This is the third edition of the Fodor’s Japan guidebook that I’ve helped update. For the 22nd edition I travelled around Kyushu and Okinawa checking to see what changes there have been over the last couple of years. It’s great to be able to share amazing places with a worldwide audience. The book is now available for pre-order at Amazon.
The Japan Open Roller Derby Tournament 2016 took place at Okinawa Comprehensive Park on March 25th and 26th. Here are a few pics from Saturday’s Pirate City v Misawa Killa Geishas. This was the first time I’ve ever watched Roller Derby, so it took a little time before I could work out what was happening. Basically, the two teams of women on skates travel around a small flat oval track in the same direction. The teams get point by having their appointed “jammer” (wearing the star helmet cover) lap the oval. The rest of the team blocks the opponents jammer and assists their own jammer. Player can’t use their hands, elbows or feet to block. So the teams often create a defensive wall , checking the jammer with their hips. Contact, however, is fierce and the hits were hard. There are going to be a lot of sore and bruised players today. Overall it was a great experience to watch and photograph. All the teams were great, but the Danish team Copenhagen dominated the matches …
NEWS!!!! Karate Masters Portrait Project Volume 1 now on sale via Blurb The Karate Masters Portrait Project began in March 2012. Its goal is to document karate and kobudo masters teaching in Okinawa at the start of the 21st Century. Their unparalleled knowledge of martial arts makes them of great cultural importance both in Japan and worldwide. 空手マスターズポートレートプロジェクトは2012年3月に始まりました。 目標としているのは、21世紀に沖縄で活躍している空手と古武道の先生方の肖像を撮ることです。空手の先生方の類まれない武道に関しての知識は、日本だけでなく、世界でも文化的に高く重要視されています。 In 2012, James Pankiewicz, owner of the DOJO Bar in Naha, discussed with photographer Chris Willson how there were few, if any, good photos of certain karate masters. There was also little consistency in the images available. Many were blurry, low resolution, noisy, or simply snapped from a distance at a competition or demonstration. 2012年、那覇市内にある DOJO Bar のオーナー、ジェームズ・パンキュビッチは、フォトグラファーのクリス・ウィルソンと空手指導者の良い肖像はないかと話し合いました。 それまでの使用可能なイメージはほとんど一貫性がなく、解像度が低くぼやけており、ノイズが多く、 遠い距離からのスナップ写真ばかりでした。 James and Chris began to take studio lighting, a black backdrop, and a high definition digital camera into the dojos of the karate masters. They hoped the portraits produced would become a historical record of the masters of Okinawan karate at the start of the 21st century. ジェームズとクリスは 道場にスタジオの照明や、黒背景、高精細デジタルカメラを持ち込み、撮影を行い始めました。 このプロジェクトを通して、沖縄空手の先生方の肖像が、21世紀の歴史的な記録になることを望んでいるのです。 Gear used: Pentax 645D & …
A new project I’m working on is documenting Okinawa’s traditional textile industry. Oshiro-san makes looms, shuttles, spinning wheels and other equipment from his workshop in Haebaru. His customers are usually Okinawan weavers, but he has once sent a spinning wheel all the way to Texas. Oshiro-san, now 57, began to learn the craft from his father at age 22. He is now teaching his oldest son. Images shot with natural light, Pentax 645Z with 35mm lens.
Today was the second day of the North & South intermediate level photography workshop. We shot at beaches, a waterfall, a cave, and a world heritage site, but the highlight was meeting Jahana-san. Full of smiles, laughter, and information about how and why people used to poop into the pig pens, Jahana-san was a delight to chat with and photograph. 80 years young, he asked where all the members of our group were from and explained he’d visited Mexico last year, Cambodia last month, and hoped to go to Canada before his legs gave out. Legend 🙂 Thanks to Anna, Liesa, Kevin and Yuki for an awesome weekend.
Out today with the Churashima Research Center taking pics from their research boat. A much happier occasion than photographing the carcass of a whale that had died and then washed up on the beach. We were in the waters of the coast of Motobu not far from Sesoko Island. We saw around 20 whales in total, but it was the first mother and calf pair that were the star performers. The whales slapped the surface with their long pectoral fins, and perform breaches before crashing back down onto the surface of the water. Pics shot with the Pentax 645Z and a 300m lens. Used a monopod to take the strain off my arms. Shot at ISO 400 so that I could use shutter speeds between 1/2000 and 1/4000 of a second.
Although my current cameras can record HD 1080 video, if I’m specifically working with video on a project I want to be able to shoot footage at 4K. There are a wide range of cameras that can shoot 4K from a GoPro at a few hundred dollars to cinema cameras at a few hundred thousand. After looking at the options, and discussing things with my friend Jon Galione, I bought a Sony A7S II that will allow me to start shooting 4K internally and produce high quality footage. Just in the testing phase at the moment, but here’s a few seconds shot with the A7S II and a Rokinon 85mm lens. Okay Go!
The March 12/13 Fundamentals workshop is now full. If you were hoping to take this class, but missed the chance don’t worry, and please join our May, June, July, or August workshop. Dates are here: https://travel67.wordpress.com/workshops/ and the Facebook event page for the May class is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/218375985183229/ Pete Leong and I have scheduled an 1-day Off Camera Flash workshop for May 21, 2016. We’ll be showing you how to add a little magical light to your images using cheap and cheerful wireless speedlights. You don’t need to have a flash to join the class, in fact if you don’t have one already, I’d highly recommend waiting until you’ve taken the class. The Facebook event page for the Off Camera Class is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1538758036417243/ The Kyoto Workshop is now scheduled for the first week of April 2017, exact dates will be decided on in the near future.
Another shot from the Nakijin shoot this time using a simple reflector to bounce some light back onto Yuki. You still have clear shadows caused by the early afternoon sun, but the reflector is enough to keep them in check on the subject’s face. You don’t however get the clear catchlights that you would have got with the flash. Pentax 645Z, 90mm lens, reflector.
A dead humpback whale washed up near Kadena a few days ago. Humpbacks migrate from the arctic to Okinawa to breed and rear their young in winter. Unfortunately for this young whale its life ended early. Okinawa Churashima Research Center monitors the migration of humpback whales and dolphins in the prefecture and also undertakes research to help with the preservation of endangered species such as the Hawksbill turtle and coconut crab. They also collect data from dead animals such as turtles killed by cars, bycatch from fishing nets, or beached whales. This morning the researchers undertook an necropsy (animal autopsy) of the humpback whale. The length of the whale, flukes, and various others parts were measured. The outer layers of blubber were then cut away, measurements were taken, and the flesh was bagged for disposal. The decomposing whale smelled badly especially downwind. As more and more of the whale was removed and bagged, the bones were also measured, and collected separately. After analysis the data will hopefully give some insight into why the whale, …
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 