All posts filed under: Japan

Trash the Dress – Okinawa

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Alexis, one of the riding instructors, recently got married to Michael. They have plenty of great wedding photos, but thought that they’d like to make the most of the Okinawan beaches and her passion for horses. After shooting the two of them cantering through the surf I took some quick “trash the dress” style images. I really like the look of this final shot, but from a story telling perspective you probably shouldn’t end the series with a shot of the bride gliding off into the distance without her husband! (Trash the dress – okay, trash the military dress uniform – not okay.) A final thanks to the clients Alexis, Michael, Eve and Madie. Also to Summer Johnson for getting up way way before dawn to start makeup, and to Shawn Miller as my faithful assistant.

Mihara Horse Club of Okinawa

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A fun shoot last Sunday with Alexis, Eve and Madie, three instructors from the Mihara Horse Club of Okinawa. I’ve hired horses from the club for model shoots in the past, so it was great to get the instructors in front of the camera. One of the advantages of photographing riding instructors, is that they will happily gallop along the beach without looking terrified or ending up bruised, battered and litigious. After getting some shots of the three ladies riding I took some portraits of them with the horses. Although it had only just turned 8AM, the Okinawan sun was already strong enough to make people squint and leave strong shadows. I brought along a large Ezylite diffuser which creates a patch of open shade in which I can shoot. Alexis’s husband Michael and my assistant Shawn were press-ganged into holding the diffuser up above their heads while I shot. A great morning with lovely people and horses. On a technical note. If you’re photographing galloping horses you’re going to need to take a lot …

Karate Masters Portrait Project – Behind the Scenes

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A few behind the scenes photos that James took on the last shoot. You can see the black velvet background I set up behind them and the strobe with beauty dish on a light stand. The strobe is connected to a flash generator which plugs into the wall. This is a much more cumbersome setup than simply using an hotshoe flash but I like the power, recycling time and flash duration I get with the studio gear. I’ve mentioned it before, but when traveling or in the studio it’s great to be able to show the subject you’ve just photographed or the client the image. The large screen on the back of the camera is pretty good for this, but tethering the camera to a laptop (now possible with the 645D) would make this even better (but far more cumbersome). With a clean black background and without the need to do beauty retouching, pretty much what you see on the back of the camera is going to be the final image. Back home I sort …

Karate Masters Portrait Project – Hanshi 10th dan Yoshitaka Taira

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These are the first images in the Karate Masters Portrait Project. The idea is to document the hanshi (grand masters) of karate. I wish I had started this project several years earlier before some of the hanshi passed away. Hanshi 10th dan Yoshitaka Taira Images are shot with the 645D which means I have fantastic detail, important for an archival project. I used a portable black velvet screen to have clean background and then used a single studio light with a beauty dish for illumination. I plan to shoot all portraits with the same setup.

UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson – Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo

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While in Tokyo, I saw an Ultimate Fighting Championship event at the Saitama Super Arena. Ultimate Fighting is a mixed martial arts competition where fighters can win by knockout, tap out, or points. The fighters come from a range of disciplines including striking styles such as boxing, karate and kickboxing along with submission styles that include aikido, judo, and wrestling. Fighters compete within their own weight class, but fighters of one style can be paired against any other style. This means you get matches between boxers that want to keep their distance and use punching power against submission fighters that want to take the fight to the mat and bend limbs in the wrong direction until their opponent taps out. The bouts take place in a octagon with wire walls rather than ropes. You definitely get the feeling you’re watching something not far removed from gladiatorial combat. The stadium atmosphere, however, was more friendly and reverential than bloodthirsty. The Japanese audience clapped and cheered for fighters from all countries, the greatest cheers were for combatants …

Brand it like Beckham

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Beckham’s popularity continues in Japan. Once idolized for his ability to curve a soccer ball with pinpoint accuracy, he now seems to be famous for being famous. In the middle of Shibuya, five giant versions of Beckham stare down at the passersby. Tommy Lee Jones, holding a can of Boss Coffee, is a mere mortal in comparison.

Hardball with Ryukyu Bus Kotsu – 琉球バス交通

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At the start of the year, I wrote a post about being involved in a minor traffic accident. A coach decided to merge into my lane and, although I wasn’t moving and beeping my horn, the coach scraped the fender and bumper of my car. It’s annoying to have to fill in paperwork, get your car fixed, and drive around a loaner for a week or two, but accidents happen. In the previous blog post I wrote: The one issue that does remain is exactly whose insurance will be paying for the repairs. You might assume that the bus company’s insurance would pay for everything, but in Japan blame is rarely attributed entirely to one driver. If the discussion between insurance companies results in me being given a token 10% of the blame, my insurance will pay for 10% of the damage to my car and the bus, and next year’s insurance premium will go up. A couple of weeks ago, I got the accident summary from my insurance company ( J.A. ) it said …

Japanese Alcohol Free Beer

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In Okinawa most people travel by car, the nearest train station is in Kagoshima, 500 miles away. Many Okinawans drive to a bar, and then use a daiko service to bring both them and their car home at the end of the night. (A daiko service is similar to a taxi service, but with two drivers. Driver A chauffeurs you home in your own car while driver B follows behind to collect driver A.) The cost of using a daiko service, the health benefits of reducing alcohol consumption, and a crackdown on people who drink and drive are some of the possible reasons for the growth in popularity of alcohol free beers. The other night I had a few friends over to test the various alcohol free beers and the results were pretty conclusive. Four beers were sampled: Kirin Free, Sapporo Premium Alcohol Free, Suntory All-Free, and Kirin 休む日のAlc. 0.00 %. The Sapporo Premium Alcohol Free was by far the most popular, with Shawn even stating “it actually tastes like beer.” As a final bonus, …