I should probably use the word "garden" (being from the UK), but "back yard" has a certain ring to it.

Until recently (thanks to Japan's non-stop construction trade) we had a view of Nagoya castle from our balcony. Today there was a special event, and we had a visitor, so it made sense to go and see it. I took the Sigma along, not knowing what to expect. Essentially, it was a history lesson acted out by a group of actors all dressed up in clothing of that particular era. Quite possibly not very authentic, but it was entertaining to watch. They moved around a lot, which is not the Sigma's forté, but with the right timing it came together OK.

The main characters take the stage...

...along with their subservient underlings

They teach the audience how to play rock-scissors-paper...

....and jump around. Getting this kind of shot with the Merrill is incredibly satisfying, far more than it would have been with something like a Nikon D3S.

Cue joke about "I'm your biggest fan"

Some of the audience were almost as entertaining as the actors when it came to garb.

Rule of Japan: to make an impression, shout.

After this rather entertaining show, I stayed around to take some more shots of the castle area

Path

Teahouse

Teahouse, another view

The castle building itself

This is where waiting is important. I saw this lady with the umbrella and lined up the shot. Then I noticed another umbrella heading in the same direction but from the other side of the frame. Luck plus patience equals a nicer shot than I'd planned

Following that, I headed out into Nagoya and ran into the parkour gang. The Sigma is one of the last cameras you would ever choose to shoot any kind of action, but I figured it would be worth a shot. Didn't get many shots, but the ones which did work out were pretty nice.

Lastly, a top-down shot of a local cafe. Black and white conversion from Sigma's own software and Silver Efex.