I’ll be at Kadena Market Day in the Schilling Community Center from 10AM to 3PM tomorrow. Please drop by and say hello! On a completely different topic… Just checked to see if the Japanese release date for the new Sherlock Holmes movie is December 25th (the same as the US) or December 26 (the same as the UK). It turns out the Japanese release date is April 3rd. Bah, humbug!
Last Friday, the staff of One Shot Tattoo in Naha City were kind enough to let me take some photographs at their tattoo studio. Even better one of their clients gave me permission to photograph his full body irezumi. I am not going to even pretend this is an everyday occurrence for me. I set up a black background in a small changing room then used a hammerhead flash with a softbox attachment for lighting. I used the Pentax 67II, Fuijfilm Provia 100F and a 100mm macro lens. When I had everything set up Kamiya-san came in, stripped of his clothes and I took two rolls of film. Not sure how long the shoot lasted, I was too busy checking and rechecking the settings on the camera and flash making sure that I was getting everything right. Supposedly I looked a little flustered which would be about right. The dragon on his stomach was remarkable, it moved and changed shape as he breathed, and at one point while looking through the viewfinder I thought I …
I’ll write a longer post all about the shoot soon, but for now I’ll just post the first couple of photos.
A few images from the November 8th 2009 anti-base protest in Okinawa.
Yesterday afternoon I took photos at a large protest rally held in Ginowan City. Around 20,000 people attended, with various speeches discussing the relocation of Futenma Air Station, the plight of the dugong, the noise from F-15 jets and the presence of U.S. bases in Okinawa. It seemed that many of the speakers wanted their concerns to be heard by President Obama who will visit Japan later this week. I got some shots of the large crowds and a few of individual protestors. I met up with fellow Brits Simon and Dave for a chat, then a reporter for The Okinawa Times came over and asked our opinions on the protest. It’s difficult to give a spur of the moment answer to such as complex question, it’s even harder to do it in your second language with which you lack nuance. Basically my response was that it’s a complicated situation, but I hope there will be a positive outcome for all parties. In today’s Okinawa Times there’s a little piece about the views of 3 …
A few weeks ago I spent the afternoon shooting with Eboh a fashion photographer based in Okinawa. I don’t normally shoot fashion, or do much studio work so it was a fascinating experience. The setup was relatively simple. White seamless background, that was blasted with light from two strobes. The main strobe was a large beauty dish positioned in front of the model and about 2 meters high. A silver reflector was used to bounce a little fill light up. The three strobes went to a single Norman battery pack which was then triggered by a Pocket Wizard. I used my Pentax 67II with a 165mm LS (leaf shutter lens). The leaf shutter lens allowed me to use flash synched at 1/250 of a second rather than 1/30 of a second. A flash cable connected the leaf shutter lens to a second Pocket Wizard which triggered the strobes. The model for the shoot was Nikki who did a fantastic job. Eboh took a variety of images with different outfits and poses. I would watch Eboh …
This month I will be at two bazaars on Okinawa. I will have a wide selection of prints including the larger limited edition prints (that are also available through the website) and some smaller open edition prints. Kadena Market Day November 21, 2009 at Schilling Community Center 10:00 – 15:00 F0ster Craft Show November 28, 2009 at Foster Community Center 10:00 – 16:00 There should be many fantastic vendors at each event, so If you’re in the area please drop on by and say hello. Christmas 2009 Print Orders If you are planning to buy a print through the Travel 67 website please place your order before December 10th to ensure that the item will be with you (or the recipient of the gift) by December 25th.
I have been slightly obsessed recently. I knew the photograph I wanted to take, it just took me several months to get it right. I had to assemble a suitable cast, find the right angle, create even lighting, and control the depth of field. To onlookers it may have looked like a grown man playing with toys, but this was a serious undertaking. Finally I got the shot I wanted: a Lego Legion.
I was given one more photography book for my birthday. I hadn’t mentioned it already as A) it came by sea so only arrived recently, and B) it has a few more words than most photography books so I had to sit down and read it. The book is A Camera, Two Kids, and a Camel: My Journey in Photographs by Annie Griffiths Belt, a National Geographic photographer who has managed to juggle her career with two kids and a camel. (Something you don’t even see at Cirque Du Soleil.) It would perhaps be best described as an illustrated autobiography. The author talks about her life as a National Geographic photographer and there were several interesting facts or pearls of wisdom along the way. These included: “Assignments in those days (early in her career) averaged three to six months. No assistants. No shot lists. No excuses.” Photographers were sent to a place after a five minute phone call and then it was their job to find the story behind that city or region and to photograph …
I was just making a print of this AIBO shot. AIBO are Sony’s autonomous robot dogs, and are fantastic pieces of engineering. In this photo there is an AIBO ERS-111 (silver) and an AIBO ERS-210 (gold) with the special AIBO pink ball which they can play with. AIBO was discontinued in 2005 as a cost cutting measure. It is a shame because AIBO was a great flagship product for Sony. AIBO remains however as a fine example of synergy between high-technology and “kawaii” cuteness.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 