Culture Photo: The Joining of an Okinawan Tug O War Rope

Tug O Wars are held in villages throughout Okinawa, Japan.

Depending on which island or community you are in, there may be differences in the rituals.

This photo depicts one thing you will observe at almost any Tug O War festival.

It is the joining of the two ropes.

One end of the rope is designated female, the other male.

They are joined by passing one loop through the other and, a wooden pole holds them together.

With all the excitement, going on at these events, it isn't easy to capture a photo like this.

This image is of a model, I found on display and, could take plenty of time shooting it.

Photo Location: Sesoko Island Community Center

Camera: Pentax KD 10

Lens: Pentax 18-250 at 32mm

f/19  1sec.  ISO 100

Do You Need a Release for an Aquarium Photo ?

It Depends on What You Do with It

 

Here is an aquarium photo I shot in a Pool Bar the other night when I got bored.

It's not something I would enter in a contest or, sell.  So, no release needs to be signed.

If the fish photo was good enough for publication or, printing, framing and selling, I'd get a release.

The release form, I use most of the time, is a model release.  These fish aren't models.

There are a few other types of release forms which require signatures.

National Geographic has downloadable release forms you can checkout.

They have Artist  Release, Personal Release and Location Release Forms.

If these fish were out in the wild, I wouldn't need a release to sell the photo.

But, when they are in somebody's aquarium, they are private property.

If the aquarium photo had turned out a little better, I'd get the owner to sign a release form.

I always give a copy of the photo away, to whoever signs the form.

Maybe, I'll print this one and see if I can get a free beer !

The Million Views Contest Winner Announced

The Winner is Emi Iwasaki, a Facebook Fan from Tokyo, Japan !

This is a continuation of the events that took place Sunday night.

In case you ever decide to do a contest redneck-style, bookmark this page.

After the winner's name was drawn, the model ran around posing with it.

The Ryukyu Dudes let her have some fun and that was alright, I guess.

We weren't paying her.  So what the heck.

RyukyuRusty was shootin' the camera and the rest of us were drinking beer.

After awhile I yelled at her to quit fooling around and said.

"Would you please hold still and let the cameraman get a picture of the winner's name" ?

 Probably, I shouldn't of done that.

  She almost cried.

So, I went over there and gave her a l'il hug and everything went back to normal.

The tux is only worn for special occasions.

Now, I have to get the beer and wrinkles out of it before St. Patrick's Day.

 Probably, you wouldn't want to be so formal, if you did a redneck contest of your own.

Some of those Bib Overalls from Walmart would be OK.

I hate gettin' all dressed up, too. 

Back to the Winner

Emi Iwasaki tells me that she loves southern islands, especially Hawaii.

She studies and teaches Hawaiian Hula Dancing.

On a visit to Okinawa back in April, Emi found my Facebook Page.

So, she has been following and liking photos there all along, without me knowing.

Facebook should fix those pages for old people.  I don't like wearing my reading glasses.

Anyway, Emi typed in there "I want to see more of the Ryukyu Islands".

CONGRATULATIONS EMI

YOU WON !

Million Views Contest: How We Gotterdun

As promised we drew the winner's name in true redneck style.

These photos by RyukyuRusty, will show you how we gotterdun.

The Million Views Giveaway blog and Facebook pages were printed.

Each contestant, who made a legitimate entry, had their name snipped out of the page.

Lucky for us, nobody was using the pool table.  This was a serious operation.

 To be fair and square about it, the criminals trying to enter twice, had to be eliminated.

But, they only got eliminated, once.  So, they still had a chance to win.

 The pretty girl, who wants to be a model, did some practice poses.

That was while I was doing the paperwork.

We had to arm wrestle a few times because that's what rednecks do when they aren't playing pool.

She won every match, easily.  That was so I could buy the beers.

Next, we folded-up all the contest entries so they all looked the same size.

They were placed in this guy's hat.  I stepped out of the scene, to keep things honest.

That's my hand, over there, and I'm telling the model, "Reach in and pick one winner".

We had to hurry and get this contest over before everyone was falling-down drunk.

There she went.  She pulled a winner's name out of the hat.

She held the thing up in the air just like she was a professional model all her life !

There's  more to how we gotterdun.  Even a photo of me wearing my tux.  But, I gotta run.

To be continued.....

Then and Now: An Okinawan Sweetheart (Photos)

Yup, I got her permission.  Nope, I ain't givin her name away.

Here is a photo of this gal, I met up in Bise Okinawa, Japan.

It was taken, probably, before colored film became popular and maybe, before it was even invented.

Let's just say this picture is from way back then.

And here's a photo of the little sweetheart now.

You know, a gentleman doesn't ask a lady her age.  So, I did.

But, I aint givin that away, either.

Let's just say somewhere around ahem, ahum, not any younger than me.

See the island in this photo?

That'd be IeShima.  It's the island I went to for the Easter Lily Festival.

The gal in the photos above modeled for an airline poster with that island in the background.

That was way back then.  She promised to go and strike the same pose for me at the same location for a Then and Now Series I'm putting together.  Wouldn't that be cool?

Whaddya Think I Called Her A Sweetheart For?

More Then and Now Photos