All posts filed under: Pentax 645D

Dragon boats are back!

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After a four-year hiatus, the dragon boats are once again racing during the Golden Week holidays. Friday afternoon had the finals of the regular races with the boats crews made up of both locals and Americans. The sky was overcast, but luckily it was not raining on the day. After these races the special dragon boat race took place, which the crews in traditional costume, along with flag bearers and karateka. I’m not sure of the names of the sensei performing with the black-robed crew, or the blue-robed crew, but the white-robed crew was led by Onaga Sensei, a karate master I’ll be photographing in the coming weeks. Checking back through my archives I found a pic from 2011 when I actually managed to get in one of the boats for a race. Can’t believe I was shooting with a medium format digital camera, in the rain, on a boat that might sink! After going further back in the archvies, I found images shot with the Pentax 67ii medium format film camera around 20 years …

Pentax to Sony

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For many years I shot exclusively with the Pentax 67ii medium format film camera system. When the Pentax 645D digital medium format camera arrived I switched to shooting digital, and I’ve shot stills with the 645D and 645Z until now. The 645Z remains one of the best cameras for portrait photography. 私は長年、中判フィルムカメラシステム「PENTAX 67ii」で撮影してきました。デジタル中判カメラのペンタックス645Dが登場してからは、デジタルでの撮影に切り替え、645Dと645Zでスチルを撮影してきました。645Zは今でもポートレート写真に最適なカメラの一つです。 As a backup system I also had the excellent Pentax K-1 camera system with a 28-70 f2.8 lens. Another fantastic system for photographers. バックアップシステムとして、優れたペンタックスK-1カメラと28-70 F2.8レンズも持っていました。これも写真家にとっては素晴らしいシステムです A few years ago I also began shooting video. I started with the Sony A7Sii and then as things progressed with the Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate series I purchased a used Sony FS5 cinema camera. As the documentary series has continued I’ve had to purchase more Sony lenses, and in the near future will need to update both the Sony bodies to the latest models. 数年前、私はビデオ撮影も始めました。最初はソニーのA7Siiを使っていましたが、「SENSEI: MASTERS OF OKINAWAN KARATE」シリーズの制作が進むにつれ、中古のソニーFS5シネマカメラを購入しました。 ドキュメンタリーシリーズを続けていくうちに、ソニーのレンズをさらに購入しなければならなくなり、近い将来、ソニーのボディを両方とも最新モデルに更新する必要があります。 Having two completely separate systems for photography and video has created its own set of challenges in terms of storage, cost, and ultimately how much gear …

Hisao Hamamoto, Koden HachimanRyu Jissen BattoJutsu Hamamotoden BattoKai

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Hisao Hamamoto is a master of Japanese swords. At 83 he continues to teach how to use katana and wakizashi. I first photographed Hamamoto sensei on October 1st 2011, before the Karate Masters Portrait Project began. The single-light beauty dish portrait I took of Hamamoto would become the lighting setup I’d then use for the entire series. I met up with Hamamoto sensei today at the Budokan in Naha City, to get some video of him teaching his class. Afterwards I asked to take a few location portraits at the shrine next to the Budokan. We then grabbed some lunch before heading over the Dojo Bar with James Pankiewicz to film a short interview with Hamamoto sensei. It won’t be part of the Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate series, but a bonus interview about his life and art. A real delight to meet him once again. Thank you to Hamamoto sensei for giving up his time, to James for helping set up the shoot and letting us conduct the interview in the Dojo Bar, and …

Now on YouTube!

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In 2016, I was contacted by the team at Macphun Software who had come across my photography on the web. Macphun produces photo editing programs for Mac computers, and received Best of the Year awards from the Apple app store six years running. They were producing new inspirational content for their website and asked if I’d like to be involved. James Pankiewicz, Patrick Batac and I produced a behind the scenes video about The Karate Masters Portrait Project. In 2018, Macphun became SKYLUM software as it is no longer just Mac only. As its popularity grows around the world, Yuki and I are going to help introduce the software to the Japanese market. We’ve created a Japanese language YouTube series called the Shoshinsha Photographer Yuki (New Photographer Yuki) in which Yuki learns how to take photos, and edit the pictures with SKYLUM’s Luminar editing software. Episode 1 has a brief introduction then Yuki explores Bise Village in Motobu. Episode 2 is all about the 100 Kata for Karate Day event at new Karate Kaikan. Episode …

Okinawa – International Destination Weddings

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Okinawa is a popular wedding destination for mainland Japanese, and more recently couples from Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China. I teamed up with the Marine Bijou wedding chapel, and model Yuki to produce some stock imagery that I can use in future projects. I shot with the Pentax 645Z allowing me to provide clients with huge data files if needed. For the “pre-wedding” images I used only natural light then switched to Profoto strobes in the chapel and on the beach. Outdoors in the blazing sunshine, one assistant (Chris) held the Profoto B1 in a white softlight reflector, while another assistant (Cody) held a large Lastolite diffusion panel that put Yuki into soft shade. The strong tropical sunlight really brought out the colors in the ocean, while the diffuser and powerful strobe allowed us to avoid harsh shadows. I got a great series of images so a huge thanks to Marine Bijou, the make up artist, Yuki the model, and assistants Chris and Cody. If you’ve found this blog because you’re looking for a wedding photographer in …

Seiyu Nakamura – 10th Dan Okinawa Dentou Shidokan Karate and Kobujutsu

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Seiyu Nakamura is a master of traditional shidokan karate and kobudo. More than a decade ago, Nakamura-sensei was my briefly my karate instructor. It was great to meet each other again, although he did note that we’d both got a little grayer over the years. Once again after shooting the black background portraits indoors, I switched the plug-in 7a generator for the battery powered B1, and we went outside. A huge storm was quickly approaching, but we managed to get a few shots in the sugar cane fields before the heavens opened.

Pentax 645Z – Just the facts, ma’am

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The Pentax 645Z digital medium format camera will be available for purchase at the end of June 2014. It’s predecessor, the Pentax 645D, went on sale in June 2010  for 848,000 yen. You can pre-order the  645Z at B&H for $8,496.95  or from Amazon Japan for ￥777,110. The 645Z uses a 51.4MP Sony CMOS sensor unlike the 40MP Kodak CCD sensor in the 645D. The sensor remains the same size at 43.8mm x 32.8mm, this means it is a crop 645 sensor. The sensor is the same one used in the 50 megapixel Hasselblad H5D-50C camera ($29,000) and Phase One IQ250 digital back ($37,000). At around $8,500 dollars, the 645Z is a third the price of it’s MF digital competitors. The use of a CMOS sensor allows the 645Z to offer live view, a video mode, and a higher ISO range. The PRIME III image processor is significantly faster than in the 645D. The camera can now shoot at 3 fs rather than 1 fs in the 645D and instant reviews will be quicker. The autofocus system and metering systems have also been improved. The …