Kiyomi Yogi, 6th Dan Matayoshi Kobudo
Kiyomi Yogi, 6th dan Matayoshi Kobudo, and the first female sensei to be photographed as part of the Karate Masters Portrait Project.
Kiyomi Yogi, 6th Dan Matayoshi Kobudo
Kiyomi Yogi, 6th Dan Matayoshi Kobudo
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
If the kacchu-keiba (horse race) is analogous to the race into battle, then the shinki-sodatsusen is the battle itself. Here the riders test the skill, bravery and luck.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
The battle is made up of several skirmishes. Each skirmish begins with a couple of fireworks blasted up into the sky. Each fireworks carry a banner which, after the explosion at altitude, come wafting back to earth. Any samurai who catches a banner, receives fame, glory and probably a few bit of yen.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
On a technical note these images were shot with the 645Z and the smc FA 645 300mm F4 ED (IF) which is equivalent of a 240mm on a FF35mm camera. I used a monopod to give some extra stability and it gave excellent results. The speed of the autofocus was slow, but it the overall sharpness was great.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
Seisho Itokazu 9th Dan Matayoshi Kobudo
Hanshi Seisho Itokazu, 9th Dan Matayoshi Kobudo. Photographed at the Budokan in Naha on July 18th, 2014.
Seisho Itokazu 9th Dan Matayoshi Kobudo
Seisho Itokazu 9th Dan Matayoshi Kobudo
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
Carrying the flags of their houses, the riders race around the circuit.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
It’s always an interesting challenge trying to convey motion in a still image. I used a slow shutter speed and panned the camera with the subject. Get it right and you should get a blurry background while the subject remains relatively sharp.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
One rider was a young girl who galloped around the course with the men. I didn’t manage to get her name, but it was an impressive feat of horsemanship, irrespective of age or gender.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
The winners collected a piece of paper from the trackside umpires and then galloped up a zig-zag path through the crowd to top of the embankment where they collect their prizes.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
Masanobu Sakugawa 9th Dan, Shorinji-ryu
A couple of photographs showing the difference that changing the position of the light makes. Above from front right, below from front left. The great thing about having a voice activated light stand (James) is that we can quickly move the light from one side to the other, and get greater variety in shots.
Masanobu Sakugawa 9th Dan, Shorinji-ryu
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
On day two of the Soma Nomaoi festival, the riders parade back to the Higarigahara-Saijochi horse racing ground from their respective hometowns.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
Once at the ground everyone starts to get organized. Samurai on giant horses shouted instructions.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
Others put the final touches to their armor.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
There were plenty of aging samurai preparing for battle. Some took a quick break from the heat for refreshments.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
This shot sums up how I, or probably any foot soldier, feels when standing next to cavalry. You’re small, vulnerable, and fully aware why a horse is far more useful than any kingdom.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
Following the samurai are those offering spiritual protection. Ladies performed a traditional sacred dance, and mikoshi (portable shrines) were carried into the arena.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
Armor on, flags unfurled, prayers offered, time to ride.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival, Fukushima, Japan
And yes in the above epic samurai shot, the horse is sticking its tongue out to the camera 🙂
Masaaki Ikemiyagi, Hanshi 9th dan, Goju-ryu Okinawa Meibukan
Masaaki Ikemiyagi, Hanshi 9th dan, Goju-ryu Okinawa Meibukan photographed at Naha’s Budokan on July 16th 2014.
Masaaki Ikemiyagi, Hanshi 9th dan, Goju-ryu Okinawa Meibukan
Masaaki Ikemiyagi, Hanshi 9th dan, Goju-ryu Okinawa Meibukan
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival
It’s a long hot trek from the three outer shrines to the Hibarigahara-Saijochi, but some made the ride in style, and in the shade.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival
Once at the track, the riders and horses had a rest before mounting up for the afternoon’s races.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival
The horses are fast, but the equipment is pretty rudimentary. There are no modern helmets for head protection, so you have got to be a great rider or know how to tuck and roll.
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival
Soma Nomaoi Samurai Horseman Festival
Takashi Okuma, Hanshi 9th Dan Okinawa Goju-ryu Karatedo Kushinkan
Takashi Okuma, Hanshi 9th Dan Okinawa Goju-ryu Karatedo Kushinkan photographed at Naha’s Budokan on July 16th, 2014.
Takashi Okuma, Hanshi 9th Dan Okinawa Goju-ryu Karatedo Kushinkan
Takashi Okuma, Hanshi 9th Dan Okinawa Goju-ryu Karatedo Kushinkan
The new Pentax 645Z sensor is 51.4 megapixels. Great for image quality and an amazing amount of detail, but this can lead to a few issues.
A 64GB memory card can hold only 566 images. (Compared to 712 images on the 40MP 645D or 1198 on the Pentax K3)
Larger files mean that it’s slower to download the data from the SD card, and slower to import into Lightroom, and slower to create 1:1 previews, and slower to edit in Photoshop.
With the 645D, I’d got used to setting things running on my old Mac Pro 1.1 and then taking the dog for the walk or making a cup of tea. Recently, however, when shooting more frames, and at higher resolutions the speed of my workflow was no longer efficient.
I wanted a Mac with 32GB RAM, and a PCIe SSD with about 500GB of memory. The easy option would be to look at the new Mac Pros, but a model with the specs I wanted would be around 5,000 dollars. Instead, for around half the price, I got a hot-rodded 2009 Mac Pro from OWC that should have similar performance. I also spent another hundred and fifty bucks on another PCIe card so I have some USB3.0 ports for a USB3.0 SD card reader. It doesn’t have thunderbolt ports, and I can’t use 4k monitors, but this isn’t an issue for me.
Make that a double
Of course, the new Mac Pro is compact and elegant in it’s piano black case, but I still like the industrial look of the giant aluminum cheese graters. What’s more, a decade from now, all I’ll need is a rectangular piece of glass and I can make an awesomely nerdy coffee table.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 