Subtle Changes in the Rock Garden

An Untrained Eye Might Not Notice

The shadows and light (outdoors) are always changing and, things in the garden, may move.

Today, I took a wide angle lens and tripod along with the camera, out behind my office.

The little woman of my house, made me promise, not to go on a long walk in the hot sun.

Lately, it's been brutally hot in Okinawa, shortly after the sun rises.

Most of my winter hide, has peeled of the skeleton and, the summer skin is itching to go.

 I swore I wouldn't go on any long hikes with the cameras and, hangout in the AC at the office.

Maybe, I'd make a run to buy lunch and hit the ATM machine, for money.

"Money" she says.  "That's a good idea, I always need money."  "Yeah, I know. Bye."

The Garden Trowel

It would be a distraction if, you were looking closely, to see the changes in the rock garden.

With the camera, locked down steady on the tripod, I played with camera settings.

Changing aperture, shutter speeds and focus points, several images were created.

Someone trying to find an ant or, blade of grass, moving in the scene, might be distracted.

But, I figured there are other folks, who need the garden tool, to keep their interest.

That trowel, I've had for a few years now and, it only cost about a buck.

Cheap and the blade gets bent sometimes. A hammer fixes it, every time.

Bugs hop around, leaves and blades of grass, move throughout the image and, it's quiet.

The rock garden can be relaxing and, it's great therapy for the eyes after using a computer.

Even if, that red tool keeps popping in and out of view, you can relax, watching this animation.

Oops, I must have dozed off. Just now, I realized, I forgot to go to the ATM at the post office.

They closed about 2 hours ago and, I forgot to get the money !

As Kris Kristofferson would say, "Blame It on the Stones."

1st Week of June -- Friday Photos

A Weekend Could Be Spent Doing This

 

 

A relatively mild rainy season, slowed the flower blossoms down a bit this year.

A visit to the northern hills today turned out to be a good idea.

The mountains are popping with bright colors.

Hydrangea flowers are in full bloom at Yohena's Ajsai Garden.

There must have been a few busloads of these little tots on a field trip.

They added some color saturation to the scenes in case you didn't already have enough.

Plus, I found out what about 100 of them want for Christmas.

A visit to Nago and, Captain Kangaroo's was made at lunchtime.

This is a simple burger and cheese with a side of fries.

Not wanting to get an overdose of vegetables, I just had some ketchup.

Potatoes and tomatoes, right ? 

They have other types of burgers on the menu, in case you were wondering.

Someday, I may have to try this humongous thing.

Maybe, I'll pass on the ketchup.

Touring a rock garden, seemed like a good idea after that big lunch.

Buddha looks a bit weathered but, keeps on smiling.

This is a place we always stop by for photos when in the area.

A stand of bamboo, right next to the Buddha statue begs for photos, as well.

Something tells me, camera clubs will be heading for the hills this weekend.

There's a good possibility, they may run into me, somewhere in their photographic travels.

Now, I'm wondering.  How early does Captain Kangaroo open ? 

Maybe, I'll  be the first customer !

Scroll down the page at:

Hydrangea Garden Yohena Website

To Read in Japanese, English, Chinese or, Korean.

Bright Red Lilies in a Rock Garden (8 Photos)

Almost in My Backyard

 

These brilliant red lilies started opening a few days ago, right behind my office.

Normally, I wouldn't hop somebody's fence to get into their rock garden.

But, nobody was home so, I did.

 It reminds me, I have to get some information on the Lily Festival going this month.

That's over on Ie Jima, an island not far from Okinawa.

They have something like a million white lilies on display every year.

 Have you ever seen a red lily before ?

They must have a different scientific name for these plants, than those white Easter Lilies.

For these first three photos, I just handheld the Canon G12

Playing around with the manual settings, I shot a few different compositions.

There Was Still Nobody Home

 

So, I decided to put the Canon away and bring out the Pentax and tripod.

It looks a lot more professional and people probably won't think you're a thief.

There is just one lily plant in the whole rock garden, as far as I can tell.

I monkeyed around with some settings and compositions.

But, had to keep looking over my shoulder, to make sure nobody was coming.

Really, I'm no expert at shooting flowers so, I make all kinds of shots.

When it comes to jumping fences though, I do alright.

Did I ever mention that time I escaped.......... ?

Never-mind.  You don't want to know.

As soon as I figured I had enough bright red lily photos, I jumped back over the fence.

Then, put the cameras away and went back with a broom.

There were flip-flop tracks in the dirt.  I had to get rid of all the evidence.

Wouldn't it be fun, having me as a neighbor ?

I'm Happy, A Statue in Okinawa, Japan (Photo)

      Here is one of several statues I took photos of yesterday at a rock garden in Okinawa, Japan.

                                  The translation of the words on this statue: I'm Happy.

       Today has been a twenty hour day, for me.  I got up at 3:30AM and it's 11:30PM right now.

It was one of those days where there were so many things to take photos of, I couldn't stop and I wanted to get them all developed while they were still fresh in my mind.  Well, I'm done now so, just like that statue, I'm happy, too.  Only, instead of standing on a rock and smiling about it, I'm  going to go home and crash !

B&W or Color? Trees Outside UNESCO Nakajin Castle Okinawa, Japan (Photos)

Photos taken outside UNESCO World Heritage Site Nakajin Castle Okinawa, Japan

This photo was taken today on a pretty dismal day. We had dark skies, cold wind and I used a camera I haven't seen in a while without a tripod. I simply set the Panasonic DMZ-FZ50 on a rock, used the LCD screen to make adjustments and fired away with the 10-second timer set.

It was one of those days where I figured it would be a waste of good digital film to go inside the Castle at Nakajin and shoot photos. I 'll go back when I like the lighting conditions and shoot some other time.

This little forest and rock garden are outside the castle grounds and probably don't get the attention of many tourists or cameramen so, I decided to give them some publicity.

Only now, I can't decide whether the shot looks better in B& W or Color. What do you think?

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