Recycling life

I came to Mooroolbark last weekend, which is one of outer suburbs in Melbourne.

As soon as I arrived here, I made a contract of my new house with the real estate.

Now I am living in my new house.

I have lived here for 6 days already, but my furniture still hasn't been arrived yet. I only had my sleeping bag, suitcase, slide films and my PC.

And... I had a big problem.

I didn't have a pan....

So I couldn't cook..., but I really wanted to cook. I didn't want to eat a sandwich every night, so it made me so mud.!! Electricity and gas were already connected, but I didin't have a pan.

Everybody thinks I should've buy a new one, but I needed my wife's permission to do that. This was most difficult for me to persuade her, and it was almost impossible. To keep peaceful with my family, I shouldn't have buy it.

Then, I thought, thought, thought...

Finally I got a good idea.

I bought a meat pie. After eating it, there was an aluminum plate left.

Then, it should have been my pan!!

Now I enjoy cooking every night. I had a very delicious canned stew and mash potato tonight

And I got more my kitchen equipments!!

A bin of salsa sauce >>> A coffee cup !!

A cup of an instant noodle >>> A salad bowl !!

It is ultimate recycling!!

I Launched our Melbourne Studio

Someone has already noticed.

I opened our Melbourne studio, and will cover Melbourne, Tasmania and Gold Coast. I appreciate that my business partners because they have given me free rooms as my studios/accommodations. Also Jetstar!! Their cheap airfare enables me to run my business like this.

Thanks for that!!

Probably you want to know the reason why I decided to open in Melbourne. Do you remember one of my main photos is a landscape? So I prefer a place which has a season.

I really want to take beautiful nature photos at all times, and I like autumn and winter scenes. In autumn, all plants and animals become more beautiful and change dramatically because they know winter will come soon and have to prepare for it. I love scenes like this, so I decided to move to Melbourne. Gold coast was good, but it was also too hot for me.

Yes... I have decided to move to Melbourne with my family at the end of this month. But please don't worry. I also will visit at Tasmania and Gold Coast regularly. Fortunately my Tasmanian and Gold Coast customers still give me jobs, so I still come to there.

I live in Mooroolbark, which is one of the outer suburb in Melbourne, near Yarra Valley. I am looking forward to seeing beautiful wineries in autumn.

Now I came to my new house a few days ago to process to rent it. I am staying at it now...

But... I forgot to organize electricity!! It is like camping in the house... I need a fire to make a soup, but I can't...

Oh I need a light...... A battery of this computer will run out soon...

I will come back to Gold Coast as soon as I receive my furniture. Then I will join with my family and start to travel 2000km by my car.

Can't wait for it!!

Real Tasmania

There are a lot of famous places to visit in Tasmania.

Some of them are pretty well organized to welcome all visitors. But they are too organized sometime. I believe they can see only a part of Tas, and there are more beautiful and spectacular places in the remote are in there.

If you want to see real Tasmania, I strongly recommend you should walk.

You have to get into nature deeply, then you can find, hear and feel Tasmania itself.

I still remember when I visited at the Overland Truck.

I have never seen such a great place before. I could feel how wide plateaus are. I could see how beautiful mountains are. And I could feel how mysterious rain forests are.

It was real Tasmania...

You can't see them through a window of a car.

Snow Crystal Mountains - Ben Lomond National Park

Rain Forest at the Overland Truck

Kangaroos in the Sunset - Narawntapu National Park

Echidona - Maria Island

Lonely Wombat - Narawntapu National Park

Wedding Photos at Robina Woods Golf Course, Gold Coast

Sorry, everyone.

I haven't updated here for ages because we have been extremely busy.

These are wedding photos I took at the Robina Woods Golf Course, Gold Coast this August.

We took photos on the course!! I'd never done before.

Very good location for wedding photos!!

There was a little cute chapel, and we had a ceremony in it.

Lighting of the inside of the chapel was photogenic.

The dramatic sunset at the course.

Total 4000 photos were sold at istockphoto.com

Finally we sold total 4000 images at istockphoto.com. Here is our 4000th photo we did.

This image were taken in the early morning in Tasmania. I visited at the Mt. Field National Park, but I had to leave in the early morning. On the way, the sun rose, and the fog glowed under the sun light. It was so beautiful.

This is our web page at istock.

http://www.istockphoto.com/keiichihiki

I miss Tasmanian forests sooooo much...

Sorry, everyone. I couldn't update for ages because I have been too busy, busy, busy .... busy...

Now I have too many wedding jobs and have to sit in front of my computer all day to edit photos.

I can't go to national parks, and miss fresh air, minus ion and bird sounds in forests.... I am planning my next visit to Tasmania in my head all day....

These photos were taken during last visit of beautiful Tasmanian forests.

By the way, maybe someone noticed already. I changed my business name and something. I will mention about it next time.

Engagement Shooting at the Low Head, Tasmania

When I came to Tasmania for the wedding job, one of my other customers asked me for their engagement photos. They booked me for their wedding which is in this November.

I chose some beaches at the Low Head for their location this time because I knew we could get excellent lighting. We could expect beautiful sunset, so it should be so nice.

This photo shooting was also a good opportunity to get to know each other before their wedding. When we started shooting, I could see they were a bit nervous. However, after 30 minutes, they became relaxed and already were a nice experienced model. Finally their face turned to be so natural in front of my camera.

So now I am very looking forward to taking their wedding!!

Winter Wedding Photos in Tasmania

I was offered as a wedding photographer from Fingal, the east of Tasmania. This was the second time to visit there because I did the another wedding job for this client's sister, too. Their parents and this sister loved my photos, so they decided to use me again.

It was in early July, and sooooo cold. But they set a big fire place, so everybody never felt cold. It was fine day and their wedding was so beautiful.

The ceremony started at 2:30pm, but I was a bit worried about couple photos because the sun went down so quickly in July in Tasmania. I had to finish all photos by 4:30pm!! I was rushed, but I could handle it.

The result was so good. I was very satisfied with them.

I am a very lucky person because Tasmania customers still give me a job sometime, especially for their wedding. This is a very good excuse for my visiting Tasmania to my wife. Ha ha ha...

So I spent more than 4 months totally in Tasmania this year. Fortunately my business partner in Launceston gave me a free room, and I use this room as my second working office/house. Between jobs, I could visit beautiful Tasmanian nature, such as forests, mountains, beaches, rivers and so on. It was very good for me because I still love to go there.

Unfortunately I can't show their photos which identify them this time. Sorry....

Wedding Photos at Hyatt Regency Sanctuary Cove, Gold Coast

I finished to edit their wedding photos and albums.

It took a bit time to do that because I have been busy with three other wedding jobs.

Their wadding was held at Hyatt Regency Sanctuary Cove on Gold Coast. They were an international couple, and the bride was so beautiful. In addition, the garden of the hotel was so photogenic, and I could enjoy to take their photos.

International wedding jobs between Australian and Japanese become my important part. 80% of my jobs is still from Australian locals, but a number of international wedding jobs like this is increasing now.

Probably because I can speak both English and Japanese, and also have plenty of experiences with Australian weddings. These international couples normally follow an Australian style at their wedding.

1500th Photo

I am selling my photos at iStockphoto.com.

The image of the right hand side is my 1500th stock which was accepted by the istock inspection team a few days ago.

I still remember my first photo couldn't pass over three times, and I really struggled with selling my photos there. Almost a half of my photos were always refused, and I realized their criteria was so strict. They gave me an idea of what the professional quality is, and I could get a professional eye.

I am selling my photos over three years, and my sales is now getting better and better. Now it becomes my important part of my photography business.

I really appreciate that they gave me a good opportunity to sell my images.

Here is my portfolio at iStockphoto.

http://www.istockphoto.com/keiichihiki

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=13854915

Walls of Juresalem National Park, Tasmania - Nature Photos

I moved to Gold Coast last year, but I still have some jobs in Launceston, Tasmania. So I sometimes have to come to there.

Between jobs, I could get one week holiday, and went to Walls of Juresalem National Park. I really wanted to visit this national park while I lived in Tasmania, but it was a bit difficult for me because I had been away from a mountain for such a long time at that time.

This park is located in the central of Tasmania and is classified for the world heritage area. There are a few well-organized camp sites and a bush walking course.

I spent 7 days there. Unfortunately it was a terrible weather for the first 5 nights, so I had to stay in my tent and had nothing to do. Finally the sun came on the last day, and I spent all days for bush walking.

The view of this park was amazing, and I realized again... I still loved Tasmanian nature.

Mt. Juresalem with a pond

The beautiful sunset scene

The cliff and the eucalyptus forest.

The bush trail

The view of the national park

Wedding Photos at Fellini Ecostudio, Gold Coast

I just finished to edit Nic & Samantha's wedding photos.

There are a beautiful garden at Fellini Ecostudio, Gold Coast, and it was a really photogenic place with nice lighting.

At their photo shooting, I was successful with making them relaxed.

It is the most difficult part for a wedding job every time, but I could handle it this time. In addition, they were so nice to me, so I was also be able to be relaxed to shoot them.

Very happy!!

Introduce myself

When travelling to Canada in 1997, I, nicknamed KG, was greatly impressed with the untouched wildlife that I had never seen before.

Being deeply moved, I began to think that he wanted to do something in the future, which related to the impressions of nature I was left with. Two years later, I finally decided to become a photographer, and visited Japanese national parks every weekend.

I lived in Tasmania, Australia, for 6 years and took nature photos of this beautiful island. At the same time, I met Sonja, the wife to-be of Marcos Ambrose, V8 Supercars Race Champion in 2004, and was hired as their wedding photographer. This was my turning point. After that, I still continue to take wedding photos.

I now reside in Queensland, and my studio covers both Brisbane and Gold coast. Also I come to Tasmania regularly, and still do my wedding jobs there.

In 2008, I became a member of AIPP. And I developed my career more as a professional photographer.