All posts filed under: Photography

Visiting Fushimi Inari Taisha

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I’ve been to Fushimi Inari Taisha in south east Kyoto several times. I took one of my most popular images there, a simple geometric photograph of the orange torii gates winding up the mountain. On my recent trip I wanted to get some new images, this time showing a Japanese person visiting the shrine. Of course I could just photograph tourists milling around, but I decided to be a little more proactive. I met up with model Mari and photographer Keith at Kyoto Station, and we took the local train to Fushimi Inari. It was fortunate I wasn’t even attempting a shot similar to the one I’d taken before because the shrine was packed with people. Luckily we could find gaps in the crowds to get some decent images. The image stabilization function on the new 90mm lens added an extra bit of stability which was useful, and the wide aperture gave a nice limited depth of field in the portraits. Fushimi Inari shrine is dedicated to a fox god so there are numerous fox statues, …

Eriha the Maiko

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Eriha is a 17 year old maiko in the Gion district of Kyoto. Only her lower lip is painted red which shows this is in her first year in the profession. I was told that it normally takes three years as a maiko, before the girl become a geiko (geisha). As a young maiko her pinkish kimono and her hair ornaments were  youthful and cute, but these will  change to more formal designs as she gets older. I had always presumed that “real” maiko and geisha didn’t use wigs, and that these were for the “tourist” maiko and geisha. It turns out I was half right. Maiko always use their own hair to create the ornate hairstyles. This means they still have to use special wooden pillows when they sleep. Most geisha, once they have graduated from maiko status, use wigs, and presumably are able to get a much better night’s sleep.

Quite Interesting

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I was watching the latest episode of the British quiz show QI yesterday and spotted one of my images being used to illustrate the Hadaka Matsuri in Okayama. A little surprised that the researchers managed to get the details of the festival so confused. There is no mud involved in the Okayama Hadaka Matsuri (but this does occur at a different “Naked” festival) The winner doesn’t get two sticks but the sticks are thrown into the throng of men by the priests and fought over. The sticks are now thrown at 10PM rather than midnight. And finally, the men are wearing fundoshi loincloths so they are not actually naked.   At the moment you can watch the episode on You Tube, my pic is at about 33 minutes. And a final quite interesting fact. Host Stephen Fry will play the part of the Master of Laketown in the new Hobbit movies.

Mac Pro Graphics Card Upgrade – ATI Radeon HD 5770

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This blog post has a geek rating of 5. It has explicit descriptions of computer parts and even the cultural references are aimed at those who believe anoraks are not just for rainy days. After replacing the “panic locked” SSD drive  and restoring the system from Time Machine, my Mac Pro computer was working once again. On Facebook I happily stated that computer, printer and Photoshop were all in sync and I could get back to work. Then a few hours later there was a glitch in the matrix. Turning off the computer and turning it back on again didn’t help. My Nerd Herd friends Robert, Nate and Pietro were out of Okinawa so I’d have to work things out myself. After a bit of research, I came to the conclusion it must be an issue with the graphics card. The issue being it was no more. It had ceased to be. It had expired and gone to meet its maker. My Mac Pro is a 2007 model 1,1 with a nVidia GeForce 7300GT graphics card with 256 …

Data Asset Management

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Veteran motorbike riders are well aware of the fact that it’s not a matter of if you have an accident, but when. For this reason it’s worth investing in the best protective gear possible. Experienced computer users will likewise tell you that it’s not a matter of if your hard disk drive will fail, but when. And it’s not just hard drives, almost any kind of digital data storage device can become unreadable. This includes CDRs, DVDRs, Blu-rays, Solid State Drives and even the optimistically named Secure Digital (S.D.) cards. People treasure their pictures. As the forest fire approaches or flood waters rise,  it’s wedding albums and family photographs that are saved not plasma televisions and golf clubs. Unfortunately, in this digital era, many people have their images stored on a home computer and when it dies, they’ve lost months or years worth of memories. Data recovery services are an option, and I know of several photographers who have paid thousands of dollars in fees to companies that were able to get back a portion …

Yayoi Kusama designs for Louis Vuitton

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A couple of years back, luxury Italian clothing / accessory brand Louis Vuitton teamed up with Japanese  artist Takashi Murakami to bring some color and youthfulness to their line. This year Louis Vuitton are once again emboldening their somewhat staid image with Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Why is this big news? Because in urban Japan, Louis Vuitton bags seem to be almost standard equipment for hundreds of thousands of office ladies. Once they have graduated college and gained a company job, the acquisition of a LV emblazoned bag appears almost mandatory. Perhaps these brightly colored special editions are for the ladies who want to show their individuality and break free from the ubiquitous brown on brown bags carried by the huddled masses. Of course, there are the  brave few who will push the boundaries of convention even further, and not buy one at all.

HD PENTAX-D FA645 MACRO 90mmF2.8ED AW S

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While I was at the Pentax Forum for my exhibition I got to have a brief play with the new 90mm lens that will be released at the end of this year. It’s a large, heavy lens but doesn’t unbalance the similarly gargantuan 645D body. What I realized was that with its image stabilizer it would be the perfect lens for the kind of travel portraits I love to do. I have therefore made the decision to order one of the 90mm lenses. Before the new lens arrives it’s time to create some space in the dry cabinet and make the bank balance a little healthier. For this reason I’ll be selling a few of the lenses I’ve been using infrequently over the last couple of years. They’ll go in Ebay in December, but if Pentaxians want to make offers before then just send me a message. PENTAX SMC M*67 400mm F4ED[IF] with 1.4 converter (grey) and drop in polarizing filter PENTAX SMC 67 165mm F2.8 SMC Pentax 67 100mm F4 Macro inc. 1:1 converter. Pentax …