Author: travel67

Yoshimasa Matsuda at Naminoue Shrine, Okinawa

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On Friday I photographed 9th-dan master Yoshimasa Matsuda and his son Hirokazu Matsuda at Naminoue Shrine, Naha City, Okinawa. On January 31st Matsuda will receive the rank of 10th-dan. Naminoue Shrine is the most famous shrine on Okinawa. The fact that Matsuda is a local resident and supporter of the shrine meant we were given permission to use it as a background for the photographs.

Tokyo Skytree

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Tokyo Skytree, at 634m the world’s tallest free-standing broadcasting tower. At least it was in 2011, but no doubt it will not keep the position for long. After taking the shinkansen from Nagaoka to Ueno I had intended on having a relaxing lunch, before taking the train to Narita. However on arrival at Ueno Station. the sky was crystal clear, and I could clearly see the Skytree. I ignored the hunger pangs and jumped on the Ginza line to Asakusa. Spent 20 minutes shooting on the banks of the Sumida River, then jumped back on the metro to Ueno.

The importance of having access to a backup camera

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Last year, on my trip to India I took the Pentax 645D, a 35mm wide-angle lens and the new 90mm macro.   I also packed a Pentax K5-IIs with a 40mm pancake lens for low-light  street photography. The K5-IIs would also be my backup camera in the unlikely event that the 645D was stolen or had problems. The K5 takes the same batteries, charger and SD cards as the 645D. The body and pancake lens combined weigh about 800 grams so it didn’t t take up much space or weight if it wasn’t used. The image quality from the K5 is excellent, obviously not on a par with the 645D, but I would still be able to use the images for commercial purposes. While in Agra, shooting the Taj Mahal at dawn, the 645D suddenly stopped working. The shutter seemed to open for a couple of seconds then the screen showed just a black image. I turned it off and on, removed and replaced the battery, the lens, the SD cards, but the problem was …