It’s been a very busy few weeks and things aren’t slowing down. On Saturday night the new Pentax 645Z arrived. Bear had been hoping that box was filled with dog biscuits, so was somewhat disappointed at the mundane, inedible contents. I got to take a few pics the following day while teaching a fundamentals workshop. I’ll be doing many shoots over the coming weeks, and will put up a full review of the camera. Busy, busy, busy.
Although 88 years old, Tetsunosuke Yasuda is still training in karate. Before the portrait session, he held a 10 kilo barbell plate behind his head then started doing sit-ups. Yasuda sensei is one of the few 10th dan masters of karate. It was great to meet him, and an honor to take his photograph. He was smiling almost the entire session. A real gentleman.
You can dive in Okinawa all year around, but from July to October the water is warm, and rough seas are less frequent. The occasional typhoon does disrupt the fun, but these months are perfect for underwater photography. It’s going to be a fun summer.
The second sensei in the recent trifecta of Jundokan karate masters. Tetsu Gima, Hanshi 9th Dan, Okinawa Goju-ryu Karate – Jundokan. On a technical note, I now use a 20.5″ Profoto White Softlight Reflector rather than a generic 16″ silver beauty dish. This doesn’t change the look of the images, but gives better control over specular highlights and a wider spread of light.
Barbie an American Icon, based on a German toy (Bild Lilli) and manufactured in Japan. The original 1959 Barbies were brunette as well as blonde, and had an even slimmer waist than the modern doll. Interestingly, the original Barbies were always glancing to the side, but from 1971 she looks straight ahead.
A busy couple of days shooting at the Jundokan dojo in Naha City. On Thursday I photographed 9th dan masters Tsuneo Kinjo and Tetsu Gima. The following day I photographed 88-year-old 10th dan Tetsunosuke Yasuda.
I’ve been asked the same couple of questions several times over the last few weeks: Will you buy the Pentax 645Z? followed by Do you recommend that I buy one too? Will you buy the Pentax 645Z? Short answer: Yes Long answer: Yes. The 645Z will be my main camera, and the 645D will become the spare body. The increase in megapixels from 40 to 51.4 does have some advantages, although no client has ever said to me that 40 megapixels wasn’t enough. Future clients, however, particularly those advertising travel destinations on posters or billboards may desire the extra pixels. For exhibitions bigger is usually better, the B0 (39×56) prints at my Matsuri Exhibition in Tokyo were amazing, and later this year hopefully I’ll be exhibiting several A1 (23×33) prints in Naha, Okinawa. Above all, using the best equipment available to me is important for The Karate Masters Portrait Project. The goal of the project is to create a historical record of these martial arts masters. I no longer study karate, but striving for the best, and pushing the boundaries incrementally, is a mindset that …
Military bases cover approximately one fifth of the main island of Okinawa. The most unpopular of the bases is Futenma, and the V-22 Osprey is its most controversial aircraft. Once a year, however, the base opens its gates to all for the Futenma Flightline Festival. There were plenty of Americans and local nationals checking out all the different planes and helicopters on display. There was a lot of interest in the Ospreys, which most people had never seen up close. Posters on the sides of the aircraft showed images from humanitarian missions. Of course, the relocation of Futenma, and the military burden placed on Okinawa is a complex and contentious issue. I’ve photographed several anti-base protests, so it was interesting to see another viewpoint, or at least the other side of the barbed wire fence.
Seiyu Nakamura is a master of traditional shidokan karate and kobudo. More than a decade ago, Nakamura-sensei was my briefly my karate instructor. It was great to meet each other again, although he did note that we’d both got a little grayer over the years. Once again after shooting the black background portraits indoors, I switched the plug-in 7a generator for the battery powered B1, and we went outside. A huge storm was quickly approaching, but we managed to get a few shots in the sugar cane fields before the heavens opened.
Angkor Village’s Apsara Theatre has evening performances of classical dances. I asked the manager if I could take a few portraits after the artists had finished their show, and they said okay. To make things a challenge, I had about 5 minutes to photograph everyone, the external wall of their changing room to use as a background, and the only Khmer I knew was hello and thank you. I used the Profoto B1 to illuminate the darkness, and my tuk tuk driver as light stand and translator. I asked them to look into the light, and captured a few quick pics.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 