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.
A few images from an early morning beach shoot with Alisa & Jared Hilton. Glad I could work with them during one of the brief moments they’re in the same place at the same time. One of the sacrifices that comes with serving your country is the amount of time you are away from your family. I guess it makes those moments together that bit sweeter.
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…
This October if you happen to be flying Dragonair from Hong Kong, check out their inflight magazine Silkroad. Inside you’ll find a feature I wrote on Okinawan Karate. A big thanks to all the karate masters who let me wander into their dojos with my camera and notebook. ありがとうございます
Along with the other images from the shoot I thought I’d try and get a snorkeling stock image. The ocean isn’t normally so flat, but it was great to get such a clear reflection. If anyone’s interested, I think the best spots on Okinawa for snorkeling are Sunabe Seawall for the vast gardens of soft coral, Cape Maeda for the easy access and the Blue Cave, and Channel Crevices for its shallow tide pool and interesting rock formations. Just remember that when snorkeling don’t rely on an inflatable ring or an air mattress if you’re not a strong swimmer. There have been numerous cases of mainland Japanese drowning after they are pushed out to sea by the wind, or their floatation device is popped by sharps rocks or coral. Also be careful if you snorkel out past the reef edge and the breaking waves. If the winds change and large waves suddenly appear, you may find yourself unable to get back to shore without going through a gauntlet of churning surf.
Here are a few photographs from an early morning beach shoot with Amanda modeling some of Suzanne Somersall’s jewelry. Beautiful morning light, but in minutes it would transform into scorching summer sun. At that point we retreated to the shade. Amanda had her longboard in the car, so it seemed like to good an opportunity to capture some images with a surfer vibe. You can see more of Suzanne’s Jewelry on her homepage at kirakirajewelry.com
My younger sister used to work in Sheffield’s steel industry, which makes the following comment almost heresy. I just bought a ceramic knife. Although they’re both usually white, a ceramic knife is very different from the dull plastic utensil you’re given on planes or at picnics. Constructed from zirconium dioxide the blade is hard and it’s edge is very, very sharp. On Okinawa where you live in a mix of humidity, rain and salt spray, steel doesn’t stand much of a chance. Knives, cars, lawnmowers, and bicycles are quickly reduced to junk. (Prizes to those who spotted the pun in the last sentence.) Although the knife is more brittle than a metal blade, (you’ll break the tip if you try to lever the lid off a can of paint) it’s still an impressive piece of engineering. Until recently, I’d always associated high-tech ceramics with the Space Shuttle, but now it is companies like Kyocera who are at the cutting edge of technology.
The first thing you notice when you arrive in Okinawa are the orchids. They greet you at the airport, then in the hotel lobby, and if you’re staying somewhere nice, in your room. They are also a common gift, when you might otherwise give a bunch of flowers. When people start a new business, move house, or even hold an exhibition it’s quite common to see an impressive display of orchids. If you want to see a large variety of orchids on Okinawa, check out Bios Botanical Gardens in Uruma City or the Tropical Dream Center located in Expo park a short walk from the Churaumi Aquarium.
Great Photography 101 workshop last weekend. Saturday was all about the fundamentals, looking at how we can better control aperture, exposure and composition, then on Sunday we explored the Yomitan peninsular to practice our techniques. Shirley got this great shot of a couple posing at Cape Maeda. I like the way she’s positioned the couple away from the center of the frame for better composition, and captured the decisive moment as they both smile for their own photograph. And here’s a shot of me demonstrating that you sometimes have to get down to the same level as your subjects. As one of Japan’s most famous diving and snorkeling spots it was not surprising that on a gorgeous day in August there were plenty of people enjoying the water. I took at quick photograph of the scene, and when looking at the image on the computer it reminded of the Where’s Wally books. (Where’s Waldo in the U.S.) I put the full size image up on Flickr, scroll around the screen to check out everyone having …
Adan trees are a common sight along the beaches of Okinawa. They seem to tolerate the salty soils and buffeting winds better than almost any other plant. At first glance, the adan fruit is often mistaken for a pineapple. I don’t know any people that eat it, but it does seem to be a popular treat with the island’s crab population.
