Friday Photo: A Beach Scene with the Canon G12 at ISO 80

Today Map It Okinawa came by and wanted to head north without cameras.

That's a good thing to do, sometimes.  Take a break from our normal routine.

I sneaked the little G12 into my pocket and left all the big stuff behind.

 After Map It Dude disappeared over the horizon I decided to play with the Canon.

Not having a tripod with me, I set the camera on some rocks.

This was the first time I ever shot it at ISO 80.

It was a little windy so, I removed the strap and set the timer at 15 seconds.

That gave me a chance to compose, snap the shutter button and run.

The sun was directly behind me and I didn't want my shadow in the picture.

The beach scene was taken with these manual settings:

 f/8  1/400  ISO 80 at a focal length of 6mm.

What do I think of the results ?

For a point and shoot camera, this little puppy ain't too shabby ! 

Canon G12 prices are unbelievably low, these days ! 

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Friday Photo: Silhouettes at the Elephant's Nose

The Elephant's Nose at Manzamo in Okinawa, Japan is a popular tourist attraction.

This is a photo taken at sunset Friday July 20, 2012.

More about silhouettes in Photography Tips 


Related Posts:

 Sunset at the Elephant's Nose

The Twisted Umbrella at Manzamo

Friday Photo: A Scene from Bios on the Hill Okinawa, Japan

This photo was taken at Bios on the Hill in Okinawa with a Panasonic DMC-FZ50.

Friday Photo: Sunrise in the North of Okinawa

Here is a photo taken in 2008 from the northernmost point on the island of Okinawa.

It was for a magazine assignment I was on with Doc Graff.

Rather than have to wake up early in the morning and drive to catch the sunrise

I packed up the car and hit the road at midnight.

Sleeping on a concrete park bench was more comfortable than trying to curl up in a bucket seat.

So, that's what I did.

It's been a few years since I shot that sunrise.

Maybe, it's time I headed back up to Hedo Misaki do it again.

Friday Photo: UNESCO Katsuren Castle A Different View

Here is a different view of UNESCO World Heritage Site Katsuren Castle.

This photo was taken to give an idea what the view someone attacking from the sea would be looking at.  
The Castle is at least 150 meters above sea level and you'd have had to go over some fairly rough terrain to get up there to attack them if you were coming from a ship back in the old days.

JUST TO GET SOME BIG ROCKS DROPPED ON YOUR HEAD !

 

Friday Photo + When Does a Rock Become an Island ?

For a Friday Photo I always like to come up with some sort of catchy title.  Some days ideas just pop right into the head.  Today nothing was popping so, I just looked at this photo and started asking myself some questions.  Stuff like,  "What do you see out there, rocks, or more islands?"

The photo is a view of the Pacific taken at a remote beach somewhere along the east coast of Okinawa, Japan.  There may be thousands of islands in the Ryukyu Archipelago but, the experts say we have about 160 islands that are part of Okinawa's territory.  I'll get to as many of them as I can.

For this picture I found a new source of information that's a real knee slapper.  I'm bookmarking this puppy because it seems fairly accurate.  They even used the Guinness Book of Records as a reference to answer someone's question, "When does a rock become an island"?

And, they had tons of other answers to important questions people around the world asked, like:

When does a mountain become a mountain?

When does a stone become a rock?

When did Scotland and England become one country?

How do you become fat?

How do I become a movie star?

When does a wood become a forest?

When does parking become free in Kilmarnock?

If a person dies with unpaid bills, who gets stuck with the tab?

This isn't stuff I just pull out of my hat.  Go and see for yourself.  Some of the questions are probably from living, breathing humans determined to find answers and make something of themselves.

The only island in this Friday Photo is the one under my feet when I shot the scene, according to:

 KGB ANSWERS: WHEN DOES A ROCK BECOME AN ISLAND?

Friday Photo: A Scene from the Mountains of Nago in Okinawa, Japan

This is a location I plan on spending some time at in early morning and late afternoon light.  I went here for the first time, today around noon.  Not exactly the best lighting for landscape photography but, I just enjoyed the view and decided to take this photo.

The reason for going here was to catch a wildlife photo.  The subject missed his appointment.  We'll meet at this location, one of these days.  While I'm patiently waiting, I'll probably get scenic shots of the whole mountain, waterfalls, flowers, butterflies and any other critters that inhabit the area.  Standby for more.....

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Friday Photo: The Obon Eisa Dancers Outside My Place

It's Obon in Okinawa, Japan.  Here is a photo taken at 1:12AM Aug 13, 2011.  That'd be a Saturday morning, I guess but, it was still Friday night for me.

Just in case you're unfamiliar with this blog My Place is a Karaoke Bar.  It's also my office during non-business hours (that'd be most of the time).  When I'm not out shooting photos somewhere I'm here in the office developing or banging away on a computer keyboard and cussing at the slow internet service.  That'd be most of the time, too.

Obon is a very busy time of year for me and I'm not sure I consider it a festival but, that's the gallery I'll be posting the photos in until I get time to reorganize.

These Obon Eisa Dancers are out in the streets for three nights, until the wee hours of the morning.  Their job is to welcome ancestoral spirits.  There's a wee bit of spirits consumed by the dancers in the process, too.  With any luck, I'll be able to get some photos of them performing inside My Place to show you.  

It depends on whether or not I get back in town at the right time to catch them. 

Then, it depends on whether or not Mrs Ryukyu Mike lets them in the place after she see's the picture of that one Eisa Gal blowing a kiss at the cameraman.  Hah !


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Friday Photo: The Gal on the Beach with the Hat

Waiting for boarding time, people get bored and start taking pictures of anything.  Me, too.  This scene was shot on the island of Minna Jima Okinawa, Japan about 3PM June 11, 2011 with my Pentax K5, an 18-250mm lens, tripod and cable release. I was standing in the shade on the balcony of the terminal.

This gal started off snapping photos of the beach, almost directly in front of me.  I liked the contrast her dress made with the glaring sun lighting the baby-powdered sand and I liked her hat.  I especially liked the fact that she was facing away from me.  That meant I didn't have to be bothered with getting a model release signed by her.  So, as she slowly moved from one spot on the beach to another, I took my time and composed some great shots.  I got bunches of them, hah!

When she stopped shooting her pictures and turned to walk back into the terminal, I stopped clicking away, too.  As she approached, being the gentleman that I am, I looked away, avoiding eye contact.  That's when I noticed her husband had been sitting right behind me watching the whole affair.  Ouchie !


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