November's Full Moon Took Some Patience

A Few Hours Ahead of Time

 The tripod and gimbal were hauled upstairs and positioned on the roof.

Due to some recent surgery, no heavy weight-lifting is allowed.

So, I put the 560 MM lens in a backpack and pretended it wasn't heavy.

Clouds Have A Way Of Ruining Photos

Every month I attempt some Full Moon Photography but, the weather doesn't always cooperate.

A quote stolen from Forbes via screenshot came to mind so, I hung around and waited.

The time between the first and second moon photo: One minute!

July 2022 Full Moon Over Okinawa, Japan

 It Peeked Through Clouds at 7:47 PM

For the past few months, Full Moon Photography was practically impossible.

Last night, just a few minutes were spent on the roof, capturing this shot.

Can you see the Rabbit?

Supermoon APR 2021 Over Okinawa

 Some Call It a Pink Moon

It wasn't exactly pink but, we're glad it made an appearance.

To catch the moon rising over the ocean, we spent a few hours on the east coast of the island.

Heavy clouds interfered with that plan but gave the rising moon some decorative colors.

It was 7:22 PM when this scene was captured.

More dense weather rolled in and the decision was made to leave the wind and beach behind.

Back Home the Moon Made Another Appearance

On the roof of my house, this scene was composed at 8:54 PM.

Too tired to process the day's photos, this old man went to bed.

The plan was to wake up early and hike to somewhere the moon could be seen setting.

The Morning After

By the time I reached the destination where the moon could be captured setting I groaned.

A thick wall of clouds, off to the west, made it impossible to see the setting moon.

All of a sudden I looked towards the Kin powerplant and there it was.

No longer a Full Moon but, a smokestack covered the part that was missing!

End of story.

Great Cormorant Flying Over Kin Town, Okinawa

 Photographed Today with Pentax 560 MM Lens

There won't be a review of this new lens until it's been fully evaluated.

Lately, I've been backpacking the monster each morning, as I do my 10,000 daily steps.

Plenty of ducks migrate to Okinawa for winter. They were sort of avoiding me today.

All of a sudden, two strange-looking birds flew overhead and I wasn't sure what they were.

Here's a favorite image of one I used to get an identification. I'm not exactly a bird expert.

So, I wind up jumping through all sorts of Internet hoops, to get you this information.

English Name: Great Cormorant

Scientific Name: Phalacrocorax carbo

Japanese Name: Kawa-u (カワウ)

More of these birds may be seen in this 2012 post from the other side of this island. 

Grey-faced Buzzard - Migratory Visitor to Okinawa

 

 

Spotted Today in Kin Town

They've been on the island for a few days now but, this morning was the first time I saw one. 

It's always nice to see these characters, they are raptors and eat bugs, snakes, and mice.

It would really be cool to see one grab a mongoose and fly off with it. Not gonna happen.

Crows don't appreciate these birds coming to vacation for the winter.

This one hopped around on the wire, yelling at the guest about being here.

The buzzard just stared at him like, "How'd you like your face shredded, knucklehead?"

The crow finished his little speech and flew off to be a nuisance somewhere else.

MORE ABOUT GREY-FACED BUZZARDS

OCT 1 2020: The First Full Moon Over Okinawa

 

Another Full Moon Will Appear on Halloween

Camera: Pentax K3

Lens: Sigma 50-500 with 1.4 Converter Focal Length 700 MM

Date and Time: OCT 1 2020 7:04 PM

Location: Kin Town Okinawa Japan

December 2019 Full Moon Over Okinawa

Next One Happens in 2020

Camera: Pentax K1

Lens: Pentax 300 MM with 1.4 Converter - Focal Length 420 MM

Exposure: f/11   1/25   ISO 100

Location: Kin Town, Okinawa, Japan

Date and Time: DEC 12 2019  06:14 AM

12 Scenes from the Kin Town 2019 Nuchigusui Festival

Mental and Physical Good Health

That's what it's really all about, nuchigusui - Okinawan language for well being.

Take a sip of a healthy, refreshing drink or, chomp down on some delicious Ryukyuan food.

Sniff the air and get a whiff of some soothing flowers and say, "Nuchigusui yaasa."

That'd be like saying, "Feels good."  What about seeing some boobs?  Wait 'til later.

Shortly after 10 AM, on a Sunday when the weather was predicted to turn, here's the entrance.

Anytime the sun shines in December, I'm feeling nuchigusui with that!

A light jacket or long-sleeved shirt would be all that's required on a day like this.

On the way to the festival food and flower displays, I spotted these caged chickens.

Dozens of roosters and hens were there but, really didn't cooperate with the camera.

Some fancy varieties of chickens were there and, I don't think they were for eating.

Hoping to see some of the "other white meat" I walked around looking for some piglets.

Nope, no porker would be seen. Pigs would have posed. I get along just fine with pigs.

Moving along to the main attractions, I knew I would be indoors or, under a roof outdoors.

On the second floor of a community center, I spotted firemen training families.

Here, a father has his children learning how to use an AED machine.

That's a pretty neat skill for children to know. They could save a life someday!

Members of the Ryukyu Rehabilitation Academy maintained stations in several areas.

Here they were doing some sort of posture analytics on volunteers. I declined.

With an aching back from over-exercising the night before, I had another plan.

There were about a dozen massage tables set up and, I could sure use a free massage.

Too many volunteers were waiting at the massage area so, I had to move along.

Mental and physical nuchigusui stuff was out of the way for today.

 Next, it was time to go downstairs to check out the foods and flowers.

The location was outdoors, sort of in a huge parking area. Windy but not wet.

Every kind of healthy festival food you could imagine was being cooked and served.

When hauling around a camera, I'm not really interested in eating.

Everybody was friendly and some tried to give me free samples but, I couldn't eat.

Ever try operating chopsticks and shooting a DSLR at the same time? Me neither.

Looking at colorful flowers, smelling them or, gardening, I'm not sure which is healthy.

Maybe, all three. All I know, for sure is, the prices for buying them weren't all that much.

The wife wasn't allowed to see this photo until the day after. Too late to buy any now!

What About the Boobs?

That part comes a little bit later. This is a festival sort of event, not pole dancing. OK?

Making the rounds under fairly horrible lighting conditions, I was bouncing around.

I'm deciding what to photograph with families continuously moving through scenes.

It seemed impossible to get a photo of this farmer's food and displays.

He was selling Okinawa's prized Agu Pig Pork servings, freshly grilled in his booth.

Noticing a photo of him posing with  Hidehiko Ishizuka, I asked if he could near it.

Ishizuka is sort of a comedian, food sampler, traveler, TV star in Japan.

Wouldn't it be neat if, he went drinking with me someday?

Here's what the open-air-sorta-garage looked like.

Families are seated at folding tables and chairs, sampling the health foods.

The food, flower and plant booths surround the tables and other displays.

My favorite activity would take place here, not outdoors as usual.

The closest thing to natural, outdoor lighting, was this display.

Pictured in the background, are the Taimo fields of Kin Town.

On display are some taimo plants (sweet potato) and produce.

Titty and Nipples Are You Ready?

Before anyone goes screaming off to the police station, let me explain.

This is supposed to be a blog the whole family could read.

Some fruits and plants must be Nuchigusui, just to look at.

What some people call Fox Fruit is in the photo above. They are poison so, don't eat any.

Titty Fruit, Nipple Fruit, and Cow's Udder are some of the other names for this plant.

Learn more about this yellow fruit from a lady at Japan Times.

My favorite part of the Nuchigusui Fest is featured here.

Better than carving a Thanksgiving Turkey is the cutting of a maguro.

Each year this knife-wielding chef, butchers a tuna, right before your eyes.

It doesn't take 10 minutes for him to hack that fish to pieces.

He's talking through a microphone so, you can learn how to carve a fish, too.

When he's done, the fish gets carried away and cut into smaller servings.

Then, the crowd line up, to get some maguro sashimi, for free!

Okinawa Minutes Before Sunrise

Kin Power-plant and part of Ikei Island at 6:09 AM.

Sunrise took place seven minutes later but, I liked this photo better.

Photo Essay: Aftermath of Typhoon Jelawat

Typhoon Jelawat Ripped Through Okinawa

 

This was a fast moving storm passing through Okinawa, Japan Saturday September 29, 2012.

Here are some of the photos  I took Saturday night and Sunday morning in my travels.

Winds over 100MPH can toss refrigerators around and that's what we have here.

Sheets of aluminum and rain gutters get ripped loose and fly through the air.

Corrugated fiberglass and metal roofing materials become projectiles.

As these objects sail through the air, they cut people and power-lines.

Few people dare to go outside and secure these flying objects during the storm.

Roads can get blocked and become impassible.

Live power-lines can be found lying in the streets.

When the sun sets, you can tell where power has been lost.

Flashlights, candles and gas lanterns are the only lights you see.

By Sunday Morning the Typhoon Was Gone

Heading south from Kin Village to Itoman, I stopped to take some photos along the way.

The red object is a drink-vending machine.  They can weigh close to half a ton.

The Village of Yaka must have been hit pretty hard.

The crew working alongside the highway was replacing concrete power poles.

These things are about 100cm in diameter, and reinforced with steel rods.

The storm snapped them like they were toothpicks !

This metal building was demolished.

Here is the remnants of a Soba shop, I'd been meaning to visit.  It's gone.

The Central and Southern Part of the Island

 

There were many places where the traffic lights weren't working and traffic got congested.

So, I didn't stop to take photos, though, I'd have liked to.

You could see where emergency crews had removed large fallen trees.

The tree stumps and roots had lifted the sidewalks when they had fallen in the road.

At intersections where the power was on, signals were twisted to where you couldn't see them.

Thousands of folks had no electricity.

The few gasoline stations, in operation, had vehicles lined up at the pumps.

The Itoman Tug-O-War was my destination.

At the port, someone's boat, in dry dock, had been blown over on its side.

The winds died down and the skies were blue, most of the day, Sunday.

On the return trip to Kin last night, I noticed the lights in Yaka and Igei, were still out.

Hopefully, they had their electricity restored, today.

Typhoon Jelawat may be gone from Okinawa but, it's time to get ready for the next one.

After Typhoon Sanba: A Quickie Photo Essay

All is well on Okinawa, at least where we checked today.

The RyukyuMike house is still standing and has electricity.

The office was a different story. Power went out for awhile today.

So, I grabbed a camera and checked out the northern end of the island with Map It Okinawa.

With power outages passing through Kin Village we didn't have to stop for any red lights.  Hah !

So, we drove, very carefully to see the Kanna Dam in Ginoza.

The dam was full to the brim with good old country water.

Out on the back roads there were a few trees knocked down.

We ventured over to the other side of the island on HWY 58 going to Nago.

They still had some stormy seas from the typhoon's tailwinds.

Up around Ogimi Village we had to take a detour because of a landslide.

No photos of that.  A dedicated Japanese Policeman made sure we didn't get close.

Somehow, our journey took us to the Taiho Dam so, here's what it looked like.

Plenty of drinking water is available, a few fallen trees, some minor landslides is what we saw.

Now, I have to get the heck out of here because I'm two days late for the wife's birthday party !

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