5 Photos of Blue Skies and Dragonboats in Okinawa

2013 Kin Town Dragonboat Races

 

The fair weather spirits smiled on my hometown, Kin Village in Okinawa, today.

A cameraman could get burned-out shooting  a few thousand photos of these boats in a week.

 So, I play with the camera lens to squeeze some scenery into the frame.

The blue sky with white clouds was a relief, to see, after months of rainy season.

Once in awhile a cloud carrying some moisture blew over.  But, it never rained.

The team members, wearing orange life vests gave some terrific color contrast to these images.

There will be hundreds of close-up dragonboat photos processed next week.

For now, just kick back and enjoy the scenery I saw over Kin Town today.

Life's a beach !

Photography Tip: B&W a Color Photo

This past Saturday I went on a self-inflicted photo shoot. That's a job where you know there's no money involved, unless you happen to pick up a winning lottery ticket while you're out.  I always shoot color photos but, sometimes convert a few to Black and White (B&W) when I develop.

This is a series of photos taken near Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan. An apprentice working with me was asked to get some photos for an old geezer in Texas who was over here in 1963.

He wants to see what his hangouts back in the day look like today. I doubt he'll recognize anything but, figured I'd take a few shots (I would have deleted, anyway) and give them the B&W treatment.

Photo Set #1

Photo Set #2

Photo Set #3

Photo Set #4

Photo Set #5

This area, near Gate #2 of Kadena Air Force Base has gone through several booms and busts over the years so, we went to some of the alleys off the main streets hoping to find something to remind the Texan of the good old days back in the 60's. Maybe a B&W vs Color photo will  help him recognize something he once saw here. He may even have an old scrapbook photo to match one of mine !

You can convert any digital-color photo to B&W, Sepia, Monochrome, whatever you want to call it, easily. Try it sometime before you throw away a picture with some distracting colors or objects in it. Just hit the FIX button in your Windows Photo Gallery or any simple editing program.

WHICH PHOTO SET ABOVE LOOKS BETTER IN B&W vs COLOR TO YOU ?