Author: travel67

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 …

The Best of Kyoto

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For more than a thousand years, Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan.　Tokyo may now be the center of business and government, but Kyoto remains as Japan’s spiritual and historic heart. Kyoto is a busy vibrant city with a population of over 1.4 million people. Like any other Japanese metropolis it has an eclectic mix of old and new, with ancient shrines dwarfed by skyscrapers and department stores. Kyoto, however, has managed to retain far more of its past than other, more modernized, Japanese cities. It was spared the ravages of aerial bombardment during World War II, and has survived-relatively unscathed-the tsunami of concrete and architectural monstrosities that followed the war. Hidden amongst the contemporary buildings are secret gardens, shrines and temples. Along the narrow alleyways of Gion, visitors can sip jasmine tea and wait for a fleeting look at Asia’s most iconic figure, the geisha. It would be impossible to see all that Kyoto has to offer in a single year, let alone a few days. There is not just one temple, but hundreds …

The Best of Nara

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Nara and Kyoto are the two biggest tourist destinations in Japan. Kyoto, the more famous of the two, is home to both the remaining geisha and the iconic golden pavilion. Nara, however, is the heart of Japanese Buddhism. Its temples are not just world heritage sites, but are often the largest, oldest and most sacred of their type. Standing among the pagodas and cherry trees it is possible to imagine Japan before cell phones, neon lights and the tsunami of concrete. Nara was Japan’s first permanent capital, and remains as one of the world’s great cities. Nara is not a large city and nearly all the historic sites are located in and around Nara Park. Tour groups on a day trip often complete a brief circuit of Kofuku-ji Temple, Todai-ji Temple and Kasuga Taisha Shrine in a matter of hours before returning to Kyoto or Osaka. Visitors, who prefer to travel without a megaphone wielding guide, would be better off spending two or three days on a tranquil journey of discovery, rather than an afternoon …

Lighthouse at Cape Zanpa reopens

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A couple of weeks ago the lighthouse at Cape Zanpa reopened to the public. I was out teaching the Photography Fundamentals workshop when we came across the special opening day event.  The mascot got my seal of approval. Unfortunately nobody seemed to have checked which end of the flag festooned rope they should attach to the top of the lighthouse. The result is that the flags of about 50 countries were flying upside down, an international signal of distress.

Snow Monkey Magic

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Bathing naked in a hot spring is a common, if not daily, event for many Japanese. The warm mineral waters soothe aching muscles and relax tired minds. In a country renowned for its almost fanatical work ethic, traditional onsen pools provide a moment of much needed relief. The Japanese people, however, aren’t the only ones enjoying the thermal waters. When snow begins to fall, a new group of bathers comes down from the mountains, and soaks in the steam enshrouded pools. Lounging around, they scratch and watch the world go by, unconcerned by the presence of video cameras and photographers. They are the ultimate hot spring aficionados — Japanese snow monkeys. In a remote part of the Japanese Alps, near Shiga Koen Volcano, there is a quiet steep-sided valley called Jigokudani. A rough translation of the name would be Hell Valley, and every winter hell freezes over. A thick coating of snow and ice covers the valley sides, but plumes of steam continue to rise from the river below. There is also the faint, but …