Reflections Along the Okukubi River

Nature Therapy for the Soul

Lately I've been taking early morning hikes with the dog, trying to get him in shape.

Way before sunup, I'm out navigating Okinawa's east coast in Kin Town.

By the time the sun rises above surrounding hills and trees I'm walking along the river.

These birds, known as Black-winged Stilts entertained me, circling above the water.

It was 6:39 AM on April 8th, when this image was captured.

Can you remember what you were doing at the time?

Moving along the east bank of the river, I keep looking for interesting reflections to shoot.

Some of my Okinawa friends, who have moved off the island, will enjoy these photos.

They bring back memories of hours, spent on the river, enjoying nature photography.

Not actually planning on bird photography, I was using wide angle lenses.

It would be 7:15 AM by the time I reached this Kin Bypass bridge.

The dog and I, would continue our leisurely stroll all the way to the Kin Dam.

There, we would rest in the shade and take a refreshing water break.

If there's a river or lake near you, checkout the early morning light.

You might be surprised, what the scenery does for your spirits!

Google Maps Location 

Ahacha -- A Bridge Off the Beaten Path in Urasoe Okinawa

Not Much Traffic Here

A Guidebook provided by Urasoe City Board of Education led to this find.

Buzzing along the highways and byways of the island, you never see things like this.

There are a couple dozen more treasures like this, I'll be hunting down.

Folks who can read these signs, might find the place, quicker than, I did.

But, if they are, flying down side streets, in little 4 cylinder cars, they could miss out, too.

It's best, to get off your rump and, do some walking. Even doctors will tell you that.

The bridge, isn't visible from the road up above but, it's a beauty.

Stone-work like this, takes plenty of hard labor to accomplish, I know.

It should be photographed and, displayed for the whole world to admire.

Walking across, to the other side, I shot this scene, showing the river below.

More than a few centuries old, it must have been a struggle, building this bridge.

Imagine the laborers, jumping into the river, to cool off, at the end of the day.

For me, it was important to, get close-up photos of both sides, showing the stone work.

What if, they had an east side and a west side construction crew?

Both crews deserve to have their work displayed. That would only be fair.

Backing off with the camera, gives an idea, why it's not visible from the city street.

A Long Long Time Ago

It might help if, I explain my interest in architecture such as this.

When I was very young a stonemason from Italy taught me something.

Maybe, eight years old or so, I hauled heavy rocks, in a wheelbarrow, for him.

As fast as the stones could be hauled, he would use them, going higher and higher.

Hard labor, sweat and tears from dawn until dusk, he kept on building.

From a foundation, dug in the ground, to above the roof in the sky, he built a chimney.

That chimney and fireplace, were the first time, our house got heated.

From That Foundation

Learning hard work, mixing mortar, handling stones, did something for me.

It gave me an appreciation for architectural design and, respect for those in the industry.

Some folks, these days, would consider that work, child labor and criminal.

It wasn't. It was friends and family, helping each other and more.

Consider it, character building.  That's what I do.

With all my heart, I appreciate the work of builders, laborers and engineers.

All that's left to say is, something I should have said, way back then.

One night, when the old stonemason was sleeping, something strange happened.

Signore Caccavale, "I didn't mean, to piss in your boots."

"I'll buy you a beer, when I get to the other side. OK?"

Map for Ahacha Bridge

Travel Photo: Kin Bridge After Sunset

Animated GIF Created with Eleven Images

 

 

Camera: Pentax K1

Lens: Pentax 15-30 at 30MM

Exposure:  f/16  6 sec   ISO 100 

Location:  Kin Town, Okinawa, Japan

Date and Time JUL 14 2016 Shortly before 8PM 

Related Post:

Viewing the Kin Bridge with a Wide Angle Lens

There's Something About That Bridge

One Night on a Bar Stool

 

 

This gal, asked me where I had been that day with the cameras and, I showed her this photo.

She got all excited, her eyes got real big and she said, "I want that picture." 

If, she had offered a large sum of paper money, I would have printed it right away.

But, she don't give me free beer and, I don't give away free photography. 

She got busy serving other customers so, I put the photo away.  Click, cell phone OFF.

Last Night Was Her Birthday

 

Just as I walked into the bar, everybody was singing Happy Birthday.

They had a cake, lighted candles and all kinds of people brought presents for her.

Crap. I didn't know about it. I felt lousy but, ordered a beer anyway.

What the Heck

 Today, I dug up the photo file and decided to print it.

The image at the top of this page has power lines, shooting off into the upper right corner.

They are a distraction so, I dragged some sky and clouds over them.

Tonight, I'll drop by the bar and give the print to the gal, as a belated birthday present.

There's no telling why, she got so excited over that picture of a bridge.

Maybe, when she was younger, she lost something down there.

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 !

Looking at Ikei Island Bridge from Kin Town

Waiting for Moon Rise

 

 

One of my favorite spots for photographing the full moon is a tower in Kin Town.

It's always a good idea, to get out and practice a little bit early.

The walk to this observation point only takes about 10 minutes and, I needed some sunshine.

A Gitzo tripod, Pentax K1 and 300MM lens with a 1.4 converter, were used for this shot.

One of the features, I really like about the new Pentax, is the GPS function.

It puts the location, you're shooting from, into Geo-tags on each photo.

That could be confusing, to some people if, they're looking for that bridge.

Latitude: 26.27.174480

Longitude: 127.55.21.92

Those are the coordinates, embedded in the properties of the bridge image.

But, I'm a few miles away from that bridge, using 420MM of lens, to capture it.

Someone, trying to find out the location of this tower, should use those coordinates.

To locate the Ikei Island bridge, it would be better, to find an image, taken with a shorter lens.

There's one, I shot from, much closer, over HERE.

Travel Photo: Ikei Island Bridge Okinawa Japan

Camera: Pentax K1

Lens: Pentax 15-30MM ED 2.8ED at 15MM

Exposure: f/22   1/30   ISO 100

Location: Miyagi Island, Okinawa, Japan

Date and Time:  MAY 27 2016  10:09AM

Related Post: A Look at Ikei Island in Okinawa Japan

15 Photos from the Higashi Village Azelea Festival

These Flowers Will Brighten Up a Cloudy Day

 

 

Don't let the weather loonies, keep you locked up indoors this month.

One weather channel will predict heavy rain and, another says clouds and sunshine.

 Then, showers will come in late the afternoon.  They're all nuts.

Up into the hills of Higashi, we decided to go and, check on the azaleas, again.

It turned out to be a bit cloudy and hazy, at times but, we spotted sunshine sometimes, too.

Just peeking through the Tsutsuji Matsuri (Azelea Festival) sign, things were looking good.

 There were lots more bright colored flowers blooming than, last time we came here.

 These pretty girls, take your money and give you tickets, to get in, for only 300 Yen.

They remembered me, from the last time I was there.  Last Friday.

So, after joking around awhile, I asked if, I could take their picture.

And, got smiles with peace signs.  Little darlings.

 The stage, directly in front of this hillside of flowers, was a bit distracting.

But, I bet when there are dancers, up there, it looks much more attractive.

Not a big fan of cloudy, grey skies, I decided to keep the lens out of the sky.

Between a wide angle lens and a zoom, for close-ups, I shot lots of flower images.

With a camera, you could easily, spend two or three hours, walking those hills.

So, that's what Doc Graff and I, planned on doing, as long as, the rain held off.

Azaleas come in all sorts of colors so, I tried to get a variety to show everyone.

 There are still many flower buds, that haven't opened yet but, will in the near future.

 Not too wild about the pure white flowers, I preferred shooting mixed colors.

These things look psychedelic.  I wonder if anyone ever tried to smoke the things,

Just kidding but, they hurt my eyes.  What color are they, anyway ?

Mother Nature, provided a black backdrop for this pink flower.

It's actually a big rock, that had been rained upon, before we showed up.

Another thing it proved to be handy for, was blocking the wind from shaking the subject.

I shot more of these psychedelic things, in order to show you the unopened flower-buds.

Probably, during the next week these hills will see full bloom for the Azalea Season.

 One flower, in the center of this scene, appeared to be almost orange, in color.

 By now, I was feeling like, I had enough hill-climbing and flowers, for the day.

So,  I decided to take some parting shots, on the way out of there.

Here, you get Azalea Bridge, pine trees and, a bit of ocean, all in one snap of the shutter.

Down here, you can see families crossing the Azalea Bridge, from outside the park.

Do you suppose, we should head back up to those hills, next week ?

Old Okukubi River Bridge Photos

Once a Main Highway Through the Ryukyu Island

 

 

Out today with 420MM of lens on the camera, no birds showed up.

Walking all those miles with a heavy load, I wasn't coming home empty handed.

It took some creativity and, plenty of backing up, to shoot these photos.

A sign near the Kin Dam, shows what the bridge looked like, back in 1931.

A Google search led me to Map It Okinawa's website, where I learned something.

 All that's left of the bridge, is a partial arch, on the east side of the river.

It seems like, the Japanese Army, knew the Americans were going to attack them.

So, they destroyed the bridge, to slow their attackers down.

Somebody must have thought, that sounded like a good idea and said "Let's do it."

Ouch !

Images of Sesoko Island Bridge (瀬底大橋) in October

Beautiful Afternoon on Sesoko-jima

Out with a big lens, looking for some birds, I got bored and decided to shoot the bridge.

THe Pentax K3 was equipped with a 300mm prime lens and a 1.4 converter.

There were no clouds in the sky at the moment so, I tried some different angles.

When you're driving or, walking across the bridge you don't notice things like this.

As mant times as, I've gone to this island, I never thought about taking photos like this.

There were plenty of pretty girls, wearing bikinis but, I wouldn't shoot them.

Today, I was supposed to shoot some Fish Hawks, catching fish.

The birds, I wanted to shoot, never showed up so, I changed lenses.

This is a wide angle view from Sesoko Island, looking back towards Okinawa.

More photos were taken of the activities on the beach.

It will be awhile longer before I get those images processed because, things are busy around here !

Previous Posts of Sesoko Island Bridge:

Travel Photo: Sesoko-jima Bridge

Nice to See the Cops Today on Sesoko Island Bridge

 

The Shisa (Liondogs) of Kin Bridge

Heading north on HWY329 this shisa is on the left side of the road.

Directly across the street sits the other shisa facing towards the west.

 On the far side of the bridge the 3d shisa is facing towards the east.

The 4th shisa, should be here but, it seems to have disappeared.

Let's hope somebody didn't take it home to use as a lawn ornament !

Related Posts:

A Shisa (Liondog) Photo

Portrait of a Shisa

The Stone Lion of Tomori

GIF of the Week: L'il Red Tractor

Waiting for Moonrise

 

 

The nights I go out to shoot the full moon keep me busy for a few hours.

It's always best to get to the location early, while the sun is still shining.

While waiting for the sun to set and, moon to rise, there are always other things to photograph.

Birds, flowers, bugs and snakes can keep you occupied.

Just a few minutes before sundown along came this tractor, heading towards the bridge. 

From the hillside above, I quickly composed the scene, locked the tripod and, zoomed in.

It took about a dozen clicks of the shutter to get this animation.

Camera: Pentax K3

Lens: Pentax 300mm

Exposure: f/4  1/125   ISO 400

Location: Okukubi River, Kin Town, Okinawa, Japan

Related Post:  Images of First July 2015 Full Moon