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Shibuya Shoot

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Last week I flew up to Tokyo for a meeting at the Pentax Forum, and to photograph the Hachimangu Shrine festival in Kamakura. (Still scanning the images of the festival will put them up in a later blog.)

While I was in the capital, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get some youth fashion images. I love to photograph the ornate traditional costumes worn at festivals, but for Tokyo I wanted something a little more up to date.

After spending a morning in Shibuya stopping fashionably dressed strangers and asking to take their photograph, I switched tack and met up with Tokyo based model AJ.  The whole shoot with AJ lasted less than 30 minutes. Used natural light and a single silver reflector and came away with a few images I’m really pleased with.

Shibuya Photo Shoot with AJ

Shibuya Photo Shoot with AJ

Shibuya Shoot with AJ

Shibuya Photo Shoot with AJ

Pu’s 14th Birthday!

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Today is Pu’s 14th birthday. I just checked an online chart and it says Pu is around 88 in human years.

Dog Years to Human Years Conversion Graph (www.calculatorcat.com)

Dog Years to Human Years Conversion Graph (www.calculatorcat.com)

Seiko made Pu a cake (sliced bread) with a topping of mixed vegetables. Once the candles were removed, it was wolfed down in a matter of seconds.

Happy Birthday Pu!

Pu's 14th Birthday

Pu's 14th Birthday

Surfing Shoot

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I’ve been working on a few images based on outdoor sports in Okinawa.

Surfing is a popular sport in Okinawa, but nearly all  the images I’ve seen are long telephoto shots from the beach.

I thought I would try a different approach, and with the help of a friend to assist (thanks Simon) a local model (thanks MC Seiko) and some nice evening sunshine I got this shot.

Okinawa Surfing

Okinawa Surfing

And here’s a more traditional shot from the beach.

Okinawa Surfing

Okinawa Surfing

Ryukyu Underground – Umaku Kamade music video

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In an earlier blog post I mentioned that parts of my dying Eunos Roadster were transplanted to another Roadster owned by Ryukyu Underground’s Keith Gordon.

Ryukyu Underground recently released a new album Umui. They even have a music video for the track Umaku Kamade.

I only seem to be able to find their first album Ryukyu Underground on the US Amazon site, however, Amazon Japan have a much better selection.

Takashi Murakami directs Kanye West’s “Good Morning” video

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I talked about the relationship between Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and Amercian rapper Kanye West in a couple of earlier blogs here and here.

What I hadn’t realized was that Takashi Murakami directed the music video for Kanye West’s song “Good Morning”. For some reason I don’t think I ever saw the video on MTV Japan.

Fun facts : The DeLorean car  was manufactured in Northern Ireland and the body panels were stainless steel so they wouldn’t rust.

Ukai – Cormorant Fishing

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In a similar way to Okinawan Bull Wrestling, fishing with cormorants is something that I have mixed feelings about. Is it a happy symbiotic relationship between man and bird , or simply exploitation?

Taking photos was tricky, not using a flash meant that I had to use Provia 400 for the dusk shots of the fishermen and then Provia 400 pushed to 1600 once it was dark. As I had expected most of the shots were junk (slow shutter speeds and difficult to focus), but there were a few images that worked well and captured the overall feel of my night on the river.

Ukai fishermen attach a harness to the cormorant

Ukai fishermen attach a harness to the cormorant

Lantern on ukai boat

Lantern on ukai boat

Ukai fisherman, Arashiyama, Kyoto

Ukai fisherman, Arashiyama, Kyoto

Ukai fishing, Arashiyama, Kyoto

Ukai fishing, Arashiyama, Kyoto

Lowepro DryZone 200 Backpack

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When traveling all my camera gear goes in a Lowepro DryZone 200 backpack. (Tripod carried separately)

It’s a great bag. I usually have the Pentax 67II  body with a lens attached plus two to four extra lenses,  a Lee filter set, film, lens hoods, sunglasses and torch in the main compartment. In the outer compartment I have cleaning tissues, digital camera, audio recorder, batteries, business cards, tickets, AC cable for Ipod and sometimes a reflector.

The big advantage of the DryZone bags is that they have an extra zippered waterproof layer protecting the inner compartment. In theory you could drop your bag in a river and (as long as it’s zipped up) the inner compartment will remain dry (the outer compartment will be flooded).  For me it’s more about heavy rain. If you are outdoors away from shelter and it starts to rain really hard  that added protection against the elements is extremely useful.

Lowepro DryZone 200 (image from Lowepro.com)

Lowepro DryZone 200 (image from Lowepro.com)

My bag served me well for 7 years, but on the last trip the glue holding the zipper to the waterproof outer shell degraded and came apart, so that the bag could no longer be made waterproof.

I contacted Lowepro and explained the problem asking if it could be repaired. After a few emails assessing the problem they asked that I send the bag to the distributors in Japan. I was contacted a few days later saying that the zipper could not be repaired without compromising waterproofness and so they sent me a brand new  bag free of charge.

In conclusion we have a company that actually lives up to the blurb on their website. Lowepro: great products and great customer service.

Arashiyama, Kyoto

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Arashiyama is a district of western Kyoto, that I had never been to before. There is a  bamboo grove, several temples including Tenryuji and in the summer is the location of Ukai – cormorant fishing.

Here’s a couple of shots of bamboo…

Bamboo, Arashiyama, Kyoto

Bamboo, Arashiyama, Kyoto

Arashiyama bamboo grove, Kyoto

Arashiyama bamboo grove, Kyoto

Ryoanji Temple, Kyoto

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Ryoanji is a Zen temple in northwest Kyoto famous for its dry landscape rock garden. The last time I  visited and took photos was nearly nine years ago. This meant the old images I had of Ryoanji were all shot on 35mm film, and simply not of high enough quality. On this trip, it felt like a good time to return to the temple and see what the big old Pentax could do.

One interesting point for photographers is that at Ryoanji you are not allowed to use tripods, and just to make sure, staff ask you to leave your tripods with them at the entrance.  I found however that by placing the camera on the raised wooden flooring I was still able to frame the image and use a slow enough shutter speed for it to be in focus front to back.

Ryoanji Zen temple, Kyoto - dry landscape rock garden

Ryoanji Zen temple, Kyoto - dry landscape rock garden