Today, April 22nd, is Earth Day. I just watched The 11th Hour an interesting documentary about the impact of mankind on the planet and the changes we need to make to our lifestyles. Another documentary that is worth watching is HOME. You can see the entire movie on YouTube, so if you’ve got 90 minutes to spare, please take a look. Double click on the video below to watch it on YouTube (embedded viewing has been disabled).
The April edition of Nihon Camera 日本カメラ includes a couple of very interesting things for Pentaxians. The first is a history of Pentax’s medium format cameras, the second is a detailed overview of the new Pentax 645D camera including a comparison of the camera with the top of the range 35mm digital cameras. Here’s some (but not all) of the differences between the Pentax 645D, the Nikon D3X and the Canon EOS-1 Ds Mark III. Sensor Pentax 645D: 44x33mm 40MP CCD Nikon D3X: 35.9x24mm 24.5MP CMOS Canon EOS-1 Ds Mark III: 36x24mm 21.1MP CMOS Live View Pentax 645D: No Nikon D3X: Yes Canon EOS-1 Ds Mark III: Yes Dust Removal System Pentax 645D: Yes Nikon D3X: No Canon EOS-1 Ds Mark III: Yes Max Shutter Speed Pentax 645D: 1/4000 Nikon D3X: 1/8000 Canon EOS-1 Ds Mark III: 1/8000 Frames per second Pentax 645D: 1.1 Nikon D3X: 5 Canon EOS-1 Ds Mark III: 5 Memory Card Pentax 645D: SD / SDHC cards Nikon D3X: CF cards Canon EOS-1 Ds Mark III: CF cards & SD / …
Several interesting things happening in Okinawa this weekend. Ceramic artist Nicholas Centala has an exhibit at Global Gallery (Plaza House), Kluso is playing Saturday night at Al’s Place in Okinawa City, and Erykah Badu is performing on Camp Foster Sunday night. Just scanned this image of Nick firing up his kiln. Really happy with the shot, as it was very difficult conditions to shoot. I used a light meter to check how much light there was on his face and then asked him to stand still for a couple of seconds while I took the photograph. The heat was incredible, it was tough being so close to the flames for more than a fraction of a second. Nick came away a little singed but I think he’ll be happy with the portrait.
See a larger, readable, scan of the page here.
Okinawan Superman Kiyohide Shinjo is an 8th dan master of Uechi-ryu karate. Kiyohide Shinjo was born on Ie Island in 1951. His family moved to Naha when he was five, and Kiyohide began studying karate at the age of ten from his father, Seiyu Shinjo, one of Okinawa’s karate masters. He earned his shodan (first degree black belt) at age 16, and in 1960, Kiyohide and his father opened a new dojo at Kadena Rotary. Kiyohide Shinjo is the nine-time Okinawa Karate Champion in both kumite and kata － gaining him the nickname “the Okinawan Superman.” When his father died in 1979, Kiyohide retired from competition, undefeated, and took over the Kadena dojo. In 2004, the dojo moved to Toguchi in Yomitan. There Kiyohide continues to inspire others with his passion for karate. What’s your favorite technique? “I use the toe kick. It’s one of Uechi-ryu’s iconic techniques; it’s devastatingly effective. It doesn’t matter where the blow lands, it will incapacitate the opponent leaving you in control of the encounter.” (At this point Kiyohide took …
Just got back to Okinawa. An exhausting but exciting final couple of days taking photos of the Onbashira Festival in Shimosuwa, Nagano Prefecture. Will drop off 17 rolls of 220 film and 5 rolls of 120 film tomorrow. I’ll hopefully be able to see how successful this trip has been on Thursday.
From my iPhone 🙂 Happy man
Got up at 6.00 A.M. to take early morning photos of Matsuyama Castle. Grabbed a coffee and had a quick look at today’s Japan Times in the hotel lobby. In the paper there is an article about the entrance policy at Sushi Zen, it includes a few quotes from me taken during a phone interview a couple of weeks ago. I thought the piece was well written although I have to note that I didn’t stage an exhibition of my work but merely displayed two pictures as part of a group. I also learned about the situation at Sushi Zen through Facebook rather than after Japanese friends saw the sign. The actual quotes are correct and as I have said before excluding a group of people based on nationality (religion, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age or any other factor) is unwarranted and does not help create the kind of tolerant society in which I want to live.
After 5 days in Beppu I am now on the ferry to Shikoku. Beppu was better than I had expected as guidebook descriptions such as “the Las Vegas of onsen towns” conjured up a somewhat tacky image. The Eight Hells with their bubbling sulfurus pools are by far the most comercialized aspect of the town. Gift shops were sometimes larger than the actual attractions, and some Hells had made the dubious decision to include a mini zoo. The main focus of Beppu, however, is relaxing in the many onsen. The hotels and ryokan usually have their own baths, but I headed down to the oldest, Takegawara Onsen, for a soak on the first night. The next day I hiked for an hour up to one of the natural mud onsen on the hillside above the town, and to complete the set I was burried up to my neck in a sand bath by the beach. Last night was the Mount Ogi Fire festival where they set the hillside ablaze. Here’s a pic from my iPhone
Lion King Mitsuo Miyagi creates plaster shîsâ. He operates his own store and gallery beside Kokusai-Street, and his designs have met with both critical acclaim and commercial success. Mitsuo studied art at Kaiho High School on Okinawa before attending college in Kyoto. Rather than specialize in just one discipline, Mitsuo trained under several teachers to learn pottery, sculpture, papermaking, ink, and painting. At age 21, he returned to Okinawa and started creating shîsâ in his apartment. His unique designs became popular almost immediately, and soon he was overrun with too many orders and too little space. In 2001, he moved to a new studio in Onna Village from which he could create larger sculptures and paintings. On April 3, 2005, he opened his own gallery and store in Naha City, where visitors can browse his work or even create their own shîsâ. What is a shîsâ? Is it a lion, a dog or some kind of dragon? “Shîsâ are sometimes called lion-dogs, but I think this is only half-right. Shîsâ are based on lions, which …
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 