A simple headshot of Rie. This type of straight on shots tends to work only with models with very symmetrical faces. The brown hues in the image give it a warm feel, but it would have been very simple to use a bluer tone, a white background, and a little more light to give the bright high key look you see in adverts for cosmetics. Model – Rie Tanaka, MUA – Summer Johnson Pentax 645D with HD PENTAX-D FA645 MACRO 90mmF2.8ED AW S
This week I drove up to Nago to photograph a master of Okinawan Kobudo, Yoshiaki Gakiya. Kobudo is the weapons system of Okinawan martial arts. As well as being experts in unarmed combat, kobudo masters learned how to use farming tools as weapons. In Matayoshi Kobudo, students study a wider range of weapons than most kobudo practitioners.Along with the familiar bo staff, sai, nunchaku and tonfa, they also use tools such as the kuwa (hoe) and surujin. Gakiya-sensei recently suffered from a major stroke so he can no longer practice kobudo, but it was an honor to see him put on his dogi jacket for a portrait. Gakiya’s top student, Neil Stolsmark, joined the shoot with his teacher. It was touching to see the level of mutual respect between these two men. Neil is immensely proud of his teacher, and Gakiya-sensei broke into a smile as he watched his friend and student stand before the camera.
As the sun rises over the Ganges, a sadhu in his loincloth bathes in the river. Once clean, he removes his loincloth, and applies vibhuti, sacred ash, to his entire body. The ash dries to a grey white powder. For the rest of the day, he wears nothing but a few rings and the simple bracelets on his wrists.
Got up just before dawn on my second day in Varanasi. Took a few shots of the sunrise, then started photographing the pilgrims coming down to bathe in the Ganges. The girl in the orange dress had come to Varanasi with her family. She wasn’t shy at all. She lit a floating candle, then beamed for the camera.
A doctor friend of mine lent me some medical scrubs. So, at the end of a couple of recent shoots, I asked the model if they wouldn’t mind wearing something a little more clinical. Models: Amanda with makeup by Summer Johnson (above) and, Talisa with makeup by Mallika Sharma (below).
A friend recently asked me if I was making a lot of money from the advertising on my blog. He mentioned the fact that there were ads for a variety of products from toothpaste to flights appearing at the bottom of my posts. He sent me a screen grab of the blog, and there were all these commercial ads. I was surprised, and more than a little troubled. It was particularly confusing, because when I looked at my blog on my computer, I couldn’t see the ads. It took a check of the small print to find out what was going on. At WordPress.com, we sometimes display advertisements on your blog to help pay the bills. This keeps free features free! We only run them in limited places, and we do not show ads to logged-in readers, which means only a very small percentage of your page views will actually contain ads. As I was logged into WordPress it never showed me the ads, and I was unaware anyone else could see them. I don’t want …
A couple more shots from my studio shoot with Joseph. When shooting a client whose musculature is so defined, you can use light to really show off the amazing anatomy of the body.
And now for a public safety announcement, or a personal rant depending on how you look at things. I dislike branded camera straps. I hate camera straps that show the model number. I know that many camera owners are passionate fans of their own team, and proud to own a particular high-end model. However, wandering around a country where the average per capita annual income is $1219 and blatantly advertising the fact that you are holding a US$1500 dollar camera is not a good idea. (And yes I do believe thieves will know the value of different camera models.) My advice is to change your camera strap to something less obvious. I have a simple black PacSafe strap I can easily attach and remove. It’s also not a bad idea to give your camera a makeover so that it looks a little older and beaten up. An opportunist thief is less likely to want to steal your gear, when there are pristine brand name cameras that would be much easier to resell. I put a few pieces …
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 