Author: travel67

Flickr

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Do you know why we have two ears and only one mouth? Because we should be listening twice as much as we are talking. I think this little piece of wisdom is fantastic. (Although perhaps not correct from an evolutionary standpoint) Listening to others has helped me tremendously over the past few years. The initial design of my website was my idea, but it was the advice of my friend and webmaster Nick that helped me create something far better than I could have done alone. Flickr is another example.  It required the input of others for me to understand the usefulness of the Flickr ( “the best online photo management and sharing application in the world” ). I signed up to Flickr a couple of years ago, put up 4 or 5 photographs and pretty much forgot about it.  At the time it seemed to be unnecessary to put my photos on another website when I had just spent so much time and effort creating my own.  Meeting the computer gurus in Tokyo last month, was …

On the bookshelf – Sport & Action

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Another title in Rotovision’s The World’s Top Photographers’ Workshops series is Sport & Action. For me this is perhaps the weakest in the series. My main niggle is that there are nine sports photographers and one wildlife photographer. Andy Rouse’s photographs are excellent, but they are completely out of place, especially when there is a separate and far superior book in the series called Wildlife.  The other reason for not enjoying this one so much is perhaps more contentious. It seems to me that for  sports perhaps the still camera is not the best medium for recording events. The opposite seems to be true in the world of Fashion & Advertising where a well crafted image has far more impact than catwalks or television commercials.

Mac or PC?

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A year and a half ago I needed to get a new computer having caused the PC I was using (Seiko’s) to go into thermal shutdown so many times it had fried various essential components.  The problem was one of multiplication.   Most people print small (around A4) and the file sizes you are dealing with aren’t huge.  The amount of data I was dealing with was larger for several reasons. A2 sized prints – files 4 times the size of A4 Printing at 600 dpi   – files double the size of 300 dpi  Printing in RGB16  – files double the size of RGB8  What this meant was that the computer files coming from the scanner were around 750mb. If I started to use the cloning tool to remove dust specks, or even worse used layers, there was the distinct possibility of spontaneous computer combustion.  I wanted a computer powerful enough to run Photoshop and handle large data files without breaking a sweat, and to be able to do this while I am working …

Nakamura House, Okinawa

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Nakamura House is a traditional Okinawan house that dates back to the 15th Century. Its roof is covered with red clay tiles while the walls are made up of sliding wooden panels. The moveable walls can be opened to allow cooling breezes in the summer heat or closed and braced against wind and rain during typhoons. A shisa – lion dog – talisman sits on the roof protecting residents from evil spirits.  The house has eight rooms, many with the tatami flooring – the rectangular mats made of woven straw. Some rooms contain artifacts including traditional bingata kimono. The house is located in the northern part of Naha City on the main island of Okinawa. Nakamura House is open everyday from 9.00 to 17.30

A presidential fitness dvd

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On March 7th several friends of mine did the New Zealand ironman triathlon. John, Isla, Charlotte, Anna and Perry all swam 3.8 km, rode 180.2 km then ran 42.2 km. Impressive and inspiring stuff, but I am not even close to doing a full triathlon myself. I  recently began my very own “get fit with Jed Bartlet” program. There are numerous celebrity fitness DVDs on the market but this one is a sure fire winner. Follow the simple steps. Purchase the The West Wing box set. I got mine on Amazon in a special sale for 75 dollars. (HMV in the UK had it for 50 pounds) Set up bicycle in front of computer on trainer. (I am using a friend’s 1up trainer) Get on bicycle and pedal away while watching all 45 DVDs Purchase new trousers because legs have doubled in size. I am nearly at the end of the first series, and really enjoying it. I think my legs are getting stronger and my back is slowly getting used to being in the aero position. …

The Lab Report – Bath time

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  Living on a subtropical island  has many advantages, one disadvantage however is that there are far more ants, termites, mosquitoes, cockroaches, spiders and other creatures that enjoy living on the island, and consequently in your home, and it seems on your dogs. One trick the vet told us was to buy a bottle of brown sulfurous liquid that turns your bath into your own personal onsen.  The dogs are quite happy to relax in the warm water, and the little critters that have been hiding in their coats are so disgusted by the noxious water they abandon ship (or dogs in this case) and are washed away down the plug hole to have new adventures in the sewage system. You must remember to shampoo the dogs afterwards otherwise your faithful friends will wander around the house smelling of rotting eggs. Delightful.

On the bookshelf – Travel & Nature

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  Rotovision is a British publisher that produces several really good books on photography.    I just got one of the latest releases in their “The World’s Top Photographers’ Workshops” series titled Travel & Nature. The book is divided into ten sections each based around a particular photographer. Each section has an interview with the photographer, several pages of their best photographs and then a Tips for Success page where the photographer gives 10 nuggets of wisdom (or common sense).  Travel photography is a bit like ecology  in that it is a blend of several different disciplines. This book therefore has interviews with a wide range of photographers including Steve Bloom (nature), David Doubliet (underwater) and Lee Frost (landscape).  I have most of the titles in the series, some of which are better than others. Travel & Nature due to its diversity is a great book by itself, and if you like the informative style that delves more into the mindset of the photographer rather than the equipment he or she is using it deserves its space …

Medium?

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I do some freelance work for Okinawa Living magazine, a publication produced by M.C.C.S. which introduces Okinawan and Japanese culture to American military members and their families. I have a base pass so that I can drop off my work and meet with the editors, but it also allows me to use the fast food restaurants while I am on the base. This is not insignificant because it means I can get veggie burgers from Burger King. The only other fast food chain that does a veggie burger in Japan is the Hard Rock Cafe, but the closest one is in Fukuoka a thousand or so miles away. I usually order the medium meal opting not to go large or king size. However on my last visit something interesting happened due to some clever/devious decision making on the part of Burger King. Burger King have decided to rename their sizes. King is now large. Large is now medium. Medium is now small. The portions however have not changed. When I ordered my medium meal, I …

Journalists, programmers and a robot

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Tokyo’s weather may not have been cooperating, but fortuitous timing meant that I could catch up with several fellow ex-pats now living in the metropolis. On the first night I was invited to The Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan in Ginza and met photographers Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert and Alfie Goodrich along with Justin McCurry the Tokyo correspondent for The Guardian, Julian Ryall the Tokyo correspondent for The Daily Telegraph and Chris Dunn an International Trade Consultant. Great guys living really interesting lives. On the second night I met up with programmers Hector Garcia, Pietro Zuco and Ignacio Izquierdo and chatted about Flick’r and the ongoing computing revolution. Fascinating stuff and just in case you didn’t know… On my final morning Tokyo treated me to a special mix of sleet and wind, so I headed to Aoyama to meet ASIMO. ASIMO didn’t say much, but was probably aware that in the near future his offspring will rule the world and we shall all tremble in their wake….