Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Travel Photo Thursday: UNESCO Castle Nakajin: A New Angle

Here is UNESCO World Heritage Site: Nakajin-jo (Castle) in Okinawa, Japan from a new angle.  This will be my weekly submission to LadyExpat's Budget Travelers Sandbox.

Last night, I got in a rush and thought I'd get off easy submitting that photo I did a simple HDR job on.  Well, that probably won't cut the mustard with LadyE.

In my almost-thorough-research I'm always pretending to do, I discovered: SHE GOT THAT PHOTO FROM ME BEFORE !

It was way back in 2010. That was, like, last year. December of last year to be exact. SHUCKS.

So, seeing as I have gazillions of photos of these UNESCO Castles that have never seen digital daylight, I dug up a different one. This is from a new angle, one that most travelers don't get to see.

All the touristy brochures show castles from the entrance. That's nice if you're looking around for front doors to go through to visit these historic landmarks.

Act like Hagar the Horrible and knock on the castle's front door to do the Viking Trick or Treat thing.

Sometimes, I like to go and shoot castles from different positions.  Usually, that has something to do with where the light shines best for my purposes. And, it gives me photos that nobody else gets, not even on postcards. I got the part of the castle someone coming from the sea to attack the place might run into.

They built these castles by stacking cut limestone rocks without any mortar. Now, imagine sailing your boat from China, Indonesia, Norway, Pennsylvania, Scotland (They discovered America, ya know) or any one of those foreign countries and climbing over 300 meters above sea level to attack Nakajin Castle. If you didn't go knock on the front door, this is what you'd see.

Guess what would happen when you started attacking and hollering "Yer money or your life" ?

Nothing would happen.  The defenders of the Ryukyu Kingdom would just wait.

They would wait until you started getting real close and climbing the walls. That's when the good stuff starts to happen. They'd pick up the unmortared rocks and drop them on your head.  Hah !

This should keep me from getting into DEEP KIMCHI with Lady Expat for this week's Travel Photo Thursday. I wonder if she really eats that stuff ?


13 comments:

Jorie Pacli said...

I'm speechless or am I actually? The photo is stunning and one of a kind! You must be a professional photographer or is it the trick from your SLR? Hmmmm... I just love it and would love to share it too..:) It's great knowing you btw so I'll be following your site from now on...

RyukyuMike said...

Jorie,
Glad to see I have a new follower. Just keep poking around my blog posts and galleries and you can pick up a few tricks that will work on Point and Shoot Cameras, as well as, DSLRs.
The camera is just a tool. The photographer makes the picture.

Cheers,
Mike

chejom2010 said...

im soo glad that i found Okinawas picture gallery. what a great job.i miss that place.

Jim said...

Agree with that last sentence Mike.And we learn how to visualise the subject in our mind from different angles, looking for the best position in relation to the light or other features we can use to frame the shot. Or just standing back a bit and including some foreground interest. Even a few wildflowers on a corner of the scene works wonders.
Jorie comes up with great pics so you'll have a dedicated follower now !

Jim said...

http://holesinmysoles.blogspot.com/2011/02/on-budget-travelers-sandbox-has-great.html
Temples of Orchna, India.
Ooops , here's my travel Thursday Photo.

Cathy Sweeney said...

Great angle - love the pic. I've got a long way to go to take photos like this.

RyukyuMike said...

Chejom2010,
Thank you. Visit again, anytime.

Cheers,
Mike

Unknown said...

HaHa Mike....It's nice to see that you've risen to my high standards once again. You know me, nothing but the best will do.......(translate this into......you silly _____ _____}
:):)

Lovely shot Mike. I can see you in your helmet, spear in hand, panting up the hill to scale the wall and steal the money, or the princess!

Thanks for being part of #TPThursday.

RyukyuMike said...

Jim,
Thanks for visiting, again. We should get together sometime and write a book. Bet between the two of us we could cmoe up with, something like "A Thousand Ways You Should Not Take Photos".
Not sure about you but, I think taking bad photos came naturally, to me. And learning from my mistakes has been my best teacher !

Cheers,
Mike

RyukyuMike said...

Cathy,
Thank you. One of these days, if I'm not careful, getting the great angles could put me over a cliff !
Keep shootin', great photos are in your future.

Cheers,
Mike

RyukyuMike said...

LadyE,
Huh? Me steal money? No way !
Now, princess, hmm !

Ryan said...

Fantastic angle of the castle Mike and thanks for the link. One trick they used to defend castles in Scotland was to pour hot oil over the attackers then light them up with burning arrows. Ah how I miss the good ol days!!

RyukyuMike said...

Ryan,
Yea, I remember those days before OPEC came along and made using oil uneconomical.
Pretty much these days, I'm religious. I religiously follow Hagar, everyday !
Cracks me up. How about you ?