A little video I created showing cherry blossoms across Japan. Images were taken between 2002 and 2023. Some were the Pentax 67II medium format film camera, some were the Pentax 645D, the Pentax, 645Z, and the most recent were the Sony A7RIV.
Our team have worked with the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology for several years. We’ve photographed and videoed several events including graduations and TEDx events. Recently we were one of the teams asked by OIST to produce some new commercial photography. The photographs will be used in a variety of media, and as they appear in public, we’ll be able to share them. This week a new banner promoting research appeared with two of the four images created by our team. I shot the first pic and underwater specialist Shawn Miller shot the third pic. Always a pleasure to work on interesting projects
On May 19th 2020 six Okinawan Karate Masters were recognized by the prefecture as an Intangible Cultural Asset Holder in the Field of Okinawan Karate and Martial Arts with Weaponry. I am honored to have photographed them all for the Karate Masters Portrait Project over the past 8 years. Congratulations to Iha Sensei, Kikugawa Sensei, Maeshiro Sensei, Nakahodo Sensei, Iha Sensei and Takara Sensei! I’m also happy to announce that episode 8 in the YouTube series Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate is now online. I’m really proud of all the work that went into this episode, the team that helped create it, and the sponsors and supporters of the series. Iha Sensei speaks a mix of Japanese, Okinawan (a separate language not a dialect of Japanese), and English. It made transcriptions and translations a challenge, and there were even a few corrections after it went live, after getting some extra feedback from Nakasone Sensei. Please like, comment, and share the videos so that the YouTube algorithm introduces it to others.
Due to the coronavirus all sessions and projects scheduled for before May 9th are postponed until a later date. Stay safe, stay home, we’ll get through this.
Tsuguo Sakumoto, 7 times consecutive world champion, and coach to 9 world champions including Arata Kinjo, Takuya Uemura and Ryo Kiyuna. He is 9th-dan in Ryuei-ryu karate. Ryo Kiyuna is one of Japan’s best chances to win a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 (2021) Olympics so Sakumoto Sensei is more than ever a very busy man. Luckily he liked the portraits of him I shot in 2014 so we managed to get to interview him last September for the Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate Series. You can learn more about the series, and even how to support is here: https://travel67.com/the-karate-masters-portrait-project/sensei-documentary/
Last weekend was the final photography workshop of 2019. It’s a real pleasure to share my passion with others and a delight that Jasmine gets to join us on our adventures. There are going to be a limited number of workshops in 2020 due to competing work on the Karate Masters Portrait Project, the karate video series, the 2020 Olympics, and a trip to the UK. There will be two Fundamentals Workshops at the start of the year, and another couple yet to be scheduled in the fall. Come join the fun in 2020. Click on the links below to the Facebook event pages. January 11th & 12th Photography Fundamentals with Chris Willson February 8th & 9th Photography Fundamentals with Chris Willson
October 25th is Karate Day in Okinawa. There was a ceremony at the Karate Kaikan in the morning where 6 masters performed a kata, and in the evening there was the 100 Kata for Karate Day event organized by James Pankiewicz of the Asato Dojo and the Dojo Bar. This year the event took place in Matsuyama Park, one of the key spots for Okinawa karate. The kids started at 5pm and were joined by the adults at 6pm. Great job everyone. Here are some pics of the awesome kids going for their century. Video of the festivities on Karate Day and on Kokusai Street on the following Sunday coming soon….
Early Sunday morning I had the opportunity to photograph the musicians and dancers of a Gamelan Indonesian dance group. I shot portraits using natural light and a wide aperture against green vegetation. I also used the felt black background and a single strobe setup from the karate masters series to create a second set of images. Here’s a quick behind the scenes shot showing the black Lastolite background leaning against our car, and a Profoto B1 strobe with OCF beauty dish on the stand. Portraits were shot using the Pentax 645Z with the 90mm and 55m lenses. A huge thank you to the Gamelan dancers and musicians, and to Michael Lyon for setting up the shoot. Looking forward to seeing your performances in the future.
Came across this fascinating digital painting that was based on one of the outtakes from the 2016 “fisherman” shoot with Michael Lynch for the Pentax K-1 exhibition. UP! from hashem alshaer on Vimeo. Michael was mugging for the camera and staring wildly at the sky. The digital painting version transforms the picture to a whole new level. Here’s my finished photo of the wild seafaring Michael.
Episode 3 of the documentary series Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate is now on YouTube! After a couple of months working on it, it is a great way to end the Heisei era! A huge thank you to Koichi Nakasone for giving up his time to be interviewed and demonstrating his techniques. Thank you to James, Becka, Angelina, Yuki, Michael and Gary for help create the video. James literally got a little choked up in the making of this episode 🙂 Please share via social media to get the word out, and also thumbs up, comment and subscribe on YouTube so that it is recommended by the algorithm to more viewers. This crowd-funded documentary series would not be possible without the help of the international karate community. Thank you all. Main Sponsors: Fusei Kise, Isao Kise and the OSMKKF-USA Series Sponsors: Cezar Borkowski – Northern Karate Schools Marguerite “Peggy” Hess – Jensen Beach Uechi Ryu Karate Do Dojo Reece Cummings – Cummings Karate Dojo Michael Quinn – Okinawa Shogen-Ryu Karate-Do Europe Jerry Figgiani – Shorin …
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 