Soooo... my time in Japan is finished. I leave in 20 days to the cold of Minot, North Dakota. Not exactly what I had planned for the next few years but a welcome break from the busy lifestyle I've grown used to. I've had plenty of great experiences and met a lot of awesome people here I'll never forget. I WILL return someday, the soonest being in another 2 years

As I mentioned last time I had just bought my first camera and jumped into photography as a new hobby. I'm looking over my gallery and really don't notice anything different about my pictures. Am I improving? Is there anything I can do to change and make it better? While I have picked up a few ideas over the years it still feels like I just take random snapshots with little or no artistic merit. Then on occasion I'll get an interesting one that I'll tweak out on Photoshop then submit. This is cool and all but I kind of want to do something else too.

Don't think I'm being too negative, all I'm thinking is I that I want to change it up a bit. I enjoy the act of taking pictures far more than I could have imagined and this is one hobby that won't be dying any time soon. The next two years will be a time for me to concentrate on doing what I enjoy and hopefully creating something new and interesting for myself and you all to look at.

If I fall back on this promise smack me in the face

Oh by the way, I went to Kyoto recently if you didn't notice the new pics. It's an amazingly beautiful place that's full of temples, shrines, old architecture and history. I definitely recommend it for a visit once in your lifetime especially during Sakura blossom time.