On New Year's Eve, we visited Sokoji, a Soto Buddhist temple in San Francisco's Japantown. The Takumi Kato family was invited to perform a Taiko drum show just after midnight, with the father, a world-champion Taiko drummer from Japan, leading the way. This is the headpiece of the lion dance costume—two preteen sons performed an energetic lion dance. The family plans to tour all 50 states, aiming for 1000 performances in the coming years. This marked their 421st performance. What an incredible and uplifting experience for the kids to travel and share their art! They got interviewed by NHK World: youtu.be/iGgShoq7-r0
I processed a balanced and a photographic HDR photo from a RAW exposure, blended them selectively, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.
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-- ƒ/0.95, 50 mm, 1/125 sec, ISO 1600, Sony A7 II, Canon 50mm f0.95 "Dream Lens", HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC6590_hdr1bal1pho1g.jpg
-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © 2025 Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography
