TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography

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On the bookshelf – Okinawa Karate Timeline & 100 Masters

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Okinawa Karate Timeline & 100 Masters by Hokama Tetsuhiro

Hokama-sensei, one of the karate masters I shot a few months ago asked if he could use some of the portraits of him in the latest printing of his book on karate. The book is actually two books combined, the first part is a history of Okinawa karate, the second part is biographies of 100 karate masters. It has been translated into English and is available for 3,000 yen at either the Okinawa Prefecture Karate Museum in Nishihara or at the Dojo Bar in Naha.

Unfortunately Hokama sensei wasn’t aware that the karate portraits I’d posted on the web, were not the full resolution images. This means that my photos in the book are a little pixelated and watermarked, but we’ll sort out things for the next print run.

Hokama-sensei, however, was delighted with how it came out, and I now have my own signed copy for the bookshelf. Osu.

On the Bookshelf – Portraits

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I love shooting portraits. In the studio or on location. Friends or strangers. In exotic lands or in the backyard. I like the fact that each portrait is unique, and if you can get eye contact, you’re staring into a person’s soul, capturing for eternity a brief moment of connection.

When it comes to photography books, once again the eyes have it. I thought I’d show some recent additions to my bookshelf that are focused on portraits. It’s probably not a coincidence that the cover of each book has the subject staring directly into the camera.

In Focus National Geographic Greatest Portraits

In Focus: National Geographic Greatest Portraits and Portraits are filled with immersive images taken all over the world. The National Geographic book spans more than a century with shots by a wide range of staff photographers. Portraits is solely by Steve McCurry (whose work also features in the Nat Geo book). The blurb about McCurry’s book sums up things nicely:

Compelling, unforgettable and moving, McCurry’s images are unique street portraits: unstylized and unposed snapshots of people that reveal the universality of human emotion.

Although some of the earlier pictures in National Geographic were staged, the majority of images in both books are shots of unposed strangers captured with natural light. The photographs allow us to step into the lives of others. Into the living room of an Irish family, into the Siberian hospital, or onto the flooded streets of Java.

Portraits by Steve McCurry

In contrast, there are the books of Portraits by Testino and Rankin. Both are filled with A-listers that spend their lives in front of the camera. In Mario Testino: Portraits he pays particular attention to his muses Diana, Madonna, Paltrow and Moss.

Mario Testino Portraits

Portraits by Rankin is likewise filled with actors, models, musicians and royalty. If you cringe at our celebrity obsessed culture, these aren’t the books for you. Photographers, however, can still enjoy, or at the very least study, the way they control light and try to show the personality of the subject through the image.

Portaits by Rankin – A Stark Choice?

What I hadn’t checked when selecting these books on Amazon is their size. The National Geographic book actually comes in two versions small
(6 inches wide) and medium (10 inches wide). I purchased the smaller one and found the visual impact of both it and the McCurry book to be hamstrung by their limited dimensions. Images in both books were smaller than a full page in a National Geographic magazine. They are both great value for money, but McCurry’s images looked so much better when printed large in another of his books South Southeast. Rankin’s book at 10 x 13 inches and Testino’s book at 11 x 15 inches are able to impress the reader with the sheer scale of the images. Of course content is king, but sometimes bigger really is better.

Portraits Big and Small

Photography Fundamentals Workshop

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Fundamentals Workshop – December 2012

Just spent a great weekend with Lian and Kevin teaching December’s Photography Fundamentals Workshop. On Saturday we covered theory, discussing equipment, exposure, composition and workflow. On Sunday we took what we’d learned out into the field and practiced photographing people at Ryukyu Mura and then landscapes at Cape Zanpa.

Lian and Kevin composing their shots.

Coming Workshops

Off Camera Flash Workshop

Move your flash away from your camera to create more natural images or to give your photographs a drop of magical light.

January 19 & 20 2013 1PM to 6PM
Class Size: Max 12 Location: Ishikawa, Uruma City, Okinawa
Instructors: Chris Willson & Pete Leong

Price US$150

Photography Fundamentals Workshop

Move beyond the auto modes by understanding your equipment, controlling exposure & depth of field, and composing images.

February 2 & 3 2013 10AM to 6PM
Class Size: Max 4 Location: Ishikawa, Uruma City, Okinawa
Instructor: Chris Willson

Price US$250

Visiting Fushimi Inari Taisha

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I’ve been to Fushimi Inari Taisha in south east Kyoto several times. I took one of my most popular images there, a simple geometric photograph of the orange torii gates winding up the mountain.

Fushimi Inari Shrine (Pentax 67II Film Camera)

On my recent trip I wanted to get some new images, this time showing a Japanese person visiting the shrine. Of course I could just photograph tourists milling around, but I decided to be a little more proactive. I met up with model Mari and photographer Keith at Kyoto Station, and we took the local train to Fushimi Inari.

Visiting Fushimi Inari Shrine

It was fortunate I wasn’t even attempting a shot similar to the one I’d taken before because the shrine was packed with people. Luckily we could find gaps in the crowds to get some decent images. The image stabilization function on the new 90mm lens added an extra bit of stability which was useful, and the wide aperture gave a nice limited depth of field in the portraits.

Visiting Fushimi Inari Shrine

Fushimi Inari shrine is dedicated to a fox god so there are numerous fox statues, fox shaped ema (prayer tablets), and of course souvenirs. The ema were particularly interesting as visitors were able to sketch features on the fox heads. Clearly some foxes had been drawn by anime fans.

Visiting Fushimi Inari Shrine

Hopefully picture editors will like the images next time they’re looking for shots of the shrine. A big thanks to Mari and Keith for a great morning.

Visiting Fushimi Inari Shrine

Eriha the Maiko

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Eriha the Maiko

Eriha is a 17 year old maiko in the Gion district of Kyoto. Only her lower lip is painted red which shows this is in her first year in the profession. I was told that it normally takes three years as a maiko, before the girl become a geiko (geisha). As a young maiko her pinkish kimono and her hair ornaments were youthful and cute, but these will change to more formal designs as she gets older.

Eriha the Maiko

I had always presumed that “real” maiko and geisha didn’t use wigs, and that these were for the “tourist” maiko and geisha. It turns out I was half right. Maiko always use their own hair to create the ornate hairstyles. This means they still have to use special wooden pillows when they sleep. Most geisha, once they have graduated from maiko status, use wigs, and presumably are able to get a much better night’s sleep.

Eriha the Maiko

Kyoto in the Fall

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Kyoto in the Fall

A few shots from last weekends trip to Kyoto to photograph the fall leaves with the new Pentax 90mm macro lens. Although fall viewing was coming to an end, there were still many trees covered in bright red and orange leaves. Quite an amazing sight.

Kyoto in the Fall

Kyoto in the Fall – Ryoan-ji

Kyoto in the Fall

Kyoto in the Fall – Kiyomizu-dera

Lyon Wedding – The Big Day

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Walking up to the shrine

Thanks Michael and Kana for having me along for the weekend. It was a fun experience photographing your special day.

Lyon Pride

Shinto Shrine Wedding

It’s official

Mr and Mrs Lyon

The Bride

Lyon Wedding – Final Preparations

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Legends of the Fall

A couple of weekends ago I flew up to Kagoshima to photograph the wedding of two friends Michael and Kana. On the Saturday they went for fittings of the kimono, and visited the shrine where they’d get married the next day.

Drinks before a kimono fitting.

At the Kirishima Shrine writing a prayer tablet

Hanging the prayer tablet so their wishes will come true.

Buying Omikuji to check their fortune

Which is “Very Good” so things bode well.

And finally tying the omikuji to the ropes at the shrine.

Quite Interesting

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Hadaka Matsuri on QI

I was watching the latest episode of the British quiz show QI yesterday and spotted one of my images being used to illustrate the Hadaka Matsuri in Okayama.

Hadaka Matsuri on QI

A little surprised that the researchers managed to get the details of the festival so confused. There is no mud involved in the Okayama Hadaka Matsuri (but this does occur at a different “Naked” festival) The winner doesn’t get two sticks but the sticks are thrown into the throng of men by the priests and fought over. The sticks are now thrown at 10PM rather than midnight. And finally, the men are wearing fundoshi loincloths so they are not actually naked.

At the moment you can watch the episode on You Tube, my pic is at about 33 minutes.