All posts filed under: Okinawa

Mushama Festival, Hateruma Island (Part 2 -The Ladies)

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A few shots of the ladies at the Mushama Festival on Hateruma Island. Although the biggest festivals in Japan can sometimes be raucous male dominated events, the smaller local matsuri are a great opportunity for the whole family, young and old, to take part in celebrating traditions and give thanks. I wonder if, on the other side of the world, there’s a Japanese photographer wandering around a village fête in rural England photographing the local bake-off, morris dancing, and a gurning contest.

Mushama Festival, Hateruma Island (Part 1 -The Guys)

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Hateruma is the most southerly inhabited island in Japan. It has its own police station, post office, school, awamori distillery and a summer festival called Mushama. I took a day off from scuba diving off Ishigaki and took the ferry down to Hateruma for the festival. The festival, as so many are, was a gold mine for a photographer. So many interesting faces, great costumes and a welcoming atmosphere. The majority of the spectators were island residents and their families that had returned for the event. Nobody minded that I was wandering around taking photos of everyone, and as usual I was up in people’s face shooting portraits.

Okinawa Nature Photographer Shawn Miller

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While Martin Bailey was in Okinawa for the Pixels to Pigment workshop he interviewed my friend and dive buddy Shawn Miller for his very popular photography podcast. Shawn’s a talented photographer both in and out of the water, always learning new things, and pushing the limits of his gear.  Check out Shawn’s scuba photos on Flickr and listen to the interview on Martin’s blog.

Anime Antics at Mihama Manga Mega Expo

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On Friday afternoon there was a small cos-play event in Mihama. I’ve shot much bigger gatherings in Tokyo and Kyoto, but anytime you get people dressing up as anime or manga characters there’s going to be some good photographic opportunities. It was bright and sunny at the time I was shooting so the main challenge was finding patches of open-shade that had a clean, uncluttered background.

Pixels to Pigment Workshop with Martin Bailey

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Had a great time last weekend hosting a Pixels to Pigment Workshop with Tokyo photographer Martin Bailey. The workshop taught photographers how to create a more effective workflow from image capture to print. This meant calibrating the camera to give the correct colors and white balance, both done using an X-Rite color checker passport. Monitors, the projector, both printers and two kinds of paper were calibrated using the X-Rite color munki and the i1Publish Pro 2. Prints were made of both Martin’s and the participants images, and on the second day the prints were laminated and then made into gallery wraps. I’d like to thank Shawn, Michael, David, Justin and David, for coming on the workshop and making it such a fun and successful weekend. A huge thanks to Martin for flying down to Okinawa and sharing his knowledge with us.  For details on future Pixels to Pigment workshops in other parts of the world please check out Martin’s website.

Summer in Okinawa

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Summer is here in Okinawa. The asphalt gets so hot it’s tough to walk around in bare feet. Some people retreat to the air conditioned malls. Jusco and San A always seem at their busiest during the blistering heat. The other option is to head to the ocean or to the pool. Above is a shot from a portfolio shoot with model Michelle Santos. Lovely sunny day, but to combat the harsh shadows I used a strobe and umbrella for some fill light.