All posts tagged: Sony

Tuari Dawson – Māori martial arts

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Portraits of Tuari, a master of Māori martial arts. He is holding a patu, which was made by his father-in-law.It was a real honour and a delight to photograph Tuari, and I am so pleased he could make his way up to my studio in Motobu. My goal is to visit him in New Zealand, as Tuari has offered me the opportunity to document Māori martial arts on location in beautiful Aotearoa. For those interested in the technical specs…. I photographed Tuari in my studio with the Sony A7RIV and the 70-200 GM2. The keylight was a Profoto D2 strobe with a gridded soft white beauty dish. The rim lights were two 1×4′ gridded softboxes with Proheads powered by a pro-7A 1200W generator. The background is a black felt on a Manfrotto / Lastolite EzyFrame. On his previous visit to Okinawa, I did a quick interview with Tuari and took some pics of him on the local beach here in Motobu. It is always a pleasure to hang out with Tuari, often swapping anecdotes of …

The Queen & her Thunderbird

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Back in 2017, Zachary bought his wife Kelley a location / studio portrait session for Christmas. Kelley had amazing ideas inspired by classic Disney movies, so we went with a demure princess look amongst Okinawa’s cosmos flowers, then transformed her into an all-powerful queen. With Kelley looking magnificent (or possibly Maleficent), we shot in the studio, then headed over to Bise Village to get images at the beach and amongst the fukugi trees. Zachary was even willing to step in front of the camera so that Queen Kelley could demonstrate the true power of the crown. Over the past 8 years, Zachary has himself transformed into a legendary Thunderbird. It was fantastic to see both Zachary and Kelley in the new Netflix documentary (That’s Zachary (Zeke) in the Official Trailer thumbnail!). So happy to see them following their dreams, and their lovely young family. Hopefully we’ll meet again if they are ever back in Okinawa, but until then safe flights as you serve your Queen and country. Thank you to Audra Pesicka for her great …

Building a thriving Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Government / BBC StoryWorks )

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One of the highlights of the year was writing and photographing an article for Tokyo Metropolitan Government with BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions. It was great to interview fascinating people, and to work with the team at BBC StoryWorks. The photography was varied, shooting both day and night images of Tokyo, and portraits using studio strobes and natural light. The little LOVOT robots were some of my cutest subjects! Looking forward to more assignments. For those outside of the UK, you can see the full article here. Images were shot with Sony A7RIV cameras using the 16-35mm and 24-105 lenses. When lighting the meeting at Tokyo Innovation Base I use the Profoto D2 strobe with an umbrella deep white L with diffuser.

Yoshihiro Kuniyoshi – 6th dan Uechi-ryu karate

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Yoichiro Kuniyoshi is 6th dan in Uechi-ryu karate, a student of the Uechi-ryu master Kiyohide Shinjo. Recently Yoichiro Kuniyoshi set up his own dojo in Yomitan so James and I stopped by to take some portraits of him and his younger brother Wataru Kuniyoshi (3rd dan). After shooting portraits in the dojo, we popped down to the beach where Kuniyoshi performed the kata Sanchin, as his younger brother punched, kicked, and smacked him with a piece of timber. Images shot with the Sony A7RIV with the 24-105mm lens. Strobe used was a Profoto B1 with a white softlight reflector.

The Beauty of Bise

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Last week, Yuki and I photographed a lovely young lady in an elegant kimono amongst the fukugi trees of Bise Village. For a few hours I had to stop checking the news on my phone, and just focus on sharing the beauty and culture of Okinawa. My heart goes out to all those suffering around the world, the horrors of the pandemic and war have claimed the lives of so many. It is hard not to feel overwhelmed by the bleakness of the last few years, but I try to remember all the good and positive things in the world. The Okinawan people went through almost unimaginable suffering during the Second World War. When I talk to those that survived, I am always struck by their love of life, and the joy they have for their family, friends and culture. I’ll continue to stay up to date with the news, but I’ll also do my best to be grateful for all that I have, and optimistic about the future for everyone in this global community. …

Pentax to Sony

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For many years I shot exclusively with the Pentax 67ii medium format film camera system. When the Pentax 645D digital medium format camera arrived I switched to shooting digital, and I’ve shot stills with the 645D and 645Z until now. The 645Z remains one of the best cameras for portrait photography. 私は長年、中判フィルムカメラシステム「PENTAX 67ii」で撮影してきました。デジタル中判カメラのペンタックス645Dが登場してからは、デジタルでの撮影に切り替え、645Dと645Zでスチルを撮影してきました。645Zは今でもポートレート写真に最適なカメラの一つです。 As a backup system I also had the excellent Pentax K-1 camera system with a 28-70 f2.8 lens. Another fantastic system for photographers. バックアップシステムとして、優れたペンタックスK-1カメラと28-70 F2.8レンズも持っていました。これも写真家にとっては素晴らしいシステムです A few years ago I also began shooting video. I started with the Sony A7Sii and then as things progressed with the Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate series I purchased a used Sony FS5 cinema camera. As the documentary series has continued I’ve had to purchase more Sony lenses, and in the near future will need to update both the Sony bodies to the latest models. 数年前、私はビデオ撮影も始めました。最初はソニーのA7Siiを使っていましたが、「SENSEI: MASTERS OF OKINAWAN KARATE」シリーズの制作が進むにつれ、中古のソニーFS5シネマカメラを購入しました。 ドキュメンタリーシリーズを続けていくうちに、ソニーのレンズをさらに購入しなければならなくなり、近い将来、ソニーのボディを両方とも最新モデルに更新する必要があります。 Having two completely separate systems for photography and video has created its own set of challenges in terms of storage, cost, and ultimately how much gear …