The rock garden at Ryoan-ji is one of the finest examples of a hire-niwa. 15 rocks are positioned in a large flat area of small stones without hills or ponds. I wanted an image that tried to show it as a place of quiet reflection, which is a little tricky at most times of day. However, if you’re the first person to arrive you may get a few moments of tranquility.
Pentax 645Z with 25mm (top image) and 55mm (bottom image).
I’ve visited Kyoto’s famous Golden Pavilion several times over the last 15 years. Usually it’s been overcast, but on my latest visit there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. This was the perfect opportunity to get a wide establishing shot with plenty of room for text (thinking about the needs of clients).
Shot with the Pentax 645Z and the 25mm lens held high above my head to get the correct angle. A shutter speed of 1/800 second and several bursts allowed me a sharp image without a tripod.
It’s raining, but you’ve still got to go to work. So you grab your umbrella and book a cab for yourself and a couple of workmates.
The taxi arrives. The driver helps to keep your clothes dry as you get in the vehicle. Cherry blossom covers the trees.
Ready to go, the evening awaits.
It’s been a while since I updated the blog. Many busy weeks, the last couple of which were spent in Kyoto prepping for, then teaching the 2017 Kyoto Workshop.
Before the students arrived I spent about a week revisiting various locations thinking about possible images we could shoot, but also general planning including access, the amount of walking involved, the time required, bathrooms, and restaurants.
Fushimi Inari Shrine with its tunnels of orange torii gates is one of Kyoto’s most famous locations. In 2004, I shot this post’s featured image with the Pentax 67 medium format film camera.
At Inari shrines, foxes are revered as messengers. Fox statues and symbols can be found at the shrine and beside the various mountain trails.
The orange torii gates are donated by individuals or business to the shrines. There are signs at various points on the route giving pricing for different sizes of gates.
While scouting the trail, I came across Takeda-san who was finishing the painting of a new torii gate.
I spent a few minutes chatting to him, and watching him work. Always a pleasure to see what is happening behind the scenes.
The main thing I learned from this day of scouting was that the number of tourists visiting Fushimi Inari is growing year by year. If you want images of the shrine without the crowds, you are going to have to visit early.
Good luck with all your future adventures. I’m sure Okinawa will always hold a special place in your hearts.
More information about family sessions in Motobu, Okinawa can be found here.
A few pics from today’s 100 Kobudo Kata Challenge at the new Karate Kaikan in Tomigusku, Okinawa.
The event was organized by James Pankiewicz of the Dojo Bar in Naha. The welcoming message was given by Toshimitsu Arakaki, 10th dan Matsubayashi-ryu karate.
Participants spent 2 to 3 hours performing a hundred kata with various weapons including bo staff and sai.
Congratulations to all that took part, it was great to see people actively helping keep Okinawan traditions alive.
I also got to take a few new “Beyond the Dojo” pics of Arakaki sensei outside of the new Karate Kaikan building. Arakaki-sensei demonstrates a technique with two sai, while also reminding me that “Iron Fist” isn’t just something from comic books. 
Gear: Pentax 645Z with 25mm lens. Profoto B1 with softlight reflector white.
A couple more pics from the shoot with Brylee last weekend. I’m really enjoying trying to balance natural light with flash, varying how “lit” the images appear. For these outdoor shots I wanted to keep things looking a little more natural than usual.
Images shot with the Pentax 645Z and 90mm lens around f2.8 with the Profoto B1 and OCF beauty dish white.
After the shoot when I explained about setting up a Dropbox folder to share the completed images, Brylee asked if I could resend the images from her previous shoot. I last photographed Brylee in December 2013. A couple of the images from the shoot are below.
At some point Brylee’s computer had suffered a hard drive failure causing her to lose all her data. I can resend all her images from our shoot, but there will be so many family pics she can’t get back. At least she now has multiple backups so it never happens again.
Once again to all my family and friends, back up your data. If you use Time Machine on a Mac all you need is an external hard drive. Or set up a cloud service like Dropbox to save some or all of your data. Or even better do both.
Cool, cloudy and rainy in Okinawa at the moment. Feels like a British summer.
I hadn’t photographed Brylee for several years so it was great to meet up for some new pics. One of Brylee’s favorite TV shows is Outlander, and with the help of some drizzle, a few tartan shawls, and a green background we took a few new pics for her portfolio.
Photographed with the Pentax 645Z and 90mm lens. Shot at ISO 200 f2.8 giving the very shallow depth of field. Lighting with the Profoto B1 with OCF beauty dish white at very low power to balance with the ambient light.
The shawls are all traditional Scottish tartans: Hunting Stewart (top), Royal Stewart (middle) and Black Watch (bottom).
A huge thanks to MUA – Audra Pesicka and Assistant – Keith Robbins
A fun day at the medieval studio workshop. Charles brought his armor with surcoats of the Knights Hospitaller, a crusader and his family crest. Charles competes in the “Armored Combat League” where you wear historically accurate armor, and then fight with blunted weapons.
Images were shot using variations of natural light, a single Profoto B1 strobe outdoors, and multiple studio strobes indoors. I used the Pentax 645Z with either the 90mm or 55mm lens.
Charles also brought another one of his military uniforms, this one from a galaxy far far away.
Huge thanks to Charles for bringing all his gear, I learned a huge amount about medieval and scout trooper armor! Good luck in your next armored combat league battle.
Mr. Benn was one of my favorite TV shows when I was young. The very normal Mr. Benn enters a shop, puts on a costume, and goes on a magical adventure.
In the previous blog post you met Dan the Alaskan fisherman. However, Dan has on more than just one adventure.
Please let me introduce Dan the lumberjack, Dan the highlander, Dan the biker, Dan the convict, and Dan the mountaineer.
Images were shot with the Pentax 645Z with either the 90mm macro or the 55mm lens. Lighting was a Profoto B2 with an OCF beauty dish white.
Images were shot over a couple of hours around sunset. The lighting setup remained the same, I just slowly dialed down the power on the strobe as the sky darkened.
Huge amount of fun. As a kid I always imagined what it would be like to be Mr Benn. It turns out that I’m actually the shopkeeper of the special costume shop.
Thanks again to Dan, and once again a warning to visitors. If you pop in for coffee, there’s a reasonable chance you’ll find yourself going on your own adventure. 🙂
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 