All posts filed under: Okinawa

AutoStitch for iPhone

Published by

A couple of weeks ago I put up the panoramic photo taken by Pete Leong of my exhibition. Pete took the photo with his iPhone using an app called AutoStitch. You simply take a series of overlapping photographs with your phone, then open the app, select the images and the app will stitch them all together into one seamless image. AutoStitch is only a couple of dollars so it seemed like a fun thing to try out. You probably will have slightly ragged edges to the image when it is stitched together, but the phone can automatically crop out the black space for you. If you have an iPhone and feel like broadening your photographic horizons then it’s well worth playing around with.

Studio Shoot – Manda – Transformation

Published by

This was an interesting shoot with Manda, one of the Marines based on Okinawa. Lighting remained constant through the shoot. Makeup artist Kim Clay added a natural makeup look between shots 2 and 3, and then an evening makeup look between 3 and 4. Another key difference is that the first two shots were taken with the 645 55mm lens (approx 40 mm on a 35 full frame camera) and the last two shots were taken with the 67 105mm lens (approx 85mm on a 35mm full frame camera). The longer lens gives more pleasing proportions to the face, which is why lenses around 85mm are often described as portrait lenses.

Santa Dive 2010

Published by

My good friend Hiroshi and I did our annual Santa dive today. Cape Maeda was calm, and the water clear but chilly. Not many other people diving today, but did manage to amuse a few other divers and snorkelers as we glided by.

Thank You!

Published by

A big thank you to all the people who came by the exhibition or offered their encouragement from afar. It was a fun and hectic six days.  This was my  fifth exhibition, and the largest so far with 23 landscapes and 24 portraits on show. It was great to meet so many people and listen to their comments. The snow monkey images “Relaxation” and “Monkey Hug” along with “Fireworks at Itsukushima” were very popular, however, the clear favorite was the “Into the Mist” shot of the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. I also learned a lot more about marketing, image selection, sales, and digital displays, but I’ll leave comments on them for another post. Right now I have to make sure that people who ordered prints get them before Christmas, and that the images from recent studio shoots are edited and sent to the models. Busy, busy busy.

Pro Skateboarder Tetsuharu Sai

Published by

Yesterday I did a shoot with professional skateboarder Tetsuharu Sai. Photographer David Washington helped provide the battery power and assistance, while skateboarder Matt Hill got me the introduction. The setup was relatively simple. I used a Profoto 300W compact strobe with a magnum reflector, this was powered by David’s Tronix Explorer XT battery pack and triggered with a PocketWizard. We used a flash meter to first check the ambient light and then measure exposure with the flash.  I expected to struggle as I didn’t have a lens wider than the 645D’s 55mm but this turned out to not be a problem It looked like we might have to postpone the shoot due to bad weather, but the rain didn’t get past a few drops and the cloudy skies added a bit of drama to the background. Thanks again to Tetsuharu, David and Matt for making this shoot possible.

Busena Terrace Resort

Published by

Last month I was updating the Okinawa chapter of a Japan travel guide. This meant I had to drop by numerous hotels to check the quality of the rooms, prices, amenities etc. I saved the best till last, and last week I toured the facilities at the Busena Terrace Resort. The location is great, the beach lovely, rooms are luxurious and yet understated, and the service impeccable. The reality is that it is also a little outside my budget (rooms range from  42,735 to 577,500 a night). Although I’ve been on Okinawa for 10 years, I’d never visited the resort. Somehow I’d presumed they wouldn’t allow non-guests into the complex. However, you can enjoy the beach (inc. showers etc) if you pay 2,000 yen per car, and anyone can dine at the restaurants. I’d recommend stopping by for tea and cakes at least once. The hotel is located beside the Bankoku Shinryokan where the 2000 G8 summit took place, there is also an underwater observatory and a glass bottom boat if you’re looking to do …

Visions of Japan – Global Gallery December 8 – 13

Published by

  From December 8th to 13th, I will have a Visions of Japan exhibition at Global Gallery in Plaza House. This will be my biggest exhibition yet, with around 20 A2 size landscapes and 20 A3 size portraits. The gallery will be open from 11am to 7pm and I’ll be there most of the time.  Along with the larger limited edition prints, there will also be a selection of smaller prints for sale. As a bonus, Global Gallery is located next to the Indian restaurant Krishna, so I know I won’t be going hungry.

Discovery Channel Magazine – Yonaguni Underwater Ruins

Published by

A few months ago I took some photos of marine geologist Kimura Masaaki for Discovery Channel Magazine. A couple of my images were used in a recent feature about the “lost civilization” off the coast of Yonaguni. The magazines finally arrived today so I thought I’d share a couple of scans. Can’t post any larger images on the web, and I’ve desaturated the area around my pics, but it gives you the general idea. Hopefully I will visit Yonaguni in the spring to get my own underwater shots. The second image is of a rock Kimura-san found which has a clear “X” carved into the surface. It is, he believes, proof that the ruins are man-made.