Chasing the Blue Lagoon or Birds--Whichever Shows First

Weather Permitting Get on a Boat

 

This time of year the weather can change quickly in Okinawa, Japan.

As long as the skies are blue and seas stay fair, it's best to catch a ferry and travel.

There's a rumor going around that we might see a typhoon soon.

Over two years ago, we went chasing the blue lagoon on Minna Jima.

What I'm hoping for tomorrow is a better shot than this one.

There's not much else on that island that interests me.

They have some birds.  And, sometimes gals running around in their bikinis.

Probably, if the lagoon doesn't look right, I'll just come back with photos of birds for you !

Related Post:  One Good Tern Deserves Another.

Monday Drive with the Professor and the Gals I Met

There's No Such Thing as Blue Monday on Okinawa

 

The day started with some research on another island just a short drive away.

Getting ready for some serious cultural photography takes a bit of advanced planning.

It's best to meet the locals, learn some history and become familiar with the lay of the land.

Being the not-so-studious-person that I am, I like to have a little fun, too.

Doc, the professor, probably wishes he left me behind, sometimes.

That's because I say stuff like, "Wait.  I have to see if I can borrow a girl to pose with me here."

See.  

I got him to pull the trigger for this shot.

This is serious business.  I wish I would have smiled.  But it hurt squeezing my face in that board.

 It was lunchtime before I bothered another gal.

She was shy about having her photo taken so, I promised to just shoot her hands.

By early afternoon we were back on the island of Okinawa.

This is at the University of Maryland.

When I spotted that girl I asked if I could take her picture.

There's a group called "Girls with Flowers in Their Hair" I post photos in, on Flickr.

So, I told her, to just keep on going-about her business, and I'd shoot some natural-work photos.

She was such a sweet girl, I had to sneak behind the counter to shoot more.

While Doc was getting professor stuff done, I was talking and shooting.

They don't see many people wearing yellow flip-flops in that office.

So, I showed myself around.

This is Adriesa Kane, the last gal I met on our Monday drive.

That college better take good care of her.

She could run away and become a supermodel.  Dontcha think ?

October Full Moon: Another Okinawa Festival

Up in the northern hills of Okinawa, Japan the other day we came across this.

Whenever you see those Orion Beer lanterns strung-up a festival is going to happen.

It seems like, every time there's a full moon, somebody has a celebration.

For the sake of simplicity, I'll call this a hand-dancing party.

The gals were just rehearsing for the big event, which takes place tonight.

They were wearing their everyday outfits.

Tonight they will all be dressed-up in white kimonos.

So, I decided, while rehearsal was going on, I'd concentrate on the hands.

There has to be some meaning to the gyrations they put their hands through.

There are a few resources (English) online, about this form of dance.

But, so far, they just look like stuff (ahem-ahum) borrowed from Wikipedia.

What I plan on doing is getting more reliable information for my story.

These gals will be dancing around in circles, tonight, under the full moon.

They will have their hair all done-up in traditional style.

And, be singing some classic songs while they gesture with their hands.

It would really be awesome, if I could catch a photo like the 1st one above.....

.....with a full moon shining down on all those gals, hand-dancing in kimonos !

Dontcha think ?

Photo: A September 2012 Favorite from a Shinigu

The photos from this event called a Shinigu are almost, all developed.

Just a few dozen more to look at and I'll be ready to go back to visit the ladies of Gushiken.

I'll print a couple and give them to the folks in the village office.

Then, find out if they have internet capability to enable everyone to view the rest online.

This photo is one I'll print.  It's my favorite.

 I had to jump off a dang water tower to catch the gals with the ocean in the background !

Thursday Travel Photo: Post Them on Flickr ?

 

Things Like This Just Happen in Everyday Travel

Yesterday was no exception.

The location, this photo was taken at, is in Nakijin, Okinawa, Japan.

We went there looking for Shokitan Motoo, the fisherman.

He was promised a print, because he signed a model release for me in September.

His photo was taken at almost the exact same spot.

Only, I had his face in the picture.

Maybe, I'll post some photos of these gals on Flickr.

The Fisherman was Nowhere to be Found

 

Shokitan told me he'd be easy to find, when I came to deliver his picture.

He said, "Don't worry.  Everybody around here knows me. They'll show you where I live".

Now Look at the Third Gal from the Right

 

She was standing on the coral, watching the other five youngsters on the beach below.

When I showed her the fisherman's photo, she said she knew him, and where he lived.

It was looking like the start of a great day.

There are an unbelievable amount of photos, I owe to people.

Sometimes, it can take up to six months to find them.

This was going to be easy.  Just wait for her friends to get done frolicking on the beach.

Then, she would lead us to Shokitan's house.

While we're waiting, I made small talk. Like, "Nice weather, huh"?

And she make small talk back.  Just like with my wife, I pretend I'm listening.

At some point, she asked if I'd take a picture of her friends.  Why not ?

Map It Okinawa Dude Shows Up

After filling him in on what's going on,  I take Shokitan's picture and put it in the car.

Map It Okinawa has a chance to get the girls posed while I grab a camera and tripod.

He decided to have them pose, looking out towards Izena Island.

At that point I was little bit confused.

But, when you get my age that happens, sometimes.  I'm getting used to it.  Hah !

Moving around, making a few different compositions, I finally had enough.

"Everybody, git up and look this way," I said.

They did, and I snapped a photo with people's faces in it.

Then,  had each of them pose quick, for an individual photo. Real quick, one shot apiece. 

Model Releases are Required

 

The line of business I'm in requires signed model releases so, I grabbed a stack of them.

The girls were all excited.  I would email them photos for free.

They might see their photo in a magazine, on my blog, or, even in a contest.

Pretty girls, on a sunny day, at the beach, got their pictures taken.

They were all excited,  writing down names and email addresses, to give the cameraman.

The emails go to their cell-phones.

16 Mega-pixel photos will be shrunk-down to 300 pixels wide to fit in their phones.

Here's the Snag

Groan.

The kids are minors.  In Japan you aren't an adult until the age of twenty.

A parent, or guardian, has to sign the model release.  Double groan.

These were some high school kids, young enough to be my granddaughters.

They were on a four day visit from mainland Japan.

Maybe, I could have gotten model releases signed by the woman they were staying with.

But, I don't take chances like that, anymore.

These travelers can get their miniature photos from me via cell-phone.

But, I got thinking.  If they wanted a printable file, that wouldn't work.

In exchange for Mom and Pop's model release via email, I could send them a huge

PRINTABLE PHOTO FILE FOR FREE.

Low resolution, online photos don't really make good prints but, are good enough for viewing.

If I create a bunch of 600 pixel files and load them up online I could email links to the gals.

That way the parents could decide if they want to send me a model release.

Should I take their travel photos and post them on Flickr ?

The Mountains and Ocean Are Calling Me (Photos)

This weekend an event that happens only once every two years takes place in Ada, a coastal village in the northeast area of Okinawa, Japan.  It's called the Shinugu Matsuri (Festival) but, there won't be any of the trappings you'd see at most festivals.  Here are a few photos from the event in August of 2009.

The mountains, ocean, and river play a role in this event and I will capture all I can from whichever angles the light suits me best.  I'll be putting the Panasonic, Pentax, and Canon through their paces.

          There will be some high contrast photography in daylight and during the hours of darkness. 

        There will be gals, both young and old, dancing around fires for me to capture on digital film.

After a long, hard day humping all my camera gear up mountain trails and down to the ocean, I might just hand one of my cameras to someone else.  Then, have a sip of the local spirits and jump in on the last dance so, someone can snap a photo of watashi!  Reckon that'd be alright?

Saturday's Shootin' (Camera) in Bise Okinawa, Japan: Photo Essay

A good day of camera shooting requires proper nourishment. The Texan, Rusty, was the driver and Saturday was going to be fantastic for shootin', according to the weatherpersons. Unusually warm and sunny for a day in February, Rusty came by and said, "Let's go back up to Bise, I know a spot where the ospreys dive for fish".

With only a few hours of sleep and a few beers from Friday night still working on me, I decided to travel light. No backpack full of gear and no heavy 500mm lens.  Just a camera, tripod and an 18-250mm lens.

Bise is a long drive from where we hang out. We got there just around lunchtime. So, we stopped in the first place in town that looked like it served good food. That's my tray above. It's called Yasai Itame Setto (set). I got a pile of stir fried veges, pork, rice, soup and some pickled cucumbers and seaweed, or something like that and a cup of tea for about six bucks. Just what the doctor ordered. It was delicious.

Rusty's not at the table because he saw a water buffalo pulling a wagon and ran outside to take pictures. So, I sneaked some food off his tray, too. I didn't want to see it go to waste.

After lunch, we decided to walk along the coast and head up to where he'd seen ospreys before. The island in this photo is Ie Shima.  That's where Ernie Pyle, the war correspondent, was killed during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.

Way up the coast a white tower is barely visible on another island off to the right. We were heading there because just behind that island is where the osprey would be diving for fish.

Ospreys like to fly where the sun is shining. It makes it easy for them to spot the fish, shining in the water, below.

Black rain clouds followed us and got to the spot just about the same time we did. Shucks.

When you come this far with a camera, you might as well shoot something, anything, if the birds refuse to show up. So, I started walking all the side streets in the village looking for stuff to shoot.

The villagers have all kinds of fishing floats hanging from trees and rafters and they painted them bright colors and put them on display so people, like tourists, will walk up and down the narrow streets snapping pictures. So, that's what I did. Felt kinda touristy, I guess.

Then, when I got back on Main Street, the road Rusty chased the water buffalo-wagon down, I decided I'd get enough photos of the place to make a travel pamphlet, if I ever have to, for some reason.

Walking around shooting pictures of little Mom and Pop operations, buying cans of iced coffee and speaking some of the local dialect got some of the gals running the shops laughing, cackling and running around showing me all kinds of stuff to take pictures of.


The gal who owns this place was a real sweetheart. She makes all kinds of trinkets and knows how to use power tools, paint, do carpentry, electrical, masonry and maybe, even does some arc welding. A man'd be crazy not to like a woman like that. But, when she started showing me her pictures from when she was twenty and thirty years old, I had to let her know, I was already taken. She'd have better luck hitting on the dude from Texas. Maybe...


The gal kept insisting we follow her and take pictures of the Fukugi Trees on this side road. She said it was the best one in town for photography. I took lots of photos and showed them to her. This one, here, she likes best. So, next time I visit Bise, I'll bring her a pile of 4x6 prints of it. She had abandoned her store to guide us to this spot. What a gal !

These flowers were on the corner of another Mom and Pop store and we shot a bunch of them but, I wasn't sure if they were Plum Blossoms, or not.  So, I went in and bought some coffee and when I paid, asked the lady. She confirmed they were Plum Blossoms.

Well, Rusty and I shot a bunch of the flowers and she was looking at all the photos and being super friendly, too.


So, while she was looking at Rusty's pictures on his camera, I started slinking down the road aways to see what else I could find to shoot when I spotted a patch of blue sky and SUNSHINE !

The people of Bise in Okinawa, Japan are some of the finest folks you'll meet anywhere on earth and I had a blast walking around taking pictures, joking with the shop owners and enjoyed their hospitality and warm smiles. But, when the rain stopped and black clouds went away, I had to get out of town.

Well, by the time we walked back to the car and headed back over to the spot where the ospreys grab fish, the weather turned again. Cold, windy and on and off again sprinkles of rain was the highlight of our time at the secluded beach. I got an osprey but, no fish. The ospreys didn't get any fish, either. We'll all be back.

The next time, maybe Rusty and I will pack up my Queen Bee and his Gal on a Saturday and let them entertain the Gals of Bise while we go and do some serious camera shootin'. 

RELATED POST: THEN AND NOW: AN OKINAWAN SWEETHEART

Guys and Gals, Eisa Dancers and Facebook

So far this week, I've posted Eisa Gals and then Eisa Dudes so, today I decided to throw a photo with both in the same shot on here .

It'll be another day before I finish developing all the pictures from last Saturday night. Then, I'll sort through them all and decide which are the best to put a real story together.

The darndest thing happened today just from the few pictures I've posted aleady. I got an email from somewhere in the USA and this gal from Okinawa says she thinks one of the photos I posted is her second cousin. Now, all I have to do is figure out who she's talking about and see if I can chase the culprit down and find out their name.

Another thing that happened: People are actually finding my little Facebook Fan Club widget here on the blog and FOLLOWING ME !

It's barely enough to fill up a bus but, if I ever earn a million dollars from using my camera and these same people keep following me, I might rent a bus someday and take everbody to Las Vegas. They still give away free food, booze and cigarettes in the casinos, right?