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Mushama Festival, Hateruma Island (Part 3 -The Gods)

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Festivals in Okinawa’s southern islands (collectively know as the Yaeyama Islands) are similar but not identical to those on the main island of Okinawa. Shishi lions and ryukyu dancers are common to both, while it seems only the Yaeyama festivals include the god Miroku (white mask) and the rain god Fusamarah (red mask). The images of the man dressed as the rain god Fusamarah show how the presence of the American military has slowly made it’s way into the everyday lives of Okinawans even on the most remote islands. Local farmers are particularly fond of army surplus uniforms, they must be particularly rugged, cheap, and ubiquitous to have become almost standard equipment for Okinawans working out in their fields.

HD PENTAX-D FA645 MACRO 90mm F2.8 ED AW SR

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Pentax has just announced a new lens for the 645D system, the HD PENTAX-D FA645 MACRO 90mm F2.8 ED AW SR.That’s a ridiculously long name for a camera lens but all those letters are actually quite important and go a long way to explaining the price tag. HD – new high grade multi layer lens coating FA 645D – As with the new 55 and the 25mm lens the image circle is that of a full frame 645D sensor so you can use it on both the current 645D and (in theory) on a future full frame 645D camera MACRO Ability to focus very close allowing 0.5x magnification of the subject. 90mm A good short portrait lens length. Fits nicely between the 55mm and the 150mm (I currently use the 67 105mm lens with an adapter for this range) F2.8 A large aperture for a medium format lens  gives the option of shooting with a shallower depth of field and faster shutter speeds. ED (Extra-low Dispersion) Optically excellent glass. Clearer, sharper images. AW (All Weather) …

Canoe Eyes

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When photographing a person, if you bring the camera above their eyeline and ask them to lower their chin you can create what some call “canoe eyes”. As you can probably guess, they’re described as canoe eyes because the whites of their eyes form canoe shapes. Although canoe eyes appear most commonly in images of people being alluring, they can also be used to produce a more sinister vibe, or even a simple presidential portrait.

Manta Scramble, Ishigaki Island, Okinawa

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This month it’s manta season off the coast of Ishigaki. At the dive spot known as Manta Scramble there is a good chance of seeing one or even several mantas on your dive. I visited Ishigaki about 6 years ago while researching the travel feature Southern Comfort — Life on Ishigaki Island. Although I dove with the mantas, at that time I didn’t have an underwater camera system. And so many years later I returned to Ishigaki with all my gear to do three days of diving and to photograph a local festival. Diving with mantas was far easier than my recent trip to photograph the underwater ruins and hammerhead sharks of Yonaguni. Yonaguni had strong currents, heavy swells, and cold water, it was demanding diving even without a camera rig. Diving with mantas on Ishigaki is possible for snorkelers and less experienced divers. On my trip the biggest danger was sunburn. There are several rules for manta diving. Don’t touch, don’t chase, don’t exhale bubbles into their gills, and stay with your guide. The …

Photographer Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert

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After photographing Fuji Rock Festival, I managed to meet up with my friend Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert in Tokyo. We’ve been having these brief rendezvous over coffee for the best part of a decade. We’d discuss photography, our lives in Japan, assignments and the state of the world. I’d amuse Jeremy with tales of shooting Yakuza bottoms, and he’d inspire me with his images of whaling, Romani gypsys and Japanese cultural icons. A few days after our last meeting, Jeremy and his family moved back to Glasgow, Scotland. He doesn’t need me to wish him luck with his career, but I’ll continue to follow his adventures, albeit from a little further afar.

I am photographer, hear me tweet.

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For those who like their information in under 140 characters, I have now set up a Twitter account. I’d stayed clear of Twitter until now, with the view that people didn’t need to know what kind of soup I’d just eaten or that my dog had peed on the floor. I have since been told that Twitter is a very powerful tool for professionals, you just have to know how to use it. Following the advice of my photographic compatriots I shall add my occasional tweets to the 24-hour dawn chorus that is Twitter.

Typhoon Bolaven – Huffed and puffed, but the house didn’t fall down.

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After reports that it might be the strongest typhoon in more than a decade, Typhoon Bolaven was somewhat anticlimactic. This is a good thing. Fewer blackouts, fewer downed trees, fewer injuries. I went outside and got a few photos of the waves on Monday morning, but it became clear that what people really wanted to see were images of Bear conducting her lab reports. I didn’t see it at first, but a friend pointed out that the wave in the photograph below looks like a screaming banshee.