Things have been so hectic the last month I forgot to post about the release of Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate #5 with Kiyomasa Maeda.
A fascinating interview which shows the real love and respect these masters have for their own teachers, and the humility with which they approach their art.
I did a double take the other day when checking out the reading materials at the local university. Spotted what looked like one of my photos on the cover of a National Geographic / Cengage Learning textbook about Mount Fuji.
Checked inside, and yes it was my photo, purchased through a stock agency back in 2008. Always nice to have my images on the cover of a book or magazine. Would have been even better if it had been the National Geographic magazine, but it gives me something to aim for in the future.
This image was shot back in the days of film with a Pentax 67 medium format camera. I’d travel around Japan with this wonderful beast of a camera, which is how this website got its name TRAVEL67.com
This photo was quite fittingly captured using Fuji film 🙂
Came across this fascinating digital painting that was based on one of the outtakes from the 2016 “fisherman” shoot with Michael Lynch for the Pentax K-1 exhibition.
UP! from hashem alshaer on Vimeo.
Michael was mugging for the camera and staring wildly at the sky. The digital painting version transforms the picture to a whole new level.
Here’s my finished photo of the wild seafaring Michael.
The fourth episode in the crowd-funded YouTube documentary series Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate is now online!
Please share, like, comment, and subscribe as these factors all influence the YouTube algorithm to get it shown to more people.
This is a real team effort. Thank you to those who helped make the episode including Gary Hughes, James East, and Yuki Willson. A huge thank you to Jerry Figgiani and Sadahiro Makino for setting up the interview, and of course to Takeshi Tamaki agreeing to be interviewed and sharing his thoughts.
I made the decision that I didn’t want this video series monetized by YouTube advertising so a huge thank you to the people and organizations who have donated to help keep this project going. Tomorrow I’ll start work on the edits for the next video which will hopefully be ready at the end of June.
Main Sponsors
Fusei Kise, Isao Kise and the OSMKKF-USA
Jerry Figgiani – Shorin Ryu Karate Do International
Series Sponsors
Cezar Borkowski – Northern Karate Schools
Marguerite “Peggy” Hess – Jensen Beach Uechi Ryu Karate Do Dojo
Reece Cummings – Cummings Karate Dojo
Michael Quinn – Okinawa Shogen-Ryu Karate-Do Europe
Series Supporters
Tim Herlihy
Robin Ross
Joshua Simmers – Okinawa Karate Podcast
Jeff Perkins – Okinawa Budo Kai
Paul Punshon
John J. Strangeway
Gerry Campbell
K V Manoharan – India Uechi Ryu Kenyukai
Phil Butler
Danny Smith – Boone Trail Isshinryu/Tokushinryu Kentucky
Justin Rathert
Thank you for having me as your photographer at the USO Okinawa 48th Annual Service Salute. The Service Salute celebrates those individuals who work as volunteers in their community from both the American and Japanese services.
Congratulations to all those who received awards.
Attendees can now download images from the event from Dropbox at the link below.
This service is provided by the USO Okinawa. Attendees can share the images and make prints of their favorite photos for free.
Now that the first three episodes of Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate have been published to YouTube I can happily say that the feedback I’m getting has been really positive, and its popularity on YouTube is growing with each video! The first video had 5000 views in its first month, the second video had 62,000 views in its first month, and the third video has had 86,000 views in its first two weeks!
I’m in the final stages of the edit of the fourth video with Sensei Takeshi Tamaki, and hope it will be released on May 22nd.
This endeavour is possible because of sponsorship and support by the international karate community. If you see the value of undertaking this project, please consider become a main series sponsor, series sponsor, or supporter. More details here.
Sponsors and supporters are listed in all subsequent episodes of the series. If you’d like to help, and get in touch before May 21st, I can add you to the credits for Episode 4 before the final file creation and upload.
Thank you again to all those who are helping create these videos it is a real team effort.
Lilies are flowering in Okinawa at the moment. The 24th Iejima Lily Festival took place from April 20 to May 6, but there are still plenty of lilies in bloom around where we live in Motobu. I went out with the camera to shoot some still images, and get some b-roll video for future projects.
May 5th was the final day of the 2019 Naha Dragon Boat Races. Weather was a bit hazy, but it was great to get some new pics for the blog, and some video footage of the event for future projects.
Pics shot with the Pentax 645Z and the 300 mm lens.
Congratulations to all the teams who took part.
Episode 3 of the documentary series Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate is now on YouTube! After a couple of months working on it, it is a great way to end the Heisei era!
A huge thank you to Koichi Nakasone for giving up his time to be interviewed and demonstrating his techniques. Thank you to James, Becka, Angelina, Yuki, Michael and Gary for help create the video. James literally got a little choked up in the making of this episode 🙂
Please share via social media to get the word out, and also thumbs up, comment and subscribe on YouTube so that it is recommended by the algorithm to more viewers.
This crowd-funded documentary series would not be possible without the help of the international karate community. Thank you all.
Main Sponsors:
Fusei Kise, Isao Kise and the OSMKKF-USA
Series Sponsors:
Cezar Borkowski – Northern Karate Schools
Marguerite “Peggy” Hess – Jensen Beach Uechi Ryu Karate Do Dojo
Reece Cummings – Cummings Karate Dojo
Michael Quinn – Okinawa Shogen-Ryu Karate-Do Europe
Jerry Figgiani – Shorin Ryu Karate Do International
Series Supporters:
Tim Herlihy, Robin Ross, Joshua Simmers – Okinawa Karate Podcast, Jeff Perkins – Okinawa Budo Kai, Paul Punshon, John J. Strangeway, Gerry Campbell, K V Manoharan – India Uechi Ryu Kenyukai, Phil Butler
We’re making progress with each episode, learning new techniques, using better equipment etc. but I see so many possibilities about how to keep improving. It’s an exciting challenge.
On Saturday we also photographed portraits of Fusei Kise’s son Isao Kise. He is now the main teacher at the dojo in Okinawa City. It is always interesting to photograph multiple generations of karateka.
All images shot with the Pentax 645Z. Black background images used a Profoto B1 monolight with a softlight reflector and the 90mm lens. The shots with the dojo in the background were taken with natural light and with a 55mm lens.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 