Every month several outstanding works are chosen from among the thousands of calligraphy works flowing in from whole of Japan, and are being printed to share with the community of calligraphers in Japan. I am very honored to have my work chosen for this month edition of the All Japan Calligraphy and Literature Association magazine. It is a copy of a fragment of treatise on calligraphy by Sun Guoting, late 7th century, in cursive script, size 35x135 cm. IT is one of the most emotional and insightful classics regarding the beauty and depth art of Chinese calligraphy. The remark of the judges to the left says: Ryuurui / a delightful work where brazen and rich brush strokes are interwoven with a light and sparkling line. I scanned the entire page so you can also have a look at other calligraphers` works.

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Every day you are passing by things that never catch your attention, as they are plain and ordinary. Even views and scenes can seem usual and boring, but as a photographer you need to learn how to snipe and eye-crop those little precious things and convert them into art with your camera. Whenever I teach photography I try to point out those little diamonds, and teach how to train your eye to find them in a mess of every day of the usual. Here is a great example, it is a side of a fire engine that I took a picture of the other day. The truck and the surrounding were not really that special, but when I saw all those switches and pipes, my brain cropped the image in real life and I saw this shot. Photoshop and photo editing knowledge is very helpful in such situations, as you know what you can do with the photo. A bit of color management and dodging and burning and it suddenly looks great. As a photographer you should always be alert and keep your head turning in search of the image.

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I have launched a new service for everyone that wants to order a kanji tattoo that actually has the meaning that you wanted, and it is written in a skillful professional manner, in accordance with the ancient rules of Chinese and Japanese calligraphy. I can design for you a tatto of any length, from a single character to the entire body. All my tattoo designs are researched, studied and written the way I would write a calligraphy work, with a brush on paper. Each calligraphy work is very unique, and cannot be reproduced. I do not sell the same design twice, so you have my assurance that no one on Earth will have the same tattoo as you do. I adjust my writing style according to your sex, character, personality, the meaning of the text, etc. Tattoos can be ordered in few calligraphy scripts. You will find more details here. 

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Due to increasing amount of emails and inquiries regarding Japanese kanji tattoos written in calligraphic scripts, I decided to launch a new service page with all the details and prices. Tattoos are for a life, so when searching for a design we want something unique. Tattoos in Chinese characters are common, but I have rarely seen any decent ones, not to mention any good ones. If you are looking for a Japanese kanji tattoo design you should look for someone knowledgeable in the era of Chinese characters and Japanese or Chinese calligraphy. Tattooing computer fonts is a blasphemy, not to mention that such tattoos look really boring. IT may seem cool in the Western countries, but whenever you meet any native speaker of a language that utilizes Chinese characters, your tattoo will not be appreciated.  Below photo - calligraphy in ancient Chinese small seal script, reading 龍精 - dragon spirit. Model: Eccaia

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Here are two out of four mandatory works that I have to write for my upcoming Master Instructor exams in Japanese and Chinese calligraphy. Those works are a must on top of 36 works that have to be sent throughout a year, each month one work. The exam is split into copying from Chinese classics and two works written in one's own calligraphy style, but in a way where characters show a clear connection to traditional and historical characters that one has to research and carefully select from various Chinese and Japanese classics. Below you can see two works that were chosen by my teacher as those that qualify for exam submission. There is a deadline for the exam, and if I am unable to meet the requirements , or in other words,, if my teacher does not think one or more of my works is strong enough for exam submission, I would not be allowed to send them to the national judging panel. So, you write as many works as it takes until they are good enough to be submitted, or else you have to wait another year to lift your skills. The work to your right is a copy of Chinese classic 乙瑛碑 from 2nd century C.E. in clerical script. To the left is a work in my own calligraphic style, in semi-cursive script (自然風月情無盡如在山林楽未央). During my last meeting with my teacher he picked 4 works, the other two were in standard script and cursive script, but he asked me to keep writing as he was not fully satisfied. 

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Here is a photo of me sitting with Grand Master Kajita Esshuu, having a chat about my upcoming Master Instructor exams in Japanese and Chinese calligraphy in one of his Japanese calligraphy studios in Tokyo. It has been a long journey up to this point, but a very colorful one. I am extremely lucky and very grateful to have found such an amazing teacher. Over the years we have become very close, and now I think of him more as of my grandfather, than just a teacher. I have 4 mandatory subject for the exam in 4 Chinese calligraphy scripts. Two of them are copies of the Chinese classics, and two are works that have set phrases to be written, but one has to write them applying his one calligraphy style. I will follow this up in my next article in details, so you can have a sneak peek into the world of brush and ink.

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Photo by Jenny Ponte

Out again today to the streets of Tokyo for capturing some night portraiture. If you follow my blog you know that I love night in the city, and consequently I love drama and deep strong shadows in my photos. Portrait shots are no different. So we popped outside today to capture a few urban portraits, in a semi glamor slash fashion feel to it.  This portrait was shot at a funky angle, with one speed light lighting my model, the rest of the lights are reflections or ambient light on the scene. If you wish to have your portrait photo taken, feel free to contact me directly. To see more of my work, simply browse my portfolio.

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model: Eccaia

... for a photoshoot ;-) So, book a session with me now before I am too old to hold the camera. Currently I am looking for portrait and folio shoots, urban portraiture and body art. Contact me for more details!

Self portrait / photo by Jenny Ponte & Ponte Ryuuri.

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Nude photography requires a lot of trust. Body art requires even more trust, as I have to touch my models to write on them, and sometimes I can write for a few hours, depending on the length of the text. Erotic photography goes further into the personal space of your model, so you really have to have her trust to be able to capture something truly exciting, but at the same time natural and not staged. Photography is the art of capturing the light and telling story with highlights and shadows. Why not convey something that entangles the mind, making you wander into the realm of eroticism. 

model: Eccaia

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Working on photos and editing tons of shots may lead to tunnel vision and resulting in similar type of edits. Lots of people use presets, not even knowing what they do. That includes the professional photographers as well. Some people don't even possess the skill to edit their own work, which is pretty scary. It is like a cook who buys veggies on the market and calls for help to cook the meal. Learning and studying will develop your artistic vision, and it is most likely to change over the time. I learn new skills on a daily basis, and my photoshop techniques improve quite rapidly. I am often revisiting some of my favoring works and re-editing them applying what I have learned since I worked on them. Sometimes I give photos a new twist. All in all I love editing 1 photo in many different ways. It leads to amazing discoveries. In this case the reason for editing is complex. One, is that I love this shot. Two, is that I love this calligraphy classic, and three is that this very classic is one of the mandatory subjects for my Master Instructor exams in calligraphy this year. 

model: Asuka / Japanese calligraphy - my copy of a Chinese classic Shu Pu from the early Tang Dynasty (7th century) by Sun Guoting, who was an absolute genius of cursive script. 

Tokyo, for architecture photographer, is like a candy store for a kid. Especially if one enjoys modern architecture, or architecture that is unique or even wacky. There are some old traditional structures, but it is nothing like back in Europe. Almost all of those buildings are made of wood, and are recent reconstructions of the original buildings. I do not think you can find a 1000 year old architecture in Japan. Anyhow, the modern structures are superb, the Tokyo is massive, and the infrastructure is mad dense, so you simply turn around and shoot some more. Tokyo might be intimidating for new comers, or even for those who just moved in. If you are into architecture photography, regardless of whether you are a beginner or intermediate, and you wish to discover places to take great photos of, the feel free to check out my photowalk, photography workshops, and the rest of my photography service menu, or simply contact me and hire a photographer in Tokyo, who will show you all the goodies, teach you where to shoot from, and even how to post process your images to make them look amazing.

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photo by Jenny Ponte

I wanted to do this photoshop manipulation for a long time, just needed a self portrait photo to be able to create it. Last week we were shooting some portraits with my wife and she took the photo you can see at the very bottom of this post. So today I found some time and changed myself into a werewolf. First I thought to composite myself into some horror scene or some dark dungeon, but all werewolf photos are the same, so, I sat down and wrote the calligraphy for it. It read 激情 which means FURY. I recorded the editing and photoshop manipulation so I will post it later on. Enjoy!

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