All posts filed under: Japan

PENTAX D FA645 25mm F4 AL[IF] SDM AW Testing

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I talked about the new epic super wide lens by Pentax in a previous blog. It doesn’t come on sale until next month, but happily Pentax sent me a prerelease lens to try out. I’ve been busy this weekend teaching the Photography 101 Workshop, but managed to get out the camera and 25mm lens for the sunset this evening. (Workshop went great, more on this later.) I apologize for the cliche, but the lens is an engineering marvel. Really solidly built, and pleasure to use and hold. You can also use it as a workout device if you’re carrying it around all day. As with the new 55mm lens, the first shots show it to be extremely sharp. This is the shot from today, but more will follow over the next few weeks.

Invisible Sea Horses

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Went for a dive at Cape Zampa last weekend. Zampa is one of my favorite dive locations, but you should only enter when the sea’s calm. Otherwise you can find yourself being dashed on the rocks or dragged by strong currents out to sea. It also gets deep very fast. You step off the rocky shoreline and almost immediately there is more than 50 meters of water beneath you. My dive buddy Hiroshi thought that we might be able to see Pygmy Sea Horses on the fan corals so we dropped down to a large group of fan corals at 40 meters. My watch blinked to tell me I was 60 centimeters below the limit, and more importantly that I had a maximum of 3 minutes at that depth. Our search for pygmy sea horses was therefore rapid, and not surprisingly, unsuccessful. We then slowly ascended before having a long leisurely safety stop at 5 meters. I don’t take a camera with me when diving. There’s the hassle and expense of housings, combined with the …

Karate on the Beach

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Building up a larger selection of karate photographs for an assignment I’m working on. James agreed to step out of the dojo for some beach training images. (The above sequence is an example of using a fast shutter speed to freeze motion when shooting without flash. I used a reflector to add some light as I was shooting into the sun.)

On the Bookshelf – With the Old Breed by E. B. Sledge

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Last year I watched the Hanks / Spielberg mini-series “The Pacific” that was based on the experiences of American Marines in the Pacific Theater. The series focused on three men, one of which was Eugene B. Sledge, a young Marine who witnessed the horrors of Peleliu and Okinawa.  These secret notes Sledge made during combat would later become  the book “With the Old Breed” which was then adapted to become the mini-series “The Pacific.” I just started Sledge’s book. I’m not sure it’s going to be one I enjoy, and I should probably avoid reading it before going to bed. It is however an important account of war, particularly for those who have connections with Okinawa. Glancing through the pages I see maps with names I recognize. The Ishikawa Isthmus is where I live, Sugar Loaf Hill is beside Main Place shopping center and the landing beaches are where I dive. The elderly residents of this island lived through the Battle of Okinawa, for the rest of us its important to be aware of what …

Photography Workshops in Okinawa

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Starting this month I shall be holding some weekend photography workshops on Okinawa. I’ll be starting off with “Photography 101” courses for beginners, and then later will be offering more advanced classes including studio work and night photography. I’ll be teaching most of the courses, but I also intend to bring in specialists in their particular field from mainland Japan. (Light Painter Trevor Williams is already on board as one of the visiting instructors, see his work in action on Japanese News!) So here’s the info on the first class PHOTOGRAPHY 101 Weekend Workshop April 23 & 24 2011   Who is the course for? The beginner or novice photographer who has a digital SLR  and wishes to progress beyond the green fully auto mode. People who want to take better photographs of their friends and family rather than point, shoot and hope for the best.   What do I need to bring? Your digital  SLR camera, lens, your camera manual, memory card, battery and charger. If you have a digital compact rather than a …

Extreme Close-Up

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Met up with Pete Leong and Michael Anthony yesterday at the beach. I was really interested in the setup Michael used to get extreme close-up shots of flowers.  The images Michael was creating were fantastic. I’m going to follow some of his advice and ideas and try shooting some flower close-ups in the next few weeks.

Donations to Japanese Red Cross

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Some readers have been asking where they can make donations. Information on making donations can be found at the website for the JAPANESE RED CROSS SOCIETY . Those in America will probably find it easier to make donations through the AMERICAN RED CROSS . Not sure about the situation with regards to donations of clothes and blankets. For those in Okinawa I believe that they are making collections at some of the bases. I’ve decided that during March and April I shall be giving 20% of the sale price from my prints of Japan to the Japanese Red Cross Society. This applies to any of my photographs sold through my website or through the Kadena Gift Corner on base. As mentioned in previous posts, if you have relatives in Okinawa they are fine and well out of harms way. Thoughts should go out to those around Sendai. Radiation concerns seem to be getting all the attention in the news, but there are still thousands of people without homes or enough food and water.