No recent diving pics, so I thought I post one from last year I hadn’t got around to uploading. There is quite a lot of backscatter from debris in the water, but still nice to have found Nemo and friends. Pentax K5 SMC Pentax DA Fish-eye 10-17mm Ikelite Housing with two Ikelite DS-161 strobes
One of the great things about the new 90mm lens for the 645D is that it can focus very close to the subject. Although not a 1:1 macro, it does allow you to get some great detail shots with what has become my standard walk-around lens.
Took a 30 minute ferry ride from Motobu across to Ie Island. I’d never been to the island previously, which is amazing considering I’ve lived on Okinawa for over a decade. It also looks to have some great shore diving. Ie is famous for beef, togan, and brown sugar, but surprisingly the main crop on the island was tobacco. Ie island was heavily bombed during the Battle of Okinawa. The local population hid in caves to try and survive the typhoon of steel. In one cave called Niya-Thiya, around a 1000 locals waited out the battle. US war correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed on Ie Island on April 18th 1945. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944, and covered the war in Europe, Africa and the Pacific. The main event on Ie Island is the Lily Festival that takes place from the end of April to the beginning of May. There are fields of white lilies, and also several rows of the more colorful varieties of Lily.
Another No Osprey protest took place last week outside of Torii Army Base. It was much smaller than the event I’d previously photographed near the Ginowan Convention Center. On Friday, there were around 100 protestors (and a couple of bulls), and it only lasted for around 30 minutes. There were several short speeches by leaders of the group about not wanting Osprey helicopters and military bases on Okinawa. Then as a group they faced the gate and shouted their demands. They chanted in Japanese that they didn’t want the helicopters, they didn’t want bases, and they didn’t want military on Okinawa. Then after a brief pause, the chant became “Yankee go home, Yankee go home, Yankee go home.” This was the last thing shouted, and then the protest ended and the gathering broke up. The presence of military bases in Okinawa is a contentious and complicated issue. The Okinawans have every right to voice their opinions and try to effect change on the political situation. However, to end a demonstration repeatedly chanting “Yankee go home,” …
Here are a few snorkeling and scuba diving images that I shot both for Leia’s modeling portfolio, and for potential use in travel magazines. You could argue that scuba divers wouldn’t be wearing as much makeup, or that a wetsuit might be more sensible when diving in April. This is true, but as I’m not shooting this as a news story, a photographer can use a little artistic license.
And my personal favorite. Love everything about this shot from the blue goggles to the spit bubbles 🙂
The Mud Festival in Kin Town is the biggest even in the annual calendar for locals. There are various food vendors, and a performance by Ryujin Mabuya, but the highlight is a field the size of a swimming pool that has been flooded with about 20 centiemeters of muddy water. There are some swings, rubber rings, a slide, and various floats for the kids to play on. It doesn’t take very long before every child is covered head to toe in a layer of brown sludge.
Shawn Miller and I went out to Yanbaru very early this morning for a birdwatching tour with birder and wildlife artist Ichiro Kikuta. Ichiro has just started offering guided birding tours, either 2-hour dawn tours from 6AM to 8AM, or all-day tours. He can speak some English, is very personable, and has a huge wealth of knowledge about Okinawan wildlife. Shawn and I specifically wanted to see the Noguchi-gera, the rare woodpecker that is endemic to the subtropical forests of northern Okinawa. Ichiro knew where a pair of the woodpeckers were feeding their chicks, and guided us to the nest. We spent a couple of hours photographing this particular bird, while Ichiro identified other species of birds we spotted or heard. Ichiro can be contacted by phone at 090 6867 3160 or email at kikuta-ichiro@mbp.nifty.com 2-hour dawn tours are ¥6,000 per person. All-day tours for one to four people are ¥¥18,000 (1p) ¥24,000 (2p) ¥30,000 (3p) ¥36,000 (4p).
Okinawan karate has several training techniques that are designed to strengthen and condition the body using simple everyday objects. Sanchin are heavy jars that are gripped with the fingertips. Makiwara is a striking post the top of which is often wrapped in leather or straw. It is similar to a boxers punching bag, but with a smaller target. In the photo below Gaja-sensei demonstrated how a simple bucket of stones was used for fingertip conditioning. He thrust his hand in so hard and fast, the force sent some stones flying out of the bucket. Here’s a short clip showing a few different techniques by various masters including Kiyohide Shinjo.
While out shooting Rie in the flower field I bumped into Ryukyu Mike for the first time. He’s a long term resident of Okinawa, and he loves to document the local flora and fauna. Check out Mike’s blog over at Ryukyulife.com . Hopefully Mike and I will meet up more often, and go out shooting. He’s a friendly guy, who clearly has good taste in cameras 😉 Any similarity to Albus Dumbledore or Gandalf is purely coincidental.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 