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About Ruben Frosali


Hi, my name is Ruben and I’m an Italian graphic designer and flash developer living and working in Tokyo. 

I’ve always liked to take photos, but it was only when I bought my first -and only- SLR (a Nikon D80) last year and started experimenting with that big & heavy camera that I realized, well I was going to be sucked in that “new world”. 

So, I opened a photoblog, ReallyJapan.com to share my shots. In few months I started receiving positive feedbacks on my  photos, consequently I started another blog to explain some techniques I was learning and post some Lightroom presets. 

It didn’t work very well, lack of updates, boring photos and tutorials and a terrible layout.

Anyway, I thought, ok, I have to give it another shot.. let’s make a new blog, this time let’s work on it and spend some time to do something cool.. or at least let’s try. And here it is, The Darkroom.

I hope you’ll like it.

About my “shooting habits”, I usually shoot at the end of a working day, coming back home, sometimes I’m tired or maybe stressed. And photography is a great thing to relieve the stress. 

You know, I like Japan, mainly because it’s just two years I’m living here and there are a lot of hidden (or forgotten ?) places waiting to be discovered. Tokyo is huge, and its urban landscape is incredibly various, going from hi-tech glass & steel skyscrapers to really decadent old wooden houses covered by broken air conditioners.

I love to wander around, getting lost and exploring the narrow, dirty streets of Tokyo. For me photography is not just taking a good photo, it’s more about the excitement I felt discovering a hidden view, a forgotten detail or an interesting moment on the streets.

My camera is a Nikon D80

My lenses (from the most to the least used):

Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR This is an incredible lens.. The quality of this lens is very good, it goes from 18 to 200 and well, it’s VR.. and VR really works! Great purchase.

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 Although not so sharp as the 50mm Nikkor it’s incredibly fast and very handy for street shots. Taking photos at 1/30 and f/1.4 (with no tripod) is incredible, you can capture the lights even in the darkest street. Great lens imo.

Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 – Ok I love, completely Love this one.. is so fast you can take photos almost anywhere, and incredibly sharp.. also is small, so extremely useful for street photography 

Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G – Pretty slow, and well, it’s a lenskit.. I’d like to sell it!

Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 – It’s very funny to use, extremely wide.. however is not so easy to take great photos with this lens.. you have to be incredibly near your subject.. 

A SB-400 Speedlight Unit

Some other equipment:A cheap polarizer, a MacBook (the black one) and Lightroom. Sometimes photoshop to finish the photo before uploading.

Really Japan Photo Blog & The Darkroom is published by Ruben Frosali.

If you want to drop me a line: info@reallyjapan.com

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Leave a Reply

 

 
 
 

  1. Lady Pain

    March 3, 2009 at 11:18 am

    I have just discovered your photoblog thanks to backfocus, and it is the most interesting and uncommon photography of Japan I’d never seen =) I love your way of seeing!! =D The forgotten corners of Tokyo, as you said, are the most interesting ambients on this world. It’s totally a science-fiction film, in the real world!! That’s beautiful ^_^

    Keep on doing! =D

     

  2. Ruben

    March 3, 2009 at 12:10 pm

    Thanx a lot for your comment!
    Yeah probably my shots are a little uncommon (and sometimes weird?!).. it’s just that I like to explore places more than thinking about photography.. or create sci-fi movie like photo manipulations with my images..
    The forgotten corners of the cities are the most interesting places.. especially in Tokyo, where millions of people are walking on the streets everyday and it’s so hard to be alone sometimes.. that’s why I like those silent streets.

     

  3. KD

    March 4, 2009 at 10:17 am

    Hi Ruben,
    I’ve just discovered your site by chance, some really nice work, I look forward to following your explorations. regards KD.

     

  4. Robert

    March 22, 2009 at 3:45 am

    Hi,
    I just happened upon your site and quickly bookmarked it! I’d really like to know how you process these pix, please? I notice that the majority of them have a processed look, don’t get me wrong, it’s an awesome look! Would you share, please?

     

  5. Elaine

    May 19, 2009 at 9:28 pm

    Very nice! Very original!

    Just stumbled on your website while googling about use of Lens Flare (Photoshop) in photos. I liked how you used it in your Tokyo lights shot. It’s been a while since I was in Tokyo and Osaka.

    If you ever find a market where they sell old OBI’s, would you shoot some for me? Many thanks:-))

     

  6. Rainer

    May 22, 2009 at 9:23 pm

    Hi Ruben,
    great homepage with nice tutorials. I like your pictures. They have their one style!
    Bookmarked!

     

  7. Ghola

    June 10, 2009 at 2:04 pm

    Hi Ruben, I love your pictures, i´m living in El Salvador but always want to visit Japan. Keep the beatifull work!!

     

  8. Melinda

    July 19, 2009 at 3:56 am

    Wow, Ruben, your photos are so lovely! Very compelling. If you’re interested, please consider entering our next photo contest at http://www.japan-i.jp. The winning shots get published on the front page of the magazine.

    Cheers and keep up the great work!

    Melinda

     

  9. David Annis

    July 21, 2009 at 7:46 pm

    Kudos on your fabulous photographs of Japan.

     

  10. Gabor

    October 17, 2009 at 10:14 am

    Great photos, Ruben! Love your work. H5 from Poland

     

  11. Dimas A. Nugroho

    February 21, 2010 at 8:43 am

    Nice picture … nice to know you here.

    Best Regards
    Landscape Photography by Lenskit .