Farewell Season

Every couple of years, there's a period of a couple months where a big chunk of friends will leave Japan, either returning to their homes or going to live abroad. Last year was the worst yet for me, as about half of our big group of close friends left. It took a long time to recover from that, and while they can never be replaced and I wish they were all still here, we've made new friends and gotten used to their absence. But nothing can compare to the feeling of seeing them again.

I'm hoping this year will be less painful. I don't see too many on the horizon, but Saturday was the first farewell party in a couple months. Hopefully I'll be able to see all the people who leave again, relatively soon. But until then, it's important to get the pictures to help save the memories. The trouble comes in balancing between taking pictures and getting out from behind the lens, being a part of the party. Sometimes I purposely keep the camera tucked away, even if I think there will be great shots, because I just want to live in the memory, not outside it.

As for the actual photo, when inside in parties like this, I like to experiment with a double flash at a slow shutter speed. Usually it just looks blurry or I get odd shadows and ghost images, but sometimes I get something that works.