I spent a large part of my childhood in a small pineapple town called Wahiawa. On the main road up to where I lived, there’s a Buddhist Mission. I’ve passed this mission countless times and one day I just decided to go take some pictures. Here are a few shots of what’s outside. It was closed when I was there, so I couldn’t go inside…and I’m not sure I could have brought myself to do it anyway.
The first one is a bonsho (bell) and shoro (tower), donated to the shrine in 1990 by Mr. and Mrs. Tasuke Terao. I washed out most of the color, but not all of it. I don’t get too fancy with Photoshop because I really don’t know what I’m doing. A pure black and white picture seemed a bit TOO grey.
we’ve got a lot of things to shoot up here in the Pacific Northwest. the problem is, a lot of it’s already been shot to the point that it seems like a cliche to shoot it again. but i’ve found that light, camera angle, the way it’s framed … all this and more can take an expected shot and make it something more. one other thing while i’m on this soapbox, when i give in to the joy of shooting something, i end up with my most unexpected images. that … total involvement and passion for the shoot … i think it helps. sometimes you need to be clinical, like in architectural shooting, but passion brought to even that changes things. 
5280 Lens Mafia 