Author: travel67

Gyokusendo Cave, Okinawa.

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Gyokusendo Cave is located at the southern end of Okinawa Honto. At 5km in length, it is the second longest limestone cave in Japan. 890 meters of the cave are open to visitors and it’s well worth a trip. Gyokusendo Cave is located in the theme park Okinawa World. Once you leave the cave you can see various traditional Okinawan crafts including pottery, glass blowing, weaving and pickling poisonous snakes in alcohol. This shot was taken with the camera on a tripod and a shutter speed of around 15 seconds. The slow shutter speed means that all the tourists wandering along the walkway have magically disappeared.

Naha Tug of War – The Kids

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On Sunday I went to the annual Tug of war in Naha. This is one of the biggest events of the year in Okinawa, and the rope is humongous. Before the tug of war there is a procession down Kokusai-dori. I had my camera with me and got a few shots. I like these  two shots, but my favorite of the three is the third. There is something really cool at the way such a young kid stares fearlessly straight back into the camera.

Okinawa Tourism Video

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This is an interesting promotion video created by Okinawa Prefecture and the Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau. It’s nicely put together, it can be viewed by potential visitors both domestic and foreign, and gives a good intro to the islands. It would have been nice to have a list of the places seen in the video (along with time shown). For example I’m not sure if the islands shown at 1.30 are the Keramas or somewhere else. As a start of a list ….. 2.30  Manza Beach Hotel? 3.22 Southeast Botanical Gardens 3.25 Bios Botanical Gardens 3.26 Gyokusendo 3.28 Churaumi Aquarium The tug-of-war shown at 4.05 is the world’s largest and takes place this Sunday at 3PM!

Studio Shoot – Dani (hair flick)

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    Here are the final couple of images from last month’s studio shoot with Dani . For these shots I switched the beauty dish for a large octabox (an octagonal softbox) that creates a look similar to light from a large window. Once I had got the image above I was ready to pack up the gear. Luckily, Pete Leong had just dropped by and he suggested the hair flick. It’s the kind of idea that might or might not work, but as I was shooting digital, and Dani didn’t mind throwing her hair around, we could do it numerous times until we had the shot in the can.     Pete also had his camera on hand to get some behind the scenes coverage. Here I am happily chimping away!    

F.A.Q.s What lens should I buy?

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This is an almost impossible question to answer without knowing all the details. But here’s some general advice 1) A lens that fits your type of camera, both brand and sensor size. A Canon lens won’t fit on a Nikon / Pentax / Sony camera. A lens designed for a smaller sensor won’t work on a camera with a larger sensor. 2) A lens that fits the type of photography you want to do. If you’re a birdwatcher get a long telephoto lens. If you’re into bugs get a macro lens. 3) You get what you pay for. But like most things the relationship between cost and performance is not linear. My brother asked this question recently so I can share the answer I gave him. About a year ago he bought his first digital SLR camera, a Nikon that came with two kit lenses a 18-55mm and a 55-200mm. He wanted a new lens to broaden his horizons (Insert pun about buying wide angle lens here.) and help  improve his photographic skills. I recommended …

Zakimi Castle – Film and Digital

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This morning I got up early and drove over to Zakimi Castle.  I decided to get a shot from the same place I took one of my favorite photographs of Okinawa. Although it was 7.30AM the sky was a little hazy, and even with a polarizer it didn’t pop. When I came home I compared the image to the “original” taken with the Pentax 67II, a 45mm lens, a polarizer and Fuji Provia. The detail in the first shot is fantastic but I prefer the wider angle and the saturation of colors in the original. Unlike today, I had managed to catch the castle under glorious clear blue skies. However, I did get an interesting new image of the stonework. It’s a simple “detail” shot that says a lot about the construction of the castle.