My hometown in Japan, Hagi, is famous for oranges. As soon as Autumn turned to winter they were everywhere. Beach towns are a little depressing in winter, as though they are hibernating for a while, so the oranges were a welcome addition to brighten up the town. There are groves where you can walk for free as well as individual trees dotted around the place. I’m always tempted to take some fruit but I’m worried there might be an unwritten rule- jailed for stealing an orange.
An unusually warm winters day, with a clear sky, I thought it would be the perfect time to photograph one of the groves- striking oranges and vibrant greens, all set against a deep blue sky. I ended up with these favourites-
snow monkey photography 
avalonlyndon February 15, 2012
The colours in this are amazing.
winegums February 16, 2012
Thanks Avie! How are things with you? At my workplace before Japan I worked with a girl called Lizzie Ibbotson? Facebook informs me we are mutual friends! We somehow didn’t work that out in the six months or so we worked together.
avalonlyndon February 16, 2012
Good thanks but still trying to negotiate post-graduation job-hunt (terrible). Looking at all your pictures basically just makes me want to run away to Japan forever, it looks fantastic. What have you been doing while you’re there?
I can’t think of anything to say apart from the painfully predicable “small world eh?” remark but I know Lizzie through people at Uni. Small world eh? Eh?
winegums February 17, 2012
Definitely a small world 🙂
I’m teaching Engligh on a thing called the JET program, basically- the Japanese government pays for us to come over for a year and speak English to children. The teaching can be fun- the kids are funny, the little ones are cute as buttons and it’s a bit like being a movie star. Plus, you get to travel around and see lots of things in Japan! I have been about the place a bit but my favourite is definitely Kyoto- it’s what you might imagine traditional Japan to be, but the quaint little streets and temples are all mingled in with modern restaruants, bars and shops. I am going back for the cherry blossoms in April 🙂
The post-gradution job slog is not fun! What sort of thing are you looking for?
avalonlyndon February 19, 2012
God that sounds amazing, if I can’t get something sorted in the next year or so I might consider it. I’ve always wanted to go to Japan. Trying to find some kind of job in film production or marketing at the moment but there’s not much out there as you can imagine. Very tempted to sack it all in and go knock about in Japan for a while now. What are you planning to do once you get back? xx
winegums February 20, 2012
Film production sounds interesting! Is that what you did at Uni? After Uni I did odd jobs for a while and then went travelling in South America for six months. When I came back I didn’t have two pennies so I fired my cv any which way and lucked upon a great just out of Uni job.
You could come and see Japan for a while, there’s enough to keep you busy 🙂 Have you done any other travelling?
When I get home I’m going to be jobless for a while and I don’t have any really bright ideas as to what I want to do! I will probably just end up stumbling into something whilst I search for better things!
Andrew Martin February 15, 2012
Very nice! The “unwritten rule” involves a samurai sword followed by a certain detached feeling….
winegums February 16, 2012
Seems a little harsh for stealing an Orange! Hagi is an old Samurai town though…
marinachetner February 15, 2012
the oranges, greens and blues – so uplifting!
winegums February 16, 2012
Thanks! I waited specifically for a perfect blue day so I could get the three strong colours in there 🙂
mimo February 16, 2012
very refreshing images, beautiful vibrancy!
winegums February 16, 2012
Thank you! I had to wait a while for a perfect blue sky 🙂
Grubby Grrrl February 16, 2012
Great colors & I like the shallow depth of field. Very pretty!
winegums February 17, 2012
Thanks! I was trying to blur the foreground to add a bit of dimension to the image. Just checked out your blog 🙂 I really do love the no photography photo. Fight the power haha 🙂
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