Over the last couple of weeks I have been sorting out a slideshow for my exhibition that will be projected on to a wall where a single picture would normally hang. It allows me to show far more images than would otherwise fit in the gallery.  The slideshow I have created for Cotonoha lasts 30 minutes and has images changing every 25 seconds.  I also created a 7 minute version with images changing every 5 or 6 seconds that also has some wonderful background music. The piece is Sakura by Yokoh and is played by my friend Eduardo Terre on the classical guitar. The music came from a live recording of one of his concerts. It has been a bit of an exhausting experience learning how to create a slideshow, add music, convert formats etc, but finally both the long and short versions are now complete. The long version is ready to be shown at the gallery, and the short version is now up on YouTube.  Enjoy. Eduardo, I am humbled by your talent.

The Okinawa Rail is an endangered bird that is endemic to the northern part of the Okinawan main island. They are both rare and shy, which makes getting photographs of them tricky. Luckily last year I was given access to the birds at the  breeding center in Kunigami. I was able to get so close to some of the birds I was using a macro lens and getting my fingers pecked. Last week my friend Ichiro told me that there were some very young Okinawa Rail being cared for at Nagamine Animal Hospital and I had permission to go and take some photographs.  It was tough to get good shots – small dark birds in a dark room on a cloudy day. In the end I got some interesting shots which will hopefully become part of a larger photo feature on the efforts that are going on to try and save the species from extinction.

For the whole of May an exhibition of my photographs will be showing at Cotonoha Artspace + Cafe  in Ginowan, Okinawa. Cotonoha is a new gallery  / cafe in Okinawa that was created  by Daryl Mitchell a.k.a. Mitch and his wife. Mitch has done a great job on the gallery and strives to produce the best in every aspect of his work. The food, interior design and ambiance are all first rate. Check out the Cotonoha website to find out more. There will be a reception on May 1st with a buffet, music, and lots of interesting people. Rather than a lecture I thought I would tell a few anecdotes about taking photographs in Japan. Hopefully these anecdotes will be amusing, a surprising number are about men’s bottoms. My photographs are going to be on display for the entire month, and  Cotonoha will be open from 2pm till 11pm except  Mondays. The limited edition prints that are on sale through my website will be available for purchase along with open editions of smaller  A4 sized prints.  I won’t be at …

A few minutes ago Guardian photographer David Levene sent me this link. Just made my day!         I will blog more later about the use of audio recorders and taking shots for slideshows, but for now I think I’ll just chill out and smile.

In 2000, Sefa Utaki, along with Shuri Castle and several castle ruins from the Kingdom of the Ryukyus, was listed as UNESCO world heritage site. Sefa Utaki is the holiest place in Okinawa where the kikeo kimi high priestesses would perform rituals.  There are several places of worship hidden among the trees, but the most famous is at the triangle shaped opening. Water that dripped from  stalactites hanging from the rock faces was thought to be sacred.  Pots were positioned on the ground, and remain today catching the slow drip drip drip of holy water. Tourists rather than priestesses are the main visitors to Sefa Utaki now. I had to wait a while before I could get a tourist free wide angle shot.