Author: travel67

Beppu – Matsuyama – Okayama – Kyoto – Matsumoto

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Tomorrow I’ll fly up to the Japanese mainland for a two week photo trip. I’m going to visit  Beppu and Matsuyama, then head north via Okayama and Kyoto for a festival near Matsumoto. I return to Okinawa on the 11th. Blogs will be a bit sporadic once I am travelling, but I’ll hopefully return with some great shots or at least a few amusing anecdotes. If there are any orders for prints while I am away, I will sort them out on my return. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. Just finished getting all my gear together. Most of the camera equipment goes in a Lowepro DryZone rucksack that is just on the limit of carry-on. Tripod, flash, clothes, wash kit and tea bags go in a second larger bag. All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go…

Island Icons – Veterinarian Takashi Nagamine

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Bird Man of Okinawa Takashi Nagamine is a veterinarian trying to save the Okinawa Rail from extinction. Takashi Nagamine was born in Gushikawa City, Okinawa. He studied veterinary science at Nihon University, worked as a vet in Saitama prefecture for 11 years, and then returned to his hometown. In 2001, he set up Nagamine Animal Hospital where he treats the everyday ailments of local pets, and also injured wild animals from all over Okinawa. What types of wild animals does your hospital receive? “We get 150 to 200 cases a year, and these cover a wide range of species from the Crested Serpent-Eagle to the Okinawa Rail. Some animals have been injured by power lines or cars; others have been poisoned by pesticides.” What kind of bird is the Okinawa Rail? “The local name is the Yanbaru-kuina. It’s a small bird, about the size of a man’s hand, or a little larger than a pigeon. It was only discovered in 1981, because it is naturally a very shy bird. It is also the only flightless …

67 lenses on the 645D body

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This post is to show how lenses from the Pentax 67 cameras will be able to fit on the Pentax 645D body. Simply attach the 67 to 645 adapter to the camera, and then attach the 67 lens. The adapters were available from B&H Photo in the States but the site says they are no longer available. I got mine from Amazon.co.jp. Using larger lenses on a smaller camera will mean that your normal lenses become telephotos, and your telephotos become super-telephotos. This particular adapter will allow aperture priority metering (unlike the 67 to 35mm adapter). It is worth remembering that larger lenses can fit on smaller cameras, but smaller lenses can’t be used on larger cameras. This means that  lenses designed specifically for  cameras with APS sized sensors won’t work on a full frame 35mm camera. When buying lenses consider if you may be switching to full frame 35mm in the future so you  won’t have to replace incompatible equipment.

The Power of Okinawa

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The Power of Okinawa is a website and a book by my friend John Potter. If you have any interest in Okinawan culture or history please check them out. Music is woven into the very fabric of the Ryukyu Islands. An appreciation of its beauty, or at least an awareness  of its importance, is one of the keys to understanding life on Okinawa.

Your Japan, My Japan: An Englishman’s Perspective

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From 2002 to 2004 I had a monthly column in the Asahi Weekly newspaper. In 2006, Nan’un-do published わかる日本と不思議な日本―Your Japan,My Japan:An Englishman’s Perspective a textbook based on my articles combined with various exercises to check comprehension, expand vocabulary and encourage discussion. I am pleased to say that it is now used in several universities and language centers across Japan.

Island Icons – Toy Maker Morito Toyonaga

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The Toy Maker Morito Toyonaga creates toys that are miniature works of art. His designs have been exhibited in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Sendai and Okinawa. He has a love of traditional techniques that would otherwise disappear. Morito Toyonaga studied sculpture at Okinawa Prefectural Art University and the School of the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, Massachusetts. His interest in sculpture blossomed into a passion for preserving the skills once used to create Okinawan children’s toys. In 2002, he set up his own toy store called Road Works beside Shuri Castle. What materials do you use to create the toys? “Some of the figurines are sculpted from wood, while the stuffed toys are fabric filled with cotton balls. The majority of my toys, however, are made from papier-mâché. To create these paper toys, I start by carving a wooden mold. I then layer a mixture of newspaper, brown paper and glue onto the outside of the mold. The wooden core can then be removed, leaving a thin paper skin. To strengthen the toy, I mix powdered …

F.A.Q.’s Which film do you use?

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95 % of the time I shoot with 220 rolls of Fujifilm’s Fujichrome Provia 100F. The Pentax 67II gives you 10 images on a 120 roll, and 21 images on a 220 roll. Using 220 means I get one extra shot compared to shooting two rolls of 120, processing is a little cheaper and I spend less time changing film. 220 rolls of Provia aren’t available on Amazon but you can get them from B&H Photo. I use Provia 100F for it’s ultra-fine grain, and great color reproduction. However, I sometimes use Provia 400X if I have to shoot on an overcast day or for fire festivals. (Provia 400x is not available in 220 so I use 120 rolls) On my next trip as I’m going to be shooting some landscapes (hopefully with blue skies and cherry blossom) so I have also got a couple of boxes of Velvia 100F for higher color saturation. I wouldn’t use Velvia for portraits, for this Astia 100F would be a better option. I have only used Kodak products …

Japan Guidebooks

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I have a stack of Japan guidebooks that I have bought or aquired over the last decade. I’ve spent most of the last week preparing for my next trip up to the mainland so I felt I could give a few brief pointers about the differences in books available and which I would recommend. I’m only going to discuss the guidebooks I’ve actually used, but if you’ve read another I’d love to hear your comments. In a later blog I’ll give a list of useful Japan travel websites. As a quick means of comparison I will mention the amount of information each book has on Matsuyama (one of the places I will be going). Let’s start with the heavyweights. Lonely Planet Japan (Pages on Matsuyama: 5 including 2 page city map)  The Rough Guide to Japan (Pages on Matsuyama: 12 including city map and Dogo onsen map.) The problem I have with the Lonely Planet and the Rough Guide is their places to eat, and places to stay sections seem to be almost arbitrary. It …

F.A.Q.s Which digital SLR should I buy?

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I get asked this question quite a lot, and in all honesty, I am not really the right person to answer. The only digital camera I currently use is my little point & shoot W60, while for work I still use my Pentax 67II medium format film camera. Getting balanced opinions isn’t made easier by the fact that many photographers are extremely proud (or defensive) of the brand they use. The situation is akin to sports teams. Asking a Nikon user about the quality of Canon’s gear, is similar to asking a Liverpool fan about Manchester United. You may get an honest answer, but you are more likely to be told the other brand is trash or that Rooney looks like  Shrek. Photography magazines are usually better, but you have to raise an eyebrow when the glowing review for a particular camera is followed by a two page paid advertisement for the exact same camera. I would first take a look at the digital SLR buyers guide at Digital Photography Review. Another good introduction to …