Evening at the baseball field

Leander, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
Leander, 2016

こんばんは!How’s it going today? Wow, the days are flying past like crazy… I don’t remember when time seemed to move so fast.

Today I took Koa to baseball practice. I took today’s photos when I was picking him up at around 8pm. As you can see, there was still plenty of light in the sky… it’s already starting to feel like summer!

Only five kids from Koa’s team showed up for practice, but that’s to be expected because of Spring Break. Many families go on vacation this week but we usually stay at home. Our school district usually has a few days off earlier in the year, when other schools are still in session. This works out nicely because the popular vacation destinations are usually empty!

The past couple years, we’ve taken advantage of this to go to Disneyworld and the parks were empty! Well, not like a ghost town, but the wait times for rides were usually around 10 minutes or so. It was so great, with less stress and we didn’t have to have a strict plan. We kind of just played it by ear and just went with what felt good, and we still got to experience all the rides we wanted to go on, some rides multiple times!

But back to today… we bought something to help improve our health: an exercise bike. The model we got was relatively inexpensive, but rated very highly. I assembled it this evening in about 40 minutes… there was only a slight problem with one plastic piece, but it is not a big deal and doesn’t affect the performance nor safety.

What I like about this bike is that the handlebars have a large area that is perfect for a tablet or kindle. So, I am thinking that I will try to read a bit and get some exercise in after I wake up. It seems like I should be able to wake up a bit earlier and get in at least 15 minutes before showering and getting ready for the day. We’ll see how it works out. I am curious to see how it affects my energy levels and mindset during the day.

Leander, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/50 sec, ISO3200
Leander, 2016

Well, I hope you have a nice evening! おやすみなさい!

-バロン Barron Fujimoto

Friday night lights

"Koa at the Plate" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/125 sec, ISO4000
“Koa at the Plate” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは!Happy Friday everyone!

Tonight Koa had a baseball game… the second game of the season and the team did better. ⚾️ Unfortunately they lost, but they played well and Koa in particular had a strong performance defensively. He played center field all night and caught two fly balls! On the way to the game, he was telling me that he needs practice in the outfield because he has trouble judging where the ball will go. But tonight I think he got a lot of confidence. I am so proud of him.

Tomorrow he has another game, and I think he is scheduled to pitch. I hope he does well. I’m glad that he is having lots of fun. This season I don’t get stressed at all about if the team wins or loses, but I just want Koa to be proud of himself and to try hard. And of course have a good time! 😀

I hope you had a nice Friday and let’s have a fun weekend!

おやすみなさい!

-B Barron Fujimoto

Mid-week

Leander, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/35 sec, ISO6400
Leander, 2016

こんばんは!Hello again!

Today’s photo is one that I took while watching Koa’s baseball team practice as the sky lost its light. I took the photo in color and converted it to black in white using Lightroom and tweaked a bit using the Exposure, Highlights, Shadows, Black, and White sliders. I’m quite pleased how it turned out!

I usually use Nik Silver EFX to do any black and white adjustments, but decided to try a new technique I learned after watching a video on Youtube. It’s a quick and easy way to adjust black and white images, loosely based on Ansel Adams’ workflow.

Well, that’s all from me for today. Let’s have a great Thursday!

おやすみなさい!

-B Barron Fujimoto

Fall baseball

Fall Baseball
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/680 sec, ISO200
Fall Baseball

Baseball games always cause me to have a lot of stress, so I don’t really like to watch. But I am there at my son’s games to offer him my support and encouragement! And just look at that hit!

BTW, here’s a fantastic article about how to be a good “sports parent”. Valuable stuff!

Little leg-kick on this one.

At the Batting Cages
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/125 sec, ISO3200
At the Batting Cages

This Fall, Koa will start his third season playing Little League Baseball. He’s improved a lot since his first season and we’re happy that his time at the batting cages is paying off. Besides playing baseball, he’s into following the MLB season, especially the Dodgers. I’m glad he’s so interested in baseball!