Today is the 150th birthday of Big Ben.
Happy Birthday Big Ben!
I am aware that Big Ben is the bell rather than the building surrounding it, but you can look at the photos and imagine the bell nonetheless!
These pictures were taken a couple of years ago when Britain was having a terrible summer of almost constant rain. Just happened that the weekend I was in London was glorious weather. Hoorah!
Blue sky over London.
During May and June dragon boat races are held across Okinawa with fierce competition between local towns.
I would love to take photos from inside the boat during a race, but for now this shot is my favorite.
Dragon Boat Race, Okinawa
In today’s Ryukyu Shimpo (one of the newspapers in Okinawa) there was a short piece about my exhibition at Cotonoha.
Ryukyu Shimpo 29 May 2009
It’s a bit of a shame that it was published when my exhibition is only up for another couple of days, but better later than never.
I’m going to be hanging out at Cotonoha Saturday and Sunday afternoon, so if you are in the area drop by and say hello (or konichiwa).
The Turin Shroud: How da Vinci Fooled History
The Turin Shroud: How da Vinci Fooled History
Their process involved producing a simple camera obscura with a primitive lens to project an image onto a piece of white linen. The authors thought da Vinci even used a model of his own face as that of Jesus. The image was fixed to the linen by coating it with a mixture of chromium salts and an organic component such as gelatin, gum arabic or egg white. The mixture in areas hit by light became insoluble. Once the image had been projected onto the linen for many hours, the cloth was then heated. The fabric was scorched in the areas where the mixture had hardened. Areas of brightness in the original image now became dark producing the negative image you see on the shroud.
Another process done by Nicholas Allen was to coat the linen in silver nitrate or sulphate , project the image onto the linen then fix the image using ammonia.
The final chapter goes back to the rather less interesting debate over authenticity between the Shroudies and non-Shroudies.
If you found the Da Vinci Code or Angels & Demons fascinating then this book is well worth checking out. If you are interested in photography then chapter 8 is perhaps all you want to read.
It turns out that Britain had a series of secret bunkers for use in the event of a nuclear attack. (Just like in Terminator 3)
But how do you find your nearest top secret bunker….
Can you crack the code and find the secret bunker?
Photograph taken by my dad. I now suspect he is working for the KGB.
Pentax K-7 (image from British Journal of Photography)
Pentax has launched a new top of the range camera, the K-7. The photography press calls it a flagship model, but it is a title that will be short lived, as the Pentax 645 digital is due to be released next year.
It is an impressive camera, that will probably beat similar priced Nikon and Canon cameras in most respects. The K-7 is not however a full frame camera as some Pentaxians had hoped, but the Pentax 645 should fill the niche of Pentax photographers who want more than an APS sized sensor.
Pentax K-7 digital SLR camera
The K-7 also joins the ranks of digital SLRs that can record high definition video. Like other SLRs I believe you will have to manual focus while shooting video, but it should allow you to film with a shallow depth of field much like you see in movies, something that is difficult to do with regular consumer video cameras.
The price quoted in the British Journal of Photography was 1200 pounds. On the Yodobashi.com website the price is 129,000 yen (you can also get 10% store credit), which is about 863 pounds. The K-7 is also available for pre-order on Amazon.com
If you are looking for a high quality digital SLR and don’t already have an array of Canon or Nikon lenses, then the Penax K-7 looks likes a real contender.
I spotted something interesting while wandering around my local electronics store yesterday.
The local Best Denki has a huge section devoted to televisions and it is quite easy to compare the different brands and models on offer. I much prefer the look of plasma televisions over LCD, the best of the bunch being the fantastic but extremely expensive Pioneer Kuro models.
Panasonic also produces great plasma televisions. I was most impressed by the picture on the 42PZ800 model that came out last year.
Panasonic TH-42PZ800 (386 kWh/year)
A new version of this television just came out. And what was particularly interesting was that in just one year, Panasonic have managed to cut the energy consumption for this plasma TV by nearly half.
Panasonic TH-P42V1 (200 kWh/year)
I am not sure how they have done this, but if it is true, it is an impressive feat.
I’m still not going to buy one for now, the old CRT television is still working fine. But it’s good to know that electronics manufacturers along with car makers are trying to become a little greener.
3rd generation Toyota Prius
Toyota announced the arrival of the latest version of the Prius hybrid car on May 18th. You see quite a few of the new Honda Insight hybrids as rental cars on Okinawa at the moment. It will be interesting to see how the sales of the new Prius compare to the new Insight.
The Toyota Prius is a fantastic bit of technology, it’s just a little bit too big, and a little too ugly plain for me.
On a related note, I just read on the Guardian website:
“America’s gas-guzzling automobiles were heading towards extinction yesterday as Barack Obama set strict limits on car exhaust emissions and directed producers to make a more fuel-efficient vehicle fleet. The policy requires US auto makers to produce cars and trucks that achieve an average 35.5mpg by 2016, and will reduce America’s carbon dioxide emissions by 30%.”
After a bit of time with a calculator. I managed to work out 35.5mpg is 15km per liter. 15 kilometers a liter is what my little Suzuki Swift is meant to do.
The articles don’t make it clear as to whether all cars will have to have fuel efficiencies above 35.5mpg or if the motor companies only have to produce some cars in their range that meet this new standard. Hopefully it won’t be the latter.
If you are still wondering who Ray Harryhausen is, and why Pixar used his name for a restaurant in Tokyo…
He was the guy who pioneered stop-motion model animation in films.
He was the guy who created the skeleton fight scene in the 1963 movie Jason and the Argonauts
Enjoy.
What do you get if you cross the Pixar movie Cars
Six minutes and thirty five seconds of pure brilliance.
There are numerous clever cameos by Japanese cars: Mazda Miatas (brings a tear to my eye), the Toyota (Lexus) Crown, the Nissan Skyline ninjas.
It was very interesting to see that the restaurant the truck flies through was called Harryhausen (it was written in Japanese script). Nice nod to the film making genius Harryhausen who created one of the most fantastic movie scenes I’ve ever seen, but will leave that for my next blog.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 