TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography

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Low light test – Pentax 645D

Published by travel67

I’d received several requests to see images taken with the Pentax 645D in low light conditions. (You can check out my Traveling Photographer article about shooting in low light here)

On my latest trip to Osaka I hoped to get a night shot of the Umeda Sky Tower. I chose the hotel and then the room (on one of the upper floors facing North) so that I had a chance at a good shot. As with other best laid plans (and I’m sure many mice will agree with me) things didn’t quite work out. Although I had a good view of the building the angle meant that I couldn’t look through the gap between the two vertical towers.

I still took the shot as I realized that this was exactly the kind of long exposure night shot that some photographers had been interested in seeing.

So here’s the photo. Taken on a tripod at ISO 200 f11 30 seconds with the 105mm lens from the Pentax 67 camera.

Umeda Sky Building / Long exposure test with Pentax 645D

I have also put the full size JPEG of this image on Flickr for people to check out. You can see it here.

Pentax 645D on sale in Europe in December

Published by travel67

The British Journal of Photography has reported that the Pentax 645D will go on sale in Europe in December. The list price in the UK is stated to be £9,000 for the body or £10,000 with the new 55mm lens.

I am really pleased that Pentax has decided to release the camera to a wider market. I’ve been really impressed with the 645D, and I am sure there are many people in Europe who are eagerly awaiting its arrival. A larger number of users will hopefully mean that Pentax will continue to develop the system with more lenses. It will also be nice to have an English manual available!

For those outside of Europe and Japan, the wait continues. I know this will frustrate many but I am sure that this photographic Godzilla will one day reach your shores.

Studio Shoot – Dani in Wool

Published by travel67

Dani in Wool (1) Pentax 645D

This is from a shoot I did with Dani a couple of days ago. Heading up to Osaka for a few days tomorrow, but will put up more images from the shoot on Flickr and on the blog when I get back.

Model: Daniela Pagan
Make-up: Kim Clay

Pentax 645D
Pentax 67 105mm Lens
Pentax 67 to 645 adapter

Lighting: Profoto ComPact with gridded beauty dish above my right shoulder as the main light. A second Profoto ComPact with barn doors was behind the model and aimed at her hair. Strobes triggered with PocketWizard Plus II’s.

Dani in Wool (2)

Kayaking in Okinawa (on film)

Published by travel67

Okinawa Kayaking (Pentax 67II with 35mm)

Finally picked up and scanned the film from the afternoon kayaking with Heiko. Just goes to show that with film although it may take some time, you’ll get the results eventually.

Eisa Portraits

Published by travel67

Just a couple of extra images from the eisa festival.

Okinawa Eisa Dancer

Okinawa Eisa Dancer / Drummer

Okinawa Eisa

Published by travel67

There was an eisa festival in Okinawa City this weekend. I stopped by to get a few photos of the event. Most of the participants are dancers or drummers, but there are also chondara which are like clowns that help hype up the crowds, keep the drummers in line, and consume large amounts of awamori.

Okinawa Eisa - Young Chondara Clown

Okinawa Eisa Dancers / Drummers

Okinawa Eisa Festival - Chondara Clown

Suzuki on the beach.

Published by travel67

I’d been planning to take this shot for about a year, but kept on being distracted by other things. Drove car on to a deserted Okinawan beach in the middle of the day. Took some photos, drove home.

Sunbathing Suzuki (645D with Pentax-FA 645 35mm)

I shot this with a wide angle Pentax-FA 645 35mm. The lens is exceptionally sharp and is thought by some as the best medium format lens available. I’ll be shooting a lot more with this lens over the following month. Glad to have it in my camera bag as I was really missing a wide angle on my last trip.

Surfer-Boy / Skater-Boy

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Matt the father of Alec, is a keen surfer and skater so he brought along a few props to the newborn shoot with Anya Schmidt.

Before worried readers point out potential dangers, we were still in the same warm room next to the parents, and the wood with peeling paint is a surprisingly realistic bit of fake flooring. The result was some fun, and unique newborn baby images.

Surfer-Boy Alec

Skater-Boy Alec

Thanks again to Alec, his parents, and Anya for letting me be a part of their day.

Newborn photo shoot.

Published by travel67

Next month my sister is having a baby. Wonderful news for everyone, and I hope to make it over to the UK sometime this winter to see my new nephew / niece. I’ll bring my camera along, but to be honest I haven’t photographed many babies. I mentioned this to some of the other photographers on Okinawa, and Anya Schmidt invited me to assist on her latest newborn shoot.

The first thing I learned is that newborn shoots are done when the baby is very young. We were photographing Alec at 14 days, and I was told this was quite old!

The second thing I learned is that the baby controls the shoot. As most newborn images are created while the baby is asleep, you have to wait patiently in a very warm room until the baby sleeps. A newborn photographer is a bit like a horse whisperer trying to relax the baby and parents, before trying to get the shots.

The third thing I learned is that if you are photographing naked babies, your equipment faces an unusual set of hazards. Little Alec tried his hardest to pee on Anya’s Canon 5D Mark II and 85mm f/1.2 lens, but settled on just dousing everything else.

Here are a few shots from the day.

Newborn photo shoot: Baby Alec

A huge thanks to Anya for allowing me to watch her work, and of course to Alec and his parents for allowing me to attend their portrait session.

You can see more of Anya’s work on her website .

Annie Leibovitz, Sean Connery, Louis Vuitton

Published by travel67

I saw the following clip on You Tube showing a little behind the scenes action of Annie Leibovitz working on an advertising campaign for Louis Vuitton.

It’s very short, but still interesting to see the gear she is using: umbrella with diffuser for light, PocketWizard trigger, fan, speed boat in the background, movie icon (and movie icon’s private beach).

And here’s the shot used in magazines.