and hope the path you'll choose will bear fruits for you and your friends and families. And ... happy shooting !
so true, with a over-photographied subject as sport, it is very very difficult to get a great picture that is also original ... it is a very good think to look in other directions, photgraphies and other work of art ... I'm very curious to see what you're going to show us in 2009 Richard
Robert > I don't know if this shape has a particular meaning, japanese use many different ones in almost every aspect of traditional and daily life ... I'll ask and tell you if I've got a better answer
please note that I think the main shape used is the central part, the color form are a result of this shape rather that what defines it
paul > this kind of silence is also a very nice comment
I'm just starting to read the blog. Laforet's photos are very well done; he's quite talented. Of course, I've seen his 5D Mark II movie work; so, it's interesting to see his sports work here; and it's interesting to read his posts. I'd love to shoot the Olympics; in particular, I'd love to shoot crew there; perhaps one day...