A couple of pics of Yuki that I tacked on to another studio shoot earlier this month. The shot above was taken with the 645Z and the 90mm lens, while the shot below was taken with the Pentax K-1 camera and the 28-105mm lens. Although the 28-105 lens has a maximum aperture of f5.6 at 105mm it is still possible to shoot portraits with a nice shallow depth of field. Makeup by Audra Presika. The theme is a mixture of Titania the fairy queen, and Pris the replicant.
Early Saturday morning I was out at the beach in Nakijin Village shooting some promotional images for Hannah Hooper Yoga. Hannah wanted some simple clean shots she can use as illustrations and backgrounds for her new website. I used both the 645Z and the K-1 and a Priolite HotSync Flash to add light removing the harsh shadows on Hannah. We also took a few portraits with some softer lighting. Finally we moved to a beach in Motobu that has beautiful rocky walls. A great morning out in the sun. If you’re ever looking for a yogi, check out Hannah Hooper Yoga. 🙂
I’ve visited Kyoto numerous times before shooting cherry blossom, festivals, and the fall colors. On this trip I thought I’d spend a day shooting some portraits of Yuki in a kimono at various locations in the city. This will allow me to provide clients with some new model released Kyoto images. We started at Ryōan-ji the Zen temple known for its beautiful rock garden. There were hordes of visitors at Kinkaku-ji “The Golden Pavillion” but we found a quiet spot for tea. Ginkaku-ji “The Silver Pavillion” was similarly busy, but I only needed a break in the crowds for 1/125 of a second. We then strolled along the Philosopher’s Path. Quick pose under the umbrella at Chion-in temple, then through Maruyama Park to Kiyomzu-dera. I wasn’t the only person taking pics, and Yuki wasn’t the only person in a kimono or yukata in Kyoto. A boom in international visitors plus cherry blossom in full bloom meant that the city was not particularly tranquil. I did however get the pics I wanted and I can always find …
The Japan Open Roller Derby Tournament 2016 took place at Okinawa Comprehensive Park on March 25th and 26th. Here are a few pics from Saturday’s Pirate City v Misawa Killa Geishas. This was the first time I’ve ever watched Roller Derby, so it took a little time before I could work out what was happening. Basically, the two teams of women on skates travel around a small flat oval track in the same direction. The teams get point by having their appointed “jammer” (wearing the star helmet cover) lap the oval. The rest of the team blocks the opponents jammer and assists their own jammer. Player can’t use their hands, elbows or feet to block. So the teams often create a defensive wall , checking the jammer with their hips. Contact, however, is fierce and the hits were hard. There are going to be a lot of sore and bruised players today. Overall it was a great experience to watch and photograph. All the teams were great, but the Danish team Copenhagen dominated the matches …
Out today with the Churashima Research Center taking pics from their research boat. A much happier occasion than photographing the carcass of a whale that had died and then washed up on the beach. We were in the waters of the coast of Motobu not far from Sesoko Island. We saw around 20 whales in total, but it was the first mother and calf pair that were the star performers. The whales slapped the surface with their long pectoral fins, and perform breaches before crashing back down onto the surface of the water. Pics shot with the Pentax 645Z and a 300m lens. Used a monopod to take the strain off my arms. Shot at ISO 400 so that I could use shutter speeds between 1/2000 and 1/4000 of a second.
Another shot from the Nakijin shoot this time using a simple reflector to bounce some light back onto Yuki. You still have clear shadows caused by the early afternoon sun, but the reflector is enough to keep them in check on the subject’s face. You don’t however get the clear catchlights that you would have got with the flash. Pentax 645Z, 90mm lens, reflector.
We were introduced to Maeshiro Shusei through his student Tsueno Shimabukuro. Maeshiro sensei may be 83 but he is full of energy, something he attributes to his healthy diet. He is one of the elder statesmen of Okinawan karate.
2015 began with a quick trip to photograph the snow monkeys of Jigokudani Onsen, Nagano. Back in Okinawa I continued to document the karate masters and the people of the Ryukyu Islands. A few weeks in spring were spent in the UK where I hung out with family and took pics of some local icons. Back in Okinawa I had to update the Okinawa and Kyushu chapters of the Fodors Japan travel guide. I popped down to Iriomote to check out the options for visitors. And up to Kumamoto for a bit of history. Around the same time I was working as a location manager for the Okinawa episode of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown. A cool experience introducing Okinawa to a huge new audience. On March 25th, I bought a house in the morning, then in the afternoon Yuki and I got married at the town office. A good chunk of the summer was then spent renovating the house and making it weatherproof. Yuki and I got some wedding pics done by being models for …
A few pics from a recent shoot with some beautiful Italian craftsmanship. The first couple of shots show the difference created by lens selection. Both were shot with the 645Z camera but for the image above I used the 35mm wide angle lens and the image below is the 90mm. For these final shots I have to thank Patrick for driving so that I could get images of the car in motion. A really fun shoot!
Shooting a client and the 2015 Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale. This was shot with the Pentax 645Z and 90mm lens. I used the Priolite M-PACK1000 HotSync flash along with a white beauty dish for light. The HotSync system is designed for shooting flash while using fast shutter speeds, but it also works at standard or slower sync speeds. In this image it was 1/20 f16 ISO100.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 