Author: travel67

RX-78 Gundam model in Odaiba, Tokyo in HDR

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In an earlier post I talked about the construction of the huge Gundam statue in Odaiba, Tokyo. John Burgreen of Okinawa HDR was up in Tokyo a couple of weeks ago and managed to get this fantastic image of the behemoth. What is HDR? HDR stands for high dynamic range. The photographer takes multiple shots of the same subject varying the exposure so that some shots accurately expose the shadows while other shots accurately expose the highlights. Combine all the photographs in Photoshop and you produce a image which doesn’t lose detail in areas that would normally be too dark or too bright. Read more at the Wikipedia page here. HDR is an exciting development in digital photography. Some people love it, some people hate it. In my opinion, it is a technique that is difficult to do well, and can’t remedy an otherwise poor photograph. But, get it right and the images produced can be stunning. John’s Gundam photo is an example of HDR done well.

Suzuki Swift Sport – A quick review

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Now that I have had my car for a couple of months, I thought I would make a few brief comments. Exterior: The motoring press has made a lot of comparisons between the Swift and the Mini. Many comment that the new body shape of the Swift is a copy of (or homage to) the Mini. I am not so sure. If anything, it looks like Suzuki have been borrowing from (inspired by)  the designers at Audi. Compare the front of the Swift and the TT. . . . . Perhaps my favorite external feature of the car, are the subtle twin exhausts. It may seem like a strange pet peeve, but the asymmetry of a single exhaust on a car niggles me. However, a single central exhaust like on the Porsche Boxster just looks a little odd. Of course no exhaust would be even better, but the Tesla Roadster is a little out of my price range. Interior: One of the best features of the Japanese spec car is the option for  grey Recaro sports seats rather than …

Shamisen Rock

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In the interview with sanshin player Byron Jones I asked if he could play Hendrix. Yesterday I found this video by shamisen player Kevin Kmetz proving that you only need three strings to rock! I believe the Japanese dubbed version of Iron Man began with this song 🙂

Multitasking for Photographers

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The job of a photographer is getting more and more complicated. In the past photographers have had to be their own promoter, accountant, travel agent, porter and therapist. More recently  many photographers have added the role of writer and blogger, but perhaps the biggest change is going to be the increasing importance of both video and sound.  Take a look inside the camera bag of travel photographer Tewfic El-Sawy: * Canon EOS 5D Mark II * Canon G10 (ideal for unobtrusive street photography) * Canon 17-40mm f4.0 * Canon 28-70mm f 2.8 * Canon 24mm f1.4 * Marantz PMD 620 Audio Recorder * Acer Aspire One 8.9-inch Mini Laptop (w/LR2 and SoundSlides) * A 250gb G-Tech Mini G-Drive External Hard Drive  * Blackberry & an iTouch  Along with all the camera gear there is a Marantz PMD 620 Audio Recorder. When I met Guardian photographer David Levene a few months ago I noticed that along with  two Canon EOS 5D Mark IIs and a wide selection of lenses he also carried an Edirol Audio Recorder. …

More waterproof cameras… Pentax Optio W80

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Pentax have just announced the latest model in their popular waterproof compact camera range, the Pentax Optio W80. I mentioned in a previous blog about how good these little cameras are as a worry free point & shoot. My sister, dad and Seiko all have different models of the camera, and yesterday I was given my own W60 so that I’m not always borrowing theirs. The W80 will be on sale from next month for just under 300 dollars at Amazon.com. This latest model has 12.1 megapixels and is now coldproof as well as waterproof (to 5 meters) along with being able to record HD video. This does mean that as soon as the W80 is available there should be plenty of places selling off the W60 cheaply. Right now, at Amazon the W60is $259, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this dropped to $200 over the next few weeks. I won’t be using the camera for assignments, but for everyday events, images for the blog and documenting things the dogs have destroyed the camera should be …

Okinawan Bus Driver Kills Boy

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From JapanUpdate Okinawa’s weekly English newspaper: City bus strikes, kills bike-riding youngster Date Posted: 2009-06-25 A seven-year-old boy is dead after being run over by a Nanjo City bus Monday afternoon. Nanjo City Police say the fatality occurred as a city bus driver on the Baten Branch run in Tsuhako, Sashiki area of Nanjo City, on Route 331, encountered the young boy on a bicycle in front of him. The bus driver reportedly tried to get the youngster, Kousei Chinen, to move to the side of the road, and tried to pass him. When the bus driver sounded his bus horn, the noise surprised the elementary school student and caused him to lose control of his bicycle. Chinen fell from the bicycle, and beneath the bus. The driver, realizing what happened, stopped the bus about 100 meters from the accident. A passenger aboard the bus ran to the youngster, saw his school nametag, and called him “Kousei chan, Come on, please. Can you hear me?” The boy was transported to a nearby hospital, where he …

The end of KODACHROME

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On June 22, 2009 Kodak announced it was ending production of KODACHROME slide films.  KODACHROME was an icon in the world of photography. The first professional photographer I talked to said he used nothing but KODACHROME 64. Kodak has however moved on. Not only does KODACHROME amount to less than one percent of Kodak’s film sales there is only one place in the world that still processes the film. I am amazed it has survived this long. Kodak  still produces transparency film. So once again this is not the death of film, but simply a change in the type of film people are using. Kodak’s pro films are the KODAK PROFESSIONAL ELITE Chrome series which I haven’t used, but I am sure are excellent. I however will stick with Fujifilm Provia. It’s what I have used almost exclusively over the past 9 years, and it provides exactly what I want – fine grain and great saturated colors.