All posts filed under: Okinawa

Dojo Bar, Naha

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This weekend was the official opening of Dojo a new bar in Naha aimed at the karate fraternity on the island. Brit, black belt, and all round nice guy, James Pankiewicz set up the bar with the hope that it can be a meeting point for karateka of all styles and nationalities. On Saturday’s opening night half a dozen karate masters were sitting around one of the tables drinking together. It was the equivalent of setting up a soccer themed bar, glancing over and seeing Pele ordering beers for Maradona, Beckenbauer, Cruyff and Charlton. Dojo bar is located a couple of hundred meters from the Makishi monorail station (north end of Kokusai street). Open 18.00 to 00.00, closed Tuesdays. See more of images of James training in the Arakaki dojo and on the beach.

Natsumi & J.P. Engagement Shoot

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The light painting course finished at around 1AM on the Sunday morning. 5 hours later I was back at the beach for an early morning engagement shoot with Natsumi and J.P. Natsumi and I had already chatted about the look she wanted for the photographs. It allowed us to make decisions on what they were going to wear and how I would shoot. I decided on using natural light with reflectors. The final images are all very similar to how they looked in camera. I had originally thought I would give the following images an Abercrombie style sepia tint in Photoshop, but the cool blues of the sky and ocean would have lost their magic. I also consciously kept the images bright, aiming to give them a certain freshness and vitality. Both Natsumi and J.P. were relaxed in front of the camera, and it wasn’t long until they had forgotten about posing and were just enjoying hanging out at the beach. All in all, a great shoot with a lovely couple. Congratulations to you both …

June 16th 2011 Lunar Eclipse – Okinawa, Japan

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Got up at 3.30AM and drove over to Cape Maeda to watch the Lunar Eclipse. My plan was to photograph the moon reflected in the ocean as it neared the horizon, but this wasn’t possible due to clouds on the horizon. The image above is not a particularly interesting shot, (nothing to put the moon in context) but is a decent enough snapshot to remember the event. I was pleased that most of the sky was clear  so I could at least witness the lunar eclipse. This is in contrast to the  solar eclipse a few years ago when, having travelled all the way to Yakushima to be in the zone of totality, we spent the entire day under a thick layer of rain clouds.

Typhoon Songda – A blustery night.

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Typhoon Songda has come and gone leaving Okinawa a little worse for wear. There was the usual cull of trees and antennas that were two weak or inflexible to survive the 100 mph plus winds. Power went off at my house from 10PM until about 4AM but luckily I have a wide range of dive torches and bicycle lights. A big tree in next door’s garden didn’t make it through the night, but thankfully it also didn’t make it across the road and onto my car. (Which reminds me, always wash your car after a typhoon to prevent the new layer of sea salt sending your vehicle to an early, and rusty, grave.)

Americana Singer / Songwriter Kluso

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Kluso is a singer / songwriter based in Okinawa. I’ve seen him play live several times, and it’s a pleasure to have someone with such talent and love of music living just down the road. Kluso’s style of music is best described as Americana, a blend of folk, country, blues and rock. Inluences include Bob Dylan, Ryan Adams, David Gray and even Oasis. Please check out Kluso’s music on his website, or on iTunes. His new album Determination will be available soon.