Author: travel67

Synchronized Freedive Photography

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Freediving is diving without the use of SCUBA gear. Jacques Mayol (as mentioned in my Yonaguni posts) was one of the world’s most famous exponents of the sport. While my parents were visiting Okinawa I took them snorkeling at Cape Maeda. I brought the K5 camera and housing along, held my breath, and got some shots of them exploring the reef. My dad brought along his W60 waterproof P&S and at one point we took photos at the exact same time. It turns out that freediving and photography are a tricky mix. As a photographer you’re often limited by battery life, memory cards, imagination and talent, but removing the ability to breathe is perhaps pushing things a little too far. Until I’ve developed gills, I think I stick to doing most of my underwater photography with a tank of air.

A Swift Adventure – Iheya Island, Okinawa

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Last weekend, I went over to Iheya Island with fellow photographers David and Jose. It’s a 90 minute ferry ride from Unten Port on the Motobu peninsular. Rather than rent a car when we got there, we all bundled into my little Swift. One of the advantages of a small car is that it makes the ferry ride cheaper. The weather wasn’t great while we there, thick clouds at dawn and dusk meant there were no spectacular sunrises or sunsets. It was, however, a decent opportunity to explore one of the islands I’d never been to before. And because I didn’t get all the shots I wanted I have a good reason to go back again. One of the island’s attractions is Kumaya-gama a large cave beside the ocean that holds a small shinto shrine. I think the plastic buckets you can see on the floor to the right of the shrine are to collect droplets of water dripping from the rock. At other religious sites in Okinawa such as Sefa Utaki, this water is …

In the Studio – Catron

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A fun studio shoot with Catron, makeup by Summer Johnson. Lighting setup was the same as in the recent shoot with Yuki. To give the final image a little movement, I brought in a desk fan from my office and asked Summer to point is at Catron’s face. I  shot several frames as the exact result is unpredictable, but  was really pleased with the image we created.

In the Studio – Yuki

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A few studio images of Yuki that she can use to update her portfolio. We shot three looks; natural, casual and formal. I kept the style of image simple with a grey background, but used 5 lights: a beauty dish as the main light, a softbox providing fill, two strip boxes for rim light and a hotshoe flash pointed at the background. A far more complicated setup than the single light karate portraits, but for beauty shots it’s great to have both the option to use more lights and the time to work with them. Makeup by Summer Johnson and jewelry provided by Ledeen Diamond Co. Boutique.

White Mouse or Black Tablet

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A friend asked if I wanted to buy a black tablet. He told me I’d be able to interact with the world in ways I couldn’t even dream about. I’d become faster, more agile, in more control. He’d been a user for a few months, but decided to quit. He offered me a deal. “You take the white mouse – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the black tablet – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.” I paid him the cash, he mailed me the tablet. The mouse is caged, but will this be a bitter pill to swallow. To paraphrase, Pietro a photographer friend asked if I’d like to buy his Wacom Intuos4 graphics tablet. He wasn’t using it much and thought I’d find it valuable when editing in Photoshop or Lightroom. He offered me a great deal so I took it. I’ve never used a tablet before and heard they take some getting used …

Karate Masters Portrait Project – Hanshi 10th dan Yoshitaka Taira

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These are the first images in the Karate Masters Portrait Project. The idea is to document the hanshi (grand masters) of karate. I wish I had started this project several years earlier before some of the hanshi passed away. Hanshi 10th dan Yoshitaka Taira Images are shot with the 645D which means I have fantastic detail, important for an archival project. I used a portable black velvet screen to have clean background and then used a single studio light with a beauty dish for illumination. I plan to shoot all portraits with the same setup.

In the Studio – Adriesa

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Another couple of images from the studio. Thanks to both the model Adriesa Kane and makeup artist Summer Johnson. Of interest to photographers is that I used an extra light in this setup. As well as the beauty dish above my right shoulder and the rim lights behind each shoulder of the model I also added a medium softbox as fill at my feet. This gives a flatter, less moody look to the shots when you don’t want such intense shadows on the model’s face. It also adds light to the lower part of the body reducing the spotlight effect of a gridded beauty dish. The catchlights in the eyes also change, with reflections from both the beauty dish (donut shape) and softbox (rectangle shape).