Canon Sending Employees Home to Have Sex

Gotta love Canon! Now I know why I'm a Canon guy.

I was watching CNN this morning when a news(?) story ran about Japanese companies sending employees home early to procreate. Yep! That's right... "to procreate." Canon was featured as the corporate example in the story.

It seems the Japanese routinely work 12-hour days. As a result, according to CNN, the Japanese have one of the lowest birth rates in the world: One-point-four births per household or something like that. That statistic, CNN says, is less than what's required to replenish the population. All work and no play makes Hiro a dull and inefficiently reproducing boy, I suppose.

Leave it to the Japanese to attack a problem in such a pragmatic way. I wonder if they're offering bonuses based on impregnations achieved?

The story showed a clip of Canon workers leaving work early and heading home. I carefully examined the expressions on the faces of the workers for some indication of lusty anticipation. None could be discerned. They all looked as inscrutably stoic as ever.

But then, who knows what was going on in the minds of those Canon workers? The Japanese are a kinky bunch, after all.

I'm not sure how any of this will effect Canon's lofty position as a developer and manufacturer of quality cameras. Will Canon's workers be happier and, therefore, more productive? (Pun intended.) Will a more sexually-sated workforce contribute to Canon's bottom line? Or will Canon's workers simply go home early, scarf some sushi or noodles, pop the caps off a few bottles of Sapporo, and fall asleep in front of the tube? I guess time will tell.

But if Japanese photo-industry workers start popping out babies as quickly and efficiently as they pop out new camera models, Japan will be re-populated in no time!

The image at the top is Tera Patrick. The pic was snapped by LeesaJ who was assisting me on the shoot, shooting BTS, and snapping some images of Tera herself.

If many of those Canon workers have spouses with Tera's sex appeal, I'm guessing Canon's bold plan to help replace the Japanese workforce will be a resounding success! Of course, if that's true, 12-hour workdays probably wouldn't have had a negative impact on birth rates to begin with.

Here's a BTS shot of the lighting for those of you who like seeing this stuff. I used a Chimera medium strip, on the floor and on its side, for the main. The dork in the background, camera-right, adjusting that hair/accent light is yours truly. I attached a 30º honeycomb grid to the small reflector on that strobe to keep the light controlled. On the left is a Westcott reflector, most likely with the gold side out, providing a little warm fill. The fan in the foreground provided a bit of motion to Tera's hair, keeping it off her face and making her hair appear fuller... not that she doesn't have a full head of hair. She does.