In the Spotlight: Map It Okinawa Dude -- Motion GIF

Off the Beaten Path

 

 

Today, we went to accomplish a sort of Mission Impossible thing.

And, I'm fairly certain, we gotterdun.

Just a few more details, need to be worked out and, you'll see the whole story.

Completely exhausted from watching these guys, this will be a quick blog post.

Map It Dude takes folks off the paved roads to see things most travelers wouldn't notice.

Without him and, another one of my partners today would not have been a success.

More about that, in an upcoming Then and Now photo shoot.

Meanwhile checkout Map It Okinawa !

Off Island and Off Road with Map It Okinawa Dude

Ten Selected Photos

These photos were taken on March 28, 2013.

Our mission was to go to another island and talk to the folks in a village office.

Deciding to travel light, I just grabbed two Pentax cameras and lenses.  No backpack or, shoes.

Knowing I'd be riding with Map It Okinawa Dude, I left the office lights on.

That's because we get back after dark, sometimes.

Things went well at the village office.

Then, we decided to go explore another island.

Bingo!  Map It Dude found a mysterious trail through the jungle.

Not exactly flip-flop friendly, I took my time and shot lots of photos.

The place was unbelievably quiet. 

No wind, no birds chirping, no blown highlights from the afternoon sun.

 It was so quiet, you could hear yourself breathing.

Rocks, ferns, trees and plenty of jungle vegetation were there for the shooting.

The only sound to be heard was the mirror slap from the camera.

 Imagine a place without any motor vehicles, fast food joints or people yapping on cell phones.

If you soundproofed your house, it couldn't be as quiet as this jungle.

Something tells me, this is a sacred place.  It was eerily quiet.

It made me wonder.  How many people could survive in a place like this, nowadays ?

No convenience stores, no TV or internet connections, there's nothing there, but nature.

 Returning to the road and civilization, I saw the sun peeking through along the trail.

So, I went back looking for Map It Dude.

He's in one of these photos.  Did you see him up there ?

Mountain Tiger Butterfly Photos

Mountain Tiger Photo #1 is a Contest Finalist shot in a butterfly house with a camera strobe.

Photo #2 was taken outdoors on Mt. Yonaha.

It's nice having photos make it into the finals but, I like photo #2 better.

That's mostly because I'd rather be out in nature, anywhere than, be indoors.

The best part of shooting photo #2 was when I got back up the hill.

You should have seen the look on Map It Okinawa's face when I told him,

"I finally got a Mountain Tiger, in the wild !"

Travel Photo: Find the Map It Okinawa Dude

Thoroughly exhausted from today's travels with Map It Okinawa, here's a shot I took.

Old guys shouldn't be climbing mountains.

So, I hangout somewhere near sea level, normally, and let the younger guys climb.

Only today, I got a little bored and climbed a different mountain.

Mr. Map It Okinawa sent me a text message.

It said something like "Look up at the rocks and take my picture."

So, I shot a few dozen photos of him.

See the guy in the red shirt, down there ?

Then you found the Map It Okinawa Dude !

Visit my website for today's Feature Photo

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 ! 

Visit my homepage for today's Feature Photo

A Bug Called Kuwayamaea sapporensis (Photos)

Here is another one of those critters that I'm taking off the back burner.

One day back in October, last year, I was up in Motobu with MAP IT OKINAWA.

Sometimes, when he's doing all that off-the-beaten-path stuff, I hang around in the shade.

As easily bored as I can get, I can also be easily entertained.

Along came this bug. So, I entertained myself.

He really didn't want to stand still and pose for me.  And, I don't think he liked my camera.

 After he got done pickin' his nose, or whatever he was doing, the little rascal looked up at me.

And, he jumped, almost knocking me over on my rear end.

SEE MORE AT SAKURA.NE.JP


Visit my homepage for today's Feature Photo

 

Photo Essay: What Sort of Beach, is a Pretty Beach, to You ?

Recent comments on Mike's Ryukyu Gallery Facebook Page inspired today's post.

And, reminded me that I'm not done developing last month's photos from Tsuken-jima.

 The truth is, all beaches are pretty, to me.

Sometimes, though, it pays to hop on a ferry and go look for an island in the sun.

May 24, 2012 was one of those days here. Okinawa was under some dark clouds at 7AM.

The sun was shining on Tsuken-jima, though.

At 9AM on a sunny day, even a rocky beach has appeal, to me.

That's a woman, fishing, way out there. She added character to the scene.

 And this guy, let's just say, he was a character, too.

This beach had some development done to it and it made an interesting composition.

The sole, adult female on the beach was friendly and gladly gave us some directions.

Looking over the heads of those school girls, she's traveling with, way back under the clouds

and barely visible, is the island of Okinawa.

Past 10AM, usually, outdoor photography should be put on hold, until after 3PM but,

when the light is like this, I'll break some rules for a pretty beach.

Probably, not the ideal spot for suntanning, volleyball or snorkeling, this beach is OK, by me.

Using an 18-250 lens at 35mm, I snapped a shot (dead center) of the Kin Cho Power Plant.

 Rocks, shrubs, driftwood and shallow pools of seawater in the sharp coral, make a beach scene 

attractive, to some folks.

Look !  There's the Map It Okinawa Dude (lower left of the scene) doing his thing.

 By 3PM we were headed back to Okinawa.

Taking a parting shot from the ferry, I captured some of Tsuken-jima's white sand in the 

afternoon sun.  We walked all the way around the island and had seen every beach in one day.

They were all pretty, to me.

What sort of beach is pretty, to you ?