All posts filed under: Japan

New Year, New Camera

Published by

For many years I’ve been putting off shooting underwater. My Optio W60 is a great waterproof compact camera, but it doesn’t have the depth rating for scuba diving or the image quality for professional use. I looked into an underwater housing for the 645D, but there were none available off the shelf and a custom built housing would be many thousands of dollars. (It would also be like scuba diving with a submarine.) Ikelite, perhaps the biggest manufacturer of underwater housings, has however just released a housing for the Pentax K5/K7 cameras. For many reasons (that I’ll explain in future posts) I decided to buy a K5, a 10-17mm fish-eye lens and the Ikelite housing. The housing is on its way from the States as we speak, while the K5 and lens arrived a couple of days ago. Bear’s friend Ref posed for a few shoots so I could test out the fish-eye lens. Underwater photography is going to be an exciting challenge. Already have plans to shoot a lost city, a few sharks, and …

Skymark Airlines

Published by

Skymark is Japan’s budget airline. Domestic flights in Japan are expensive and if you live in Okinawa they’re the only realistic option for getting up to mainland Japan. I’m visiting Tokyo for a few days in February so I thought I’d give Skymark a try. Hopefully I’ll save a bit of money, and at the least it will allow me to advise people better when giving travel advice. I wanted to fly Naha – Haneda return, so I visited the Skymark website which has an English section. A flight from Naha to Haneda ranges in price from 9,800 yen to 24,800 yen depending on how early you book. The key thing to know is that you can book a maximum of two months in advance. Bookings start from 9.30AM and due to demand you have to book at exactly 9.30AM two months previously to get the 9,800 or 10,800 yen tickets.  I know this as this morning I entered my information at 9.32, selected the available web bargain flight and by the time I’d filled …

Kurama Fire Festival

Published by

This year’s Kurama Fire Festival was a mix of rain, mud and flames. I liked the costumes, but the degree of pyromania  and the level of drunken chaos was pretty tame compared to other fire festivals I’ve been to in Japan. I think the close proximity to Kyoto, and therefore the entire Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe metropolis means you get too many people for what is in reality quite a small event in a very small town. The big plus however is that the Kurama Fire Festival takes place on October 22nd the same day as Kyoto’s Jidai Matsuri. Watch the Jidai Matsuri in the afternoon then head over to Kurama for a smokey evening. This year the Jidai Matsuri was postponed by a day, but I wasn’t leaving Kyoto until I’d shot a samurai.

Umeda Sky Building

Published by

Flew up to mainland Japan on Friday night. Landed at KIX then got the bus to Umeda in Osaka. Before heading on to Kyoto, I stopped in at Yodobashi Camera to get a new lens case and then took another look at the Umeda Sky Building. Exposure was about 15 seconds which causes the blurry clouds. I set the white balance to tungsten to give it the blue futuristic feel.

Okinawa Island Produce

Published by

Okinawa Island Produce brings organic fruits and vegetables right to your door. The company’s founder travels around Okinawa making contacts with the local organic farmers. She takes orders for the produce through her website, and then makes home deliveries. It’s a wonderful idea. Her company supports the local farmers and provides her customers with the freshest, tastiest fruits and veggies available.

Trash Talking Okinawa

Published by

In Okinawa, you have to pay a small fee for the disposal of trash. You must buy specially marked bags for your regular household waste, and buy special labels to stick on larger items such as washing machines, televisions, or refrigerators. The problem is that old appliances now appear as if by magic at your local park, woodland or beach. I feel the rage inside of me growing…