Author: travel67

Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Man Festival) in Okayama

Published by

Things have been a little hectic the last few weeks. Just got back from a weekend up on the mainland. Saturday night was the Hadaka Matsuri in Okayama. (You can read more about the city in  The Best of Okayama. ) Hadaka Matsuri or Naked Man Festival  is one of Japan’s most unusual festivals. It will culminate with a brawl between about 9000 almost naked men. At the start of the evening, things are more subdued. Locals light candles and say their prayers as they await the chaos. Inside Saidai-ji Temple the monks begin to chant. The smoke from incense burners hangs in the air. A lone man stands at the temple. It’s close to freezing outside, but he doesn’t seem to notice. He won’t be alone for long…

Kiku-san and the carrot

Published by

Kiku-san is 92 years old. She has a small garden next to her house where she tends her vegetables. She grows lettuces, radishes, garlic and carrots. There are a few important things to note from this simple series of images with regards to longevity. The first is that Kiku-san grows and eats a large range of vegetables. The second is that she is gardening and exercising even though it’s mid February. Third, she is smiling. So there you are, three keys to a long life. Eat your veggies, exercise, smile. Enjoy the rest of your lives 🙂

On the bookshelf: Going Pro

Published by

There are some interesting photography books available that discuss how to work as a photographer. I thought I’d discuss a few of them in the same post as they are less about the art of photography and more about the realities of surviving as a professional. There are many books out there, these just happen to be four that are on my bookshelf. The first, Photographs That Sell and Sell… by Roger Antrobus is a brief introduction to stock photography. The book was published in 2003, and due to the changes in the stock industry, is now, in some respects, very out of date. The good points are that it explains how, if you can capture great photographs, it is possible to sell them as stock images to newspapers, magazines, and advertising. Antrobus shows examples of his images that made him a lot of money, and explains why he thinks they were successful. What is not discussed is that the price paid for stock images has crashed in recent years, while the number of people taking …

Cherry Blossom in Okinawa

Published by

Spring is officially here in Okinawa. Cherry blossom is in full bloom, and it’s starting to warm up. The cherry trees in Okinawa produce dense pink blossoms, quite unlike the pale blooms up on mainland Japan. The most popular viewing spot in Okinawa is not a large public park, but on the twisty road up Yae mountain near Nago City. It’s a pretty drive, but get there very early, or you’ll get stuck in a long line of cars. Equipment: Pentax 645D, Pentax 67 to 645 adapter, Pentax 67 Macro 100mm  

Visions of Japan at Global Gallery – A few thoughts

Published by

It’s been a couple of months since I held my Visions of Japan exhibition at Global Gallery. I’d promised I’d write a  post about the experience of putting on this exhibition, sorry it took so long. (If you haven’t read it all ready, take a look at my previous post Zen and the Art of Photography Exhibitions in which I talk about what I learned from my first few shows) 1) Space I had more space for this exhibition. It was great to be able to show a large range of images. I did however only hire half the gallery to save on rental costs. I was able to display around 20 framed A2 landscapes and 24  matted A3 portraits.  The larger area also gave me the space for several tables from where I could display and sell prints. 2) Costs The basic costs for gallery rental, postcards and posters came to a little over 100,000 yen or $1000. In addition to this were the costs of producing the pieces for display. 3) Sales This …

E161-403F ?

Published by

Turn on printer, insert new yellow ink cartridge (one of twelve). Printer mocks me with blinking orange light. Slow realization that this will be a frustrating and expensive experience. Must make cup of tea….

Inside the Matrix

Published by

I really should wander around with my camera more often. Rather than planning exactly what I want to photograph, I should explore and see what’s out there. It’s both liberating and challenging. As I no longer have to pay for film and processing on each shot, I should use the opportunity to go out and shoot more (or even a lot more). I tend to notice  repetition and geometric patterns quite easily (This may have something to do with my father) which is why I took this shot. I think I read somewhere that people vary in their affinity for shapes and colors. So my question is…. what catches your eye, shapes or colors?  

C.S.I. Luna

Published by

Spent a couple of hours on Saturday with fellow photographer Luna testing out colored gels. I have a feeling that this blue back lighting is pretty standard in the laboratory scenes of C.S.I. Las Vegas. (I think they also tend to put a green or yellow gel on the main light.) The above image was desaturated slightly in Photoshop.  

Rise of the Vending Machines – 8 years on

Published by

Here’s a piece I wrote for the Asahi Weekly Newspaper on February 2, 2003 Rise of the Vending Machines The drink machine at my British secondary school seemed to have three settings: 1) You put in your money and nothing happened. 2) You put in your money and it gave the wrong drink. 3) The machine dispensed the correct drink but did not dispense the plastic cup. If you got the third of these options, it usually meant you’d be spending the rest of the day walking around in wet shoes. Japan seems to have a love for, if not an obsession, with vending machines. It’s not just the number of them (over 5 million) but also the variety. There are machines for rice, hot meals, toothbrushes, hairnets, certain genres of videos, and even underwear. Drinks machines are by far the most popular. They seem to be on every street corner offering Coke and Fanta along with Japanese tea, sports drinks and juices. My personal favorites are the hot drinks available in the winter. There …