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Recycling Seamless Paper

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Seamless paper is a long wide roll of paper that photographers use to give a  plain even background to their studio images. When mounted to a wall or stand, it drops down then curves out along the floor creating a seamless background. I usually order my rolls from Amazon Japan as the shipping to Okinawa is free. This is particularly important as shipping items that are 2.72 meters long would normally result in extra shipping costs. Rolls usually come in two sizes 2.72m x 11m and 1.36 x 11m. There are many different colors to choose from but I stick with plain white and charcoal grey. I also have my portable plain black velvet background for karate master portraits. Some photographers use patterned muslin backgrounds, but I find they make images look very dated. Colored seamless backgrounds have their place, and Japanese studios often use pale pink and pale yellow backdrops, but I stick with white, grey and black. Gradations in tone can be created by aiming a light at the paper. As the background is …

Empty Streets

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At the moment, active duty military on Okinawa must be back on base before 11pm. As midnight approached on New Year’s Eve, the normally busy Park Avenue in Okinawa City was like a ghost town. It’s interesting to note that there seemed to be no Japanese in the area also. Park Avenue really needs a makeover if it’s to compete with other areas for business. At Music Town young Japanese were taking part in a rap dance battle, while in Chatan thousands had gathered to watch a fireworks display. Not surprising really that Park Avenue was left empty.

Photography Fundamentals Workshop

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Just spent a great weekend with Lian and Kevin teaching December’s Photography Fundamentals Workshop. On Saturday we covered theory, discussing equipment, exposure, composition and workflow. On Sunday we took what we’d learned out into the field and practiced photographing people at Ryukyu Mura and then landscapes at Cape Zanpa.   Coming Workshops Off Camera Flash Workshop Move your flash away from your camera to create more natural images or to give your photographs a drop of magical light. January 19 & 20 2013 1PM to 6PM Class Size: Max 12  Location: Ishikawa, Uruma City, Okinawa Instructors: Chris Willson & Pete Leong Price US$150 Photography Fundamentals Workshop Move beyond the auto modes by understanding your equipment, controlling exposure & depth of field, and composing images. February 2 & 3 2013 10AM to 6PM Class Size: Max 4   Location: Ishikawa, Uruma City, Okinawa Instructor: Chris Willson Price US$250

Kabuki-cho, Tokyo’s Red-Light District

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Kabuki-cho is Tokyo’s entertainment and red-light district. It is located on the east side of Shinjuku Station, it is literally on the other side of the railroad tracks from the government buildings and corporate offices of West Shinjuku. Kabuki-cho is filled with bars, restaurants, and the infamous host and hostess clubs. Some of the establishments are run or controlled by the Yakuza and there are numerous stories of people having a couple of drinks in a bar and then being given an unexpectedly large bill. Signs for different clubs fill the streets with the pictures of various hosts and hostesses on display. There are also a surprisingly large number of florists. It turns out that customers often buy roses for their favorite host / hostess along with huge floral displays for birthday parties and the opening of a new club. Other stores provide customers with gifts that are cringeworthy. Although, if you like crocodile skin and things encrusted with fake diamonds, you’d be in retail heaven. Some establishments have signs saying JAPANESE ONLY. Large guys …

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 …

A Photographer’s Christmas Wish List – Lightroom 4

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As Christmas, or more accurately the time for Christmas shopping, draws near, I thought I’d list a few things that would make good presents for photographers. (These are not hints to my own family, but things that I have and, or, would recommend for others) Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 is a photo management and editing program. What is does is create a simple and intuitive workflow for photographers from inserting the SD card into the computer and importing new images, through keywording and adding IPTC data, to editing the image, and then final exports to web, print or other applications. Rather than using Adobe Bridge for data management, then Camera Raw to process files, then opening them up in Photoshop CS6, Lightroom is your all in one solution. The editing part of the program isn’t anywhere near as powerful as Photoshop CS6, but more than enough for most applications. If you have an image that requires serious manipulation then you can simply export the image from Lightroom to Photoshop CS6. Both Lightroom and Photoshop CS6 …