All posts filed under: Assignments

Commissioned travel articles and photo shoots

The Best of Kyoto

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For more than a thousand years, Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan.　Tokyo may now be the center of business and government, but Kyoto remains as Japan’s spiritual and historic heart. Kyoto is a busy vibrant city with a population of over 1.4 million people. Like any other Japanese metropolis it has an eclectic mix of old and new, with ancient shrines dwarfed by skyscrapers and department stores. Kyoto, however, has managed to retain far more of its past than other, more modernized, Japanese cities. It was spared the ravages of aerial bombardment during World War II, and has survived-relatively unscathed-the tsunami of concrete and architectural monstrosities that followed the war. Hidden amongst the contemporary buildings are secret gardens, shrines and temples. Along the narrow alleyways of Gion, visitors can sip jasmine tea and wait for a fleeting look at Asia’s most iconic figure, the geisha. It would be impossible to see all that Kyoto has to offer in a single year, let alone a few days. There is not just one temple, but hundreds …

Snow Monkey Magic

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Bathing naked in a hot spring is a common, if not daily, event for many Japanese. The warm mineral waters soothe aching muscles and relax tired minds. In a country renowned for its almost fanatical work ethic, traditional onsen pools provide a moment of much needed relief. The Japanese people, however, aren’t the only ones enjoying the thermal waters. When snow begins to fall, a new group of bathers comes down from the mountains, and soaks in the steam enshrouded pools. Lounging around, they scratch and watch the world go by, unconcerned by the presence of video cameras and photographers. They are the ultimate hot spring aficionados — Japanese snow monkeys. In a remote part of the Japanese Alps, near Shiga Koen Volcano, there is a quiet steep-sided valley called Jigokudani. A rough translation of the name would be Hell Valley, and every winter hell freezes over. A thick coating of snow and ice covers the valley sides, but plumes of steam continue to rise from the river below. There is also the faint, but …

Words of Warning and Wisdom – Interview with Dr. Andrew Weil

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Dr. Andrew Weil is the director of the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona. He’s been on the cover of Time magazine, written several best selling books and was recently described as one of the twenty most influential people in America. During his visit to Okinawa I talked to him briefly about his thoughts and views on healthy living and the longevity of Okinawans. What do you think are the major problems with the western diet? “Too much meat and animal products in general. Too few vegetables and too few fruits, the wrong kind of fats especially too much refined vegetable oil, margarine and artificially hardened fats, and too few of the Omega-3 fats from fish. Also too much refined carbohydrates, highly processed wheat flour and in general too much processed food, not enough fresh natural food, I’d say they were the main problems.” What can we learn from the Okinawan diet? “Many more vegetables and a greater variety of vegetables, more legumes especially soy and other special Okinawan foods, goya and …

The Okinawan Elixir

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  The secrets of longevity are found not in Shangri-la, but in the homes and hearts of the people of Okinawa. Large numbers of people on Okinawa remain strong and active well into their eighties, nineties and even as centenarians. They have amazingly low occurrences of cancer, heart disease, and strokes. And, on Okinawa the proportion of life that is spent with chronic disease is also much less than the average American. This means that Okinawans, in addition to having a longer lifespan, have more healthy years free from medical problems during which they can live a full and active life. Everyday Keiko gets up at 5 a.m. and prepares breakfast for her family. She spends most of the morning in a small field near their home tending the vegetables and fruit trees. Later, she will prepare the evening meal, and then spend the remainder of the day chatting with her friends. The fact that Keiko is over ninety years old is impressive, but there are exceptionally old people all over the world. What is …

Total Immersion – Action Asia Magazine September/October 2014

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The September/October issue of Action Asia magazine is now on sale (print and iPad) and has a four-page feature on scuba diving in Okinawa. It’s always good to see your writing and pics in print, especially when it will help boost tourism to Okinawa. I have several more features for other magazines coming out over the next few months, but until they’ve been published I can’t say when, where, or the subject. Stay tuned 🙂

Porcelain Master – Hitachi Tsuji 常陸 辻. Arita, Japan

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Tombai walls were built with bricks from dismantled kilns. Behind one such wall in Arita is the home of Hitachi Tsuji. Tsuji-san is a 15th generation ceramic master, and creates porcelain that graces the tables of the Japanese imperial family. Blue and white porcelain is made by applying an blue underglaze of cobalt to white porcelain and then a clear glaze. Prices range from several million to a few thousand yen. There are times when I wish I could take my dog with me when I’m on assignment. This was not one of them.  The wagging tail of a labrador, would probably do more damage than a proverbial bull.

F.A.Q.s – Lighting Setups

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I’ve had several people asking if I can explain how I took the latest set of studio portraits. Here is the answer with the help of  the Lighting Setup generator by Kevin Kertz. The mainlight, a 150cm gridded octobox, was powered by a Profoto Pro-7a 1200W generator. The two hair lights, 30x120cm gridded softboxes, were powered by Profoto ComPact monolights. The generator was triggered with a PocketWizard which then triggered the two hair lights via their optical slaves. I used the Pentax 645D with a Pentax 67 105mm lens and a 67 to 645 adapter.

Suzanne Somersall Jewelry – Studio

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Continuing on from the location shoot with the E-type Jaguar, we moved into the studio. We worked our way through the various pieces in Suzanne’s LUXE collection so that she will have a wide range of images to work with when producing catalogs, websites or posters. The large files produced by the 645D camera mean that the client (Suzanne) will have more options with how the images can be used and the detail in the pieces was fantastic. A big thanks to Amanda for modeling, and Ursula (Ursula Styles) for hair and makeup. Check out more of Suzanne’s jewelry at Kirakirajewelry.com

Suzanne Somersall Jewelry Shoot – On Location

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Here’s a sneak peek at the location part of a shoot for jewelry designer Suzanne Somersall. http://www.kirakirajewelry.com I wanted to start with an establishing shot that focused not on the jewelry but more the lifestyle or principles behind it, these include quality, timelessness and beauty. I just needed an elegant model, a classic black dress, and a car that was the epitome of these qualities. We were lucky to get Amanda to model, Urusla Ajeroh for hair and make up, Suzanne selected the outfit, and Michio provided his E-type Jaguar. The fact that we had a few hours of reasonable weather during rainy season was a bonus. Next we move into the studio to focus on the individual pieces. Images to come soon… You can see slightly larger versions of these photographs over on Flickr, also please check out Suzanne’s website and Facebook page.