Wordless Wednesday: The Boat Scene

5 Images Shot Under Sunny Skies in Kunigami

November Is Becoming a Favorite Month

The heat is tolerable and the typhoon threat should have ended for the year.

Ideal weather, for being outdoors, led to a trip on the northeast side of the island.

There was no plan, other than, get out of town and, shoot some cameras.

The first interesting subject that popped up was, this abandoned boat.

It's got to be the original, Queen Izena ferry. How cool is that ?

It makes you wonder, why no one thought of putting it on display in a museum.

Someone did, paint "Clean Yo Beach" on the side. That sounds like a good idea.

A little farther north, these rocks caught my attention.

During low tide fishermen, climb them and, sit out there, hoping to catch some big ones.

If, I had to go fishing for food, I'd starve to death. It's not in my bag of tricks.

But, some folks can stay out there all day, not catch any and, still be happy.

One of my friends says, "A bad day of fishing, beats a good day, stuck at home!"

The big lenses stayed home today and, that was a mistake.

The Osprey was perched on an offshore rock and, this photo was taken at 350MM.

If a larger lens was used, I believe, there was a fish in that guy's talons.

That's alright, a bad day with the camera, beats being stuck in my office.

This Japanese sign, cheered me up, when I spotted some funny English on it.

"Think Globally, Act Yanbarly" sounds like a nice thing to do. Don't you think ?

Yanbaru or, Yambaru, is what the northern area is called, in local dialect.

People around the globe should act like Yambaru folks and, the world could be a better place.

Somebody, coined a new phrase and, wants us all, to act Yanbarly.

Well, I'll drink to that as soon as, I get out of this office. Go out and be Yanbarly, to everybody.

This last photograph was taken, heading south on the highway, to get home.

Confirmation is pending but, I think it may be a special rock formation.

If, my suspicions are confirmed, there's a juicy story, I can tell you, later.

Unlike many news outlets, these days, I think, it's important to tell the truth.

So, we'll have to wait for an expert's opinion before, I can give you the details.

Giving some rock in the ocean, a false name, wouldn't be a very Yanbarly thing to do.

Don't you agree ?

Shots Taken While Waiting for the June Full Moon

Not 100 Percent Yet

 

 

Technically, the full moon is scheduled to appear tomorrow night.

Living on a tropical island, it's best to shoot it whenever you can.

There's no telling, when some rain squalls might come along and, ruin a night's fun.

Using the Sigma Bigma

 

That's a nickname for the Sigma 50-500 zoom lens, I used on the Pentax K1.

Coupled with a 1.4 converter, it became a 70-700MM lens.

The moon hadn't appeared over the horizon and lower marine layer of clouds.

After standing in an observation tower for awhile, I wanted to start shooting.

A boat, sailing by the Ikei Island bridge, caught my eye.

So, I figured it would make a colorful animated GIF and, shot several frames of the action.

 Next, I turned around, facing north and, decided to take photos of some clouds.

 The sky, was a rich blue, most of the day. My kind of weather.

Some people, see things in the shapes of clouds. Not me. My imagination ran away.

Name this cloud and, I can email you a better copy of it.

 Way before the moon made an appearance, this bird showed up.

Later, I will look back through my files and, get its scientific name, which I can't recall.

After a few hours, in that tower, I may have gotten 15 photos of the, almost full moon.

And, 200 more photos, of stuff, I shot to keep from getting bored !

Travel Photo: Characters on the Ferry to Tsuken Jima

A Day-trip to Okinawa's Carrot Island

 

 

If you ever spot a boat with these mascots on the side, it's the ferry for Tsuken Island.

Three of us got aboard at 11AM and, did some walking and photography.

It isn't a very large island but, you do notice how peaceful it can be.

There are no taxi cabs, dump trucks or construction sites making a racket.

There may be a bird or two making some noise or, a farm tractor plowing.

But, you can pretty much, spend the day, hearing yourself breath.

It seems like, carrots are never in season, when I visit this island.

It must be winter time when the crop gets harvested.  I don't hop on boats in the winter.

Maybe, if someone tells me when the Carrot Festival takes place, er....

...if they have something like a Miss Carrot beauty contest, I'd go visit in January !

The mission today, was to get some GPS coordinates done and, head on home.

It took some talking to locals to find a few locations and a bit of hiking.

By 3PM all the sites we went to see were located and the photography was done.

More about this trip will be posted at a later date but, I can give a hint, now.

Peku Cave on Tsuken Island Okinawa: What's So Special ?

4th Annual Sabani Boat Race (Photos) Ou-Jima, Okinawa

It Will Become a Big Festival

 

 

Sabani sailing and racing, is starting to catch-on so, you should hurry and start building one.

The races took place, yesterday, down at the little island called, Ou-Jima.

Typhoons, in the area, caused some rough sea conditions but, that didn't stop the sabani people.

The races start with the ringing of a gong.

Way out there, several hundred meters, was a marker.

They had to paddle the boats into the wind.

That's because, if they tried using sails, they'd probably go backwards.

After turning at the marker, sails and paddles were the way to go.

Maybe, it would be a good idea to take some sailing lessons, before you try this.

If you don't know how to steer the thing, you could end-up in China.

Dropping the sail seemed to work best, when it was time to turn around, again.

Just before the bridge, that connects Ou Island to Okinawa, they had another marker.

And, rowing into the wind again, was the only way to reach the finish point.

Ou-Jima is Famous for Tempura and Sun-dried Squid

 

Here's what will happen, someday.

Somebody will come along and put up some food tents and sell yakisoba and other stuff.

So, I don't have to run around the island, looking for hamburgers.

It will become a big event.

Wait and see !



Related Links:

Unusual Boat Photos From Ou-Jima, Okinawa, Japan

14th Annual Zamami to Naha Sabani Race


Douglas Brooks Boatbuilder

Having Sort of a Butsumetsu (仏滅) Day Today, Groan

One of Those Days in Japan

 

Today, it would have been better if I had just never got off the futon.  Ouch.

A Butsumetsu (仏滅) is the term used for a bad luck day.

You'll have to excuse the mess my desk is in.  Piles of inspiration keep getting piled on it.

Luckily, I cropped the rest of the office out of this photo.

Nobody really needs to see half of the junk scattered around the place.

When I came in this morning, I found this escaped science project, I had been working on.

The little critter, (I'm not sure what it is) is back in confinement, now.

We'll just have to wait and see if the cocoon hatches.

It hasn't moved in hours.

It could be dead. Or, I could have re-captured an empty cocoon.

And, whatever it is, may be crawling around in here, somewhere.

At any rate, I got tired of watching, nothing happen.

So, I decided to update my National Geographic Your Shot profile.

Totally unaware, that I was having a Butsumetsu day, I got online and started doing stuff.

Over at National Geographic, you can do all kinds of neat things to your profile.

Like, I took this picture of my camera waiting for a boat to appear on the scene.

They let you make any background you want, to spiff-up your profile photo.

So, that's what I did.

And, you can hook up links to your Facebook, Twitter and Google accounts.

So, I did that, too.

If you go over there to see me, just be careful about pushing social media buttons.

Some of them say stuff like 404.  That's an error.

Or, Sorry, this page isn't available.

Groan.

Now, I like to look at the bright side of things, most times.

The day is almost over and I have never had two days like this, in a row.

So, everything should be alright tomorrow.

That Butsumetsu stuff is really from Buddhist beliefs and I'm not a Buddhist.

Just, Butsumetsu things happen to me every now and then.


 Learn more about those days you shouldn't get out of bed at the links below.


Japanese Calendar Wiki 

Good & Bad Days in the Japanese Calendar

On the Way to Zamami Island: Lookout for Flying Fish

The Kerama Islands Were Just Ahead

 

So, I figured everybody hanging over the side couldn't wait to jump ship.

That's when I started noticing the fish

They weren't just jumping out of the water.  They were flying, like birds.

 See that little guy, down there ?

Danged if I didn't leave my big lens down below, in my backpack.

Knowing, they'd stop flying if I went to change lenses, I shot with what I had, an 18-250mm.

 The next time I go out on a boat, I'll be ready to catch better shots of them.

It got me thinking.

Do you suppose they taste anything like chicken ? 

Bird Portrait: Rock Thrush on the Rocks

Today, over on the island of Senaga Jima, this Rock Thrush posed for a second.

Over the past few days, we've been out shooting all over Okinawa.

And, on some of the outer islands accessible by car.

So, there are over a thousand photos of birds waiting in my (ahem-ahum) project bin.

 Not to worry. Everything will get caught-up around here when the weather turns cold.

The sun is shining and I don't have to wear socks with my flip-flops.

So, like a farmer, I have to make hay while the sun shines.

If you don't hear from me tomorrow, that could mean I'm taking care of an itch.

Itchin' to hop on a boat and hit some far away island.

And, if anybody asks what I do for a living, I know what I'll tell them I do.

JUST LIVING !

Visit my website for today's Feature Photo

Energy Conservation Photo of the Week

There's a little confession I have to make.

When I'm out with a camera shooting something like this, I don't always see the background.

 Peeking through a little hole in the back of the camera, I'm concentrating on the boat.

It's moving fast and the sail is flapping in the breeze.

I'm concerned about shadows, light and the glare coming off of wet oars.

Focus is on the sabani, people rowing and the sail, nothing else.

The camera is being panned, to compose a photo with the subject moving.

The orange-tiled roof on the buildings, I was aware of, and some blue sky.

But, I'll be danged if I knew there were solar panels in the picture.

When I developed the photos I noticed them.

We have wind and solar power in the picture, along with some people power.

So, I'm calling this my Energy Conservation Photo of the Week !

Visit my website for today's Feature Photo

Guest Photo: While Waiting for the Boat Don't Waste Time

Photo by RyukyuRu

There I be decked out in my Sunday best waiting for a boat ride to Komaka-Jima.

This little excursion had me waking up at 3AM to go shoot a sunrise over Kudaka Island.

We wound up at the port a tad early.  So, I caught a little catnap.

Dang.  If I had known I was going to be a photographic subject, I'd have fixed my hair.

Sunday's Silly Sign (Photo) FEB 12, 2012 Boat May Tipple

This Sunday's Silly Sign comes from the west coast of Okinawa, Japan.

The weather was sort of unpredictable when I spotted this sign.

There's a saying I have about the weather in the Ryukyu Islands.

It goes like this,

"If you don't like the weather in Okinawa, you can either wait five minutes for it to change or, go to the other side of the island."

My home is on the east coast of the island so, after I read

BOAT MAY TIPPLE DOWN

I went home.


MORE SILLY SIGNS MAY BE SEEN IN THE DOOZIES

PHOTO OF THE DAY:  OGIMI DRAGONBOAT

Sunday's Silly Sign (Photo) Jun 26, 2011

This Sunday Silly Sign was a bit of a challenge for me to compose and shoot.  We were on this boat, bouncing around on the waves, speeding towards Ie Jima, an island off the west coast of Okinawa, Japan.

Remember that movie TITANIC where that kid Leonardo Da Vinci, er something like that, drowned, just because there wasn't any room on the liferaft for him ?  Well, I ain't goin down thataway.

Whenever I place my life in the hands of some sorta public transportation, first thing I do is figure out a way to escape alive.

So, I sat down on the deck of this bouncing boat, in the rain, and made sure I snapped a photo of the sign telling me how to escape.

While everybody else was Ooh-ing and Aah-ing at the scenery breezing by while we were speeding across the ocean I sneaked into a dark corner and reviewed this shot on my LCD screen.

All that crap about Checking, Launching and Boarding, somebody gets paid to do that stuff, not me.

The only part I'm interested in knowing is how to ECSAPE.  So, that's what I read first.

It says CUT OFF THE PAINTER BY THE KNIFE and they have a picture of the guy there.

Lucky for me they don't have those BOOBS AT THE TSA working here in Japan or they probably wouldn't let me take my pocket knife on the boat.

Really, I wouldn't want to be the one who has to cut the little guy.  I'd stand back and hope somebody else does it first.

They couldn't pay me enough to be one of the painters on these boats, either.  I ain't that dumb ya know.  Just smart 'nuf to make sure I don't wind up in the drink like that Leonardo Guy.

If they'd a had some of these silly signs for people to read on that Titanic boat, maybe it wouldn't of really happened the way it did and Leonardo, whoever he was could still be painting for us !


VISIT MY HOMEPAGE FOR THE PHOTO OF THE DAY

What's Wrong With That Picture? Boobs at the TSA (Photo)

Alright, let me explain. This is my picture. I'm just a visual kinda guy. I have to have a picture to look at when I do my writing. This one just happened to come in handy for what I'm about to tell you.

True Story. I know it's true because it came from a reliable source. I just wonder if anybody else, besides me wants to know what's wrong with that picture. It happened back in a place called Seattle, at an airport, somewhere in the USA. It involves some people, I'm going to start calling Boobs.  They work for the TSA.

It involved a woman. She's like a State Representative from Alaska, USA. She just wants to get on the plane and fly home to Alaska. But, the full body scan thing and the Boobs running the machine decide something suspicious is going on under her blouse.

Well, the gal decides she doesn't want to be frisked and takes a boat back to Alaska instead !

Now, I'll probably have to go through all kinds of screening if I ever decide to fly again. The Boobs at the TSA will be waiting for me. Maybe, they'll start checking boats someday, too.

Have a look at the story, yourself. Then, tell me something.  What's wrong with that picture ?

You may also like TRAVEL, TSA, TYNER AND THOUGHTS ABOUT THE MOON

Photo Of The Week: A Dragonboat at the Unjami

Here ya go, one of the photos of a boat taken at last Sunday's Unjami Matsuri. That's a Festival held once a year in the northern Village of Ogimi Okinawa, Japan.

There's probably another 100 or so pictures in the developing process but, I have to get something posted online before the folks up there start hunting for me.

See, I promised them I'd be posting their photos this week for them to see. Once I get caught-up, I'll print what I think are the best and drive back to the Village and present them to people.

It's really a lot easier to post them online and let folks tell me which pictures they'd like printed. The problem with that is: PEOPLE LIKE TO STEAL PHOTOS OFF THE INTERNET.

CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT?

So, what I usually tell everybody I know who shoots decent photos is:
DON'T POST ANYTHING ONLINE THAT YOU DON'T WANT STOLEN.

It works for me.

The best of the best photos I take never see the digital daylight of the internet. They get hidden.

Then, the 2d and 3d place best photos, I do stuff to them before posting online. You can't stop people from snatching your hard work, for free but, you can catch the suckers pretty easily.

Anyway, back to the Dragonboat photo. The night before the big event, while we were drinking with some of the Village VIPs, I was asked by some young guy if I could get a shot of him in the Dragonboat the next day. So, I promised I would.

All I know for sure is, the boat was red and yellow and the Dude had black hair. I think I got him.

If I didn't capture him in this picture, he's bound to be somewhere in the next few batches I develop. More later.....

A Travel Photo Thursday Entry at BUDGET TRAVELERS SANDBOX