Wordless Wednesday: Serene Scene

Wordless Wednesday: Serenity

Wordless Wednesday

A Sunny December Day and Plenty Got Done

Gimbaru Okinawa

Something, I saw at the Health Food Festival yesterday, made me go here.

This morning it was raining but, things turned out alright this afternoon.

When, I first got to the office, somebody on Facebook got me riled-up.

So, I turned the thing off, grabbed a camera and, went on a mission.

Some folks, wanted to know where they could buy Ryukyu Agu pork meats.

Other people, I'll call non-meat eaters, think, I'm an animal. I don't pick on them.

And, I don't go around, telling them, what they should or, shouldn't eat.

Poor li'l pig got killed for people, to eat. I can't recall, ever eating one alive.

Poor li'l carrots and strawberries probably, get sacrificed for vegetarians, too. So?

Kin Agu Is on the Way to that Red Rock

So, I figured it would be a good idea, to have lunch there and, do some research.

Snap a few photos, eat some healthy pork and do a Google review.

There's what I had for lunch. A dead pig hamburger, some dead rice, salad and soup.

The meal came to a grand total of 800 yen, which is less than, ten bucks.

People like to see the inside of places and, find out how roomy they might be.

So, when all other customers, were gone, I got permission, to shoot the whole joint.

The menu is in Japanese and, nothing costs over 1,000 yen. That's cheap !

People who can't read Japanese, should learn or, bring along a friend, who does.

There's a freezer stocked with meats, you can buy, to take home and cook.

The Ryukyu Agu meat, isn't stocked in regular grocery stores. But, you can buy some here.

It was past 2 PM when I left this restaurant and, I had a long hike to go on.

It would take a few hours, for me, to find these red rocks, along Okinawa's east coast.

If the ocean, wasn't visible, I'd swear someone, took these pictures in Arizona.

By the time, I got back into town, I was glad my office lights were still turned on.

At 6 PM, it gets mighty dark around here. The camera got downloaded and, I went to work.

Now, folks who want to eat Agu pork, can read my review and, get directions.

One of these days, I'll show vegetarians, where to get their food, too.

Friends and family, in my crowd, happen to be vegetarians, as well. I don't lecture them.

And, they probably know, there isn't much sense, in trying to reform me. I'm an animal.

Thank you.

5 Images Shot Under Sunny Skies in Kunigami

November Is Becoming a Favorite Month

The heat is tolerable and the typhoon threat should have ended for the year.

Ideal weather, for being outdoors, led to a trip on the northeast side of the island.

There was no plan, other than, get out of town and, shoot some cameras.

The first interesting subject that popped up was, this abandoned boat.

It's got to be the original, Queen Izena ferry. How cool is that ?

It makes you wonder, why no one thought of putting it on display in a museum.

Someone did, paint "Clean Yo Beach" on the side. That sounds like a good idea.

A little farther north, these rocks caught my attention.

During low tide fishermen, climb them and, sit out there, hoping to catch some big ones.

If, I had to go fishing for food, I'd starve to death. It's not in my bag of tricks.

But, some folks can stay out there all day, not catch any and, still be happy.

One of my friends says, "A bad day of fishing, beats a good day, stuck at home!"

The big lenses stayed home today and, that was a mistake.

The Osprey was perched on an offshore rock and, this photo was taken at 350MM.

If a larger lens was used, I believe, there was a fish in that guy's talons.

That's alright, a bad day with the camera, beats being stuck in my office.

This Japanese sign, cheered me up, when I spotted some funny English on it.

"Think Globally, Act Yanbarly" sounds like a nice thing to do. Don't you think ?

Yanbaru or, Yambaru, is what the northern area is called, in local dialect.

People around the globe should act like Yambaru folks and, the world could be a better place.

Somebody, coined a new phrase and, wants us all, to act Yanbarly.

Well, I'll drink to that as soon as, I get out of this office. Go out and be Yanbarly, to everybody.

This last photograph was taken, heading south on the highway, to get home.

Confirmation is pending but, I think it may be a special rock formation.

If, my suspicions are confirmed, there's a juicy story, I can tell you, later.

Unlike many news outlets, these days, I think, it's important to tell the truth.

So, we'll have to wait for an expert's opinion before, I can give you the details.

Giving some rock in the ocean, a false name, wouldn't be a very Yanbarly thing to do.

Don't you agree ?

Animation -- Cat in the Rock Garden

 Photographing Lizards Didn't Happen

 

  The plan today was, to get some shots of lizards and, they're out there somewhere.

The tripod wad set up and, I was patiently waiting for one of my little lizard friends to show up.

Things were looking sort of grim and, I was about to call it a day.

Luckily, this critter came along and entertained me for a few hundred photos.

Seven images were selected to create this GIF and, more will be completed later.

Initially, I had thought of telling you, the similarities between me and that cat.

Like make a list of, ten things but, I decided against doing it, for a few good reasons.

See, we both have almost pure white fur and, the same color eyes.

Hair grows out of our ears and whiskers stick out around our noses.

Actually, that cat and I, hang around the Buddhist temple sometimes.

But, neither of us go there to pray. Then, I ran out of things to say.

It's dark outside now and, time for me to lock up the office.

Do you suppose that cat, drinks beer, too ?

Photography Tip: Aperture Simplified

Experiment with the Camera Settings

 

It's a little confusing for beginners, to learn about aperture and, how it works.

Sometimes, I get foreigners, asking me to explain and, I needed to figure out an easy way.

On a windy, wet day, I decided to go out and take a few photos, to help with my description.

Under the shelter of a carport, some sample images were created.

 What seems to confuse everybody is those F stop numbers, we use when talking cameras.

f/2, f/5, f/6, f/9 f/11, f/16, f/22 are tricky, for some folks to understand.

They think, it sounds like speed limits and, the higher the number, the faster you go !

But, it's the other way around so, here's how, I'll try to explain it.

Aperture, is a number that tells you how much light is entering your camera lens.

Think of f/1, as a full cup of water and f/16, as one sixteenth of a cup of water.

When there's not much light available, you need to use a smaller aperture number.

That way, more light gets through the lens and, you can shoot at faster shutter speeds.

On a bright, sunny day, you an get away with f/11, f/16 and f/22 apertures and, still shoot fast.

The image above was taken using an aperture setting of f/1.8.

 There are some yellow flowers in a rock garden, ferns in the background and, grain on the right.

 When we only let one sixteenth of a cup of light (f/16) enter the lens, things change.

In photography-speak, we call that, "Stopping Down" on the lens.

Not as much light is getting into the camera and, shutter speed is much slower.

But, look how much more detail, we have in the image, now.

The focus, on both photos, was on the yellow flowers.

Now, the background and, foreground look different if, you take a close look.

Some wire mesh, is visible behind the ferns.

And, the rock has more detail, as well as, the grain of the weed, in the right side of the frame. 

The distance between the camera and the subject has an effect on the image.

And, the distance of the subject, from the background, does, as well.

A lower aperture number, lets more light in faster but, captures less detail.

This comes in handy, when you want to eliminate distractions or, blur the background.

Play with the aperture settings on your camera and, just remember one thing.

The higher the number, you use, the less lighting is entering your lens.

Aperture settings, let you be more creative with your photography and, you should use them.

Somebody swiped my cup of beer. I have to get outta here !  



More Photography Tips

Where Cloud Eleven Meets Cloud Twelve

A Photo Taken While Rock Hunting

 

 

When I go out with the cameras, I'm usually on some sort of a mission.

This time, it was to find a certain rock, off the east coast of the island.

It's over an hour's walk from where I hang out in my office.

Just in case, I couldn't find the assigned rock, I shoot whatever tickles me, along the way.

That way there's something to show, for a few hours of walking in the hot sun.

And, if the rock, I was searching for, never materialized, I could change my story.

Say something like, "It was a cloud hunting assignment and, it turned out alright."

Well, I found the damn rock, I was looking for but, I didn't like the light it was under.

So, I'll go back and do the rock thingy, another day.

How These Clouds Got Titled

 

 

Putting a title on a photo takes a little bit of thinking.  It can be tricky.

One of these days, the camera, will do all that stuff for you.

The way things stand, right now, your photo gets an image number and, that's it.

Well Google, Yahoo and, all the other search engines, Don't like IMGP8159 titles.

So, when you post an image online, it's best to make up some sort of name or, title.

To me, clouds are just clouds.

Cirrus, Cumulus, Stratus, Nimbostratus and Cumulonimbus are scientists' words.

I am not a scientist so, I have to come up with something original for a title.

When I researched "cloud number nine" they gave me information overload.

Everything form Buddhist stuff to the US Weather Bureau origins for the term.  Groan.

There used to be an expression for "cloud eight" and "clouds thirty seven and thirty-nine." 

However, I never found anything about a cloud 11 or, cloud 12.

That's the best explanation, I can give you, for choosing today's title.

If you don't like it, go read through this and, pull a title for clouds, out of your own rear end !

5 Tourist Attractions on Izena Island Worth Visiting Again

Three Days and Two Nights

 

 

Consider it a whirlwind tour with a camera, chasing the good light.

It consisted of, waking up Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 3 and 4AM.

We climbed aboard the New Izena Ferry at Unten Port in Motobu and sailed away.

At the ferry terminal, on Izenajima, I photographed a tour map on the wall.

All the tourist brochures were written for Japanese or, Chinese.

But, the poster on the wall had some English descriptions for the attractions.

So, we decided to find the five sites that were listed, in language we could easily read.

 

Number One

 First on the list was the statue of Sho En, pointing back towards Okinawa.

It was in a park, not far from the minshuku, we stayed at.

When Map It Okinawa dude and, I were leaving, I joked about a shot, I should have taken.

Driving off to scout another site, I noticed the statue had a straw hat on its back.

Researching this Sho En guy, I'm finding conflicting information.

One source, says he wore his topknot sort of lop-sided.

That would have shown up if, a photo was taken from the rear of the statue.

Then, we'll have to decide whether it was a fashion statement or, he had a bump on his head.

Some other conflicting information exists, concerning this Ryukyu king.

One source says he came from Iheya, another Izena Island.

The folks on Izena, sure seem proud of his heritage and, that fact he became a king.

Number Two

 Izena Castle Site is a must-see, for any one visiting this island.

The castle, also known as, a gusuku, looks like a big pile of rocks, about 100 meters tall.

There doesn't appear to be any rooms to hide in so, it's different than most fortresses.

Map It Okinawa, climbed to the top and saw some sacred sites along the way.

A summer storm (thunder, lightning and rain) hit while he was up there.

My cameras got thrown in the car and, I hid under one of those tiled roofs.

One of these days, I'll climb, when its not raining.

Number Three

 Castles and royalty statues are alright but, I liked this photo best.

Agi Gitara and Umi Gitara are two rocks in the scene above.

Agi is still attached to land; Umi is the one in the ocean.

The story goes:  They were two lovers who wanted to become one, with each other.

When they died (some say suicide) the gods hooked them up for eternity.

The gal rock (in the sea) and dude rock on land, will see each other, forever, from a distance.

Ain't that romantic ?

Anyhow, this was a challenge, shooting this photo and, I want to do it again.

Number Four

 

 

 

  Izena Beach is a great place to visit and get some sunshine.

They have campgrounds, toilets, showers and, the price is right.  It's free.

There weren't many people there when we visited so, we may have to go back.

What if a bunch of girls in bikinis, showed up ?

These are things, you must consider.

Number Five

 

 

 

The last tourism location we found was the most difficult, as far as searches go.

There were signs posted along the highway and, they had arrows pointing directions.

Maybe, some souvenir hunters, borrowed a few.

If you are just looking for old traditional Okinawan homes, you'll find plenty.

This one is special. The buildings and grounds are huge.

Not much (in English) can be found via the internet. I will find out more, later.

There are some sacred sites and important trees associated with the area.

So, that gives me another excuse, to return to this special island.

Untethered for Awhile

On the island of Izenajima, they have internet access.

Just as soon as, I got off the ferry, I noticed Wi-Fi access signs in the terminal.

In the backpack, with all the rest of my traveling gear and camera stuff was a laptop.

To make the most, of my time on the island, I stayed un-tethered.

Chasing the cultural, historical sites, along with sunrise and sunset locations was fun.

But, it requires some, mingling with the locals, who know the island.

We were out there, sampling the local spirits, past midnight, daily.

With only 3-4 hours of sleep, each night, the internet, didn't seem all that important.

Back at the office, I'm online, again. And, have jackhammers out front of the place.

There's one last reason, to go visit Izena Island, in the near future !

 

 

 

Tracking Down Kin Castle One Stone at a Time

This Rock Is a Piece of a Puzzle

 

 

Located in Kin Town, Okinawa, Japan, it is a stone from the Kin Castle.

Archaeologist dudes, claim there were 192 castles, identified (at one time) in Okinawa.

We know, many were destroyed during the Pacific War.

And, once in awhile, a castle would be disassembled, to be moved to another site.

There Should Be a Big Castle in Kin Town

 

 

The place is up on a hill and has a nice view of the ocean.

All we have to do, is find the rest of the rocks.

The one in the photo above is located at N 26 27.309  E 127 55. 407.

Ladefoged and Pearson, could help find the rest of the pieces.

They are experts on soil and stones.  We should seek their advice.

Then, invite a bunch of people over.

  No cover charge. 

Just bring home the rocks.

And, put Kin Castle back together, again !

Somewhere in Okinawa: The Uncooperative Sunset

Dropped off to shoot tonight's sunset, miles from home, I was in unfamiliar territory.

Looking out over the East China Sea, towards the horizon, things weren't going to go well.

So, I turned around and shot this pile of rocks and a dead tree.

It isn't exactly a sunset photo.

But, it worked for me !

Plant Photos: The Bird Nest Ferns of Okinawa, Japan

This Fern Deserves Five Photos

 

Months worth of procrastination have gone by while this fern waited for me.

I see these plants every day growing in flower pots or city gardens.

But, I wanted to put something together to show how they grow naturally.

Finally, everything came together.

The photos were all taken yesterday at the Natural Stone Garden in Motobu, Okinawa.

If you don't have a green-thumb, you should get some of these ferns.

They grow anywhere, even on rocks.

So, I walked all over the place and shot them growing out of rocks to prove it to you.

 They have these awesome-bright green leaves, year round.

Somebody, over in the UK, gave this plant high honors.

It got an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society. Hah !

 If you are very observant, hiking through the jungle, you'll spot this plant growing in trees, too.

 Do you know any folks with bad breath ?

Well, the Wikipedia channel tells me you can use this fern to fix that.

But, they don't give the recipe.  Just tell your friends to chew the stuff and see if it works.

Thorough Research Gives Best Results

 

Don't ask how I find these things.  Maybe, I'm just lucky.

Researching this plant led me to the Natural History Museum and, I got hooked-up good.

They let me join-up and get access to all kinds of neat stuff.

Makes me feel like some kind of royalty.

Here's a link to the Bird's Nest Fern, if you want to learn more about it.

When I'm in the Natural History Museum, I wear my blue flip-flops.

Now, I'm changing back into the yellow ones to visit Dave's Garden.

He has stuff about the Asplenium nidus, too.

Today She Went for One of Those Last Rides With Me

Tough Decision and Not Sure How She'll Handle It

 

Looking at some old Orion Beer posters brought on a flood of memories.

So, I didn't say a word and just took pictures.

Those were the good old days.  Hah !

Keeping everything inside myself, I just went around taking photos.

We've been through a lot together.  This just didn't seem like the place to break the news.

So, I took her out in the country where I'm more comfortable.

A little river, running over the rocks, made me relax.

 Pretending I was doing something important, I still didn't say anything about it.

Maybe It's Best Not to Tell Her

 

If you found a younger, sexier model, what would you do ?

Would you take her for one last ride, and not say anything about it ?

I Will Always Love Her

 

And, I hope she finds someone else, who will treat her better than I did.

See, I'm taking her for one more ride.

The Canon G12, that took all the photos above, is being traded-in.

They have a new Canon PowerShot G1 X that I think I'll love, even more ! 


Visit my website for today's Feature Photo

Forest, Rocks and Salt: The Less Traveled Path in Okinawa (Photo)

The past few weeks I've been traveling all over the Ryukyu Islands with that dude I keep calling RyukyuRu.  It's a blast but, the young guy acts like he's about half my age, goes up and down mountain trails, into the dark corners of caves and through the jungle like some kinda wild animal.  Half the time, I have no idea where we went.  He'll have to tell us where I took this photo of forest, rocks, and salt.  He pays attention to where he's going while I just tag along to shoot the camera.

Ru has one of those GPS gadgets.  It's great for finding stuff on Google Maps.  I just wish it had a few more important features built into the system.  Like, it would be better if it had a built-in flashlight for dark places.  And, it would be nice if it reminded people the sun is going to go down a few hours earlier when you're in the jungle or a cave than it does when you're at the beach.

RyukyuRu's real name is Lou.  It's just easier to say Ru, around here, because they don't have any "L's" in the Japanese dictionary.  Whenever I introduce him to anyone here,  I just say his name is Ru.  That way I don't get stuck giving free English lessons to everybody.

One of these days I may do a blog interview and Lou can let you know all he wants to about himself.  Meanwhile,  you can snoop around MAP IT OKINAWA and learn things about him while seeing more photos of where we've been in the Ryukyu Island Chain.

Today, I chose to title this post Forest, Rocks, and Salt: The Less Traveled Path, because of what we experienced yesterday.

We observed two women at worship in a well-marked UTAKI (SACRED SITE)  early-on in the day and steered clear so as to not disturb them.  They had placed three piles of salt in different locations throughout the Utaki.  Some were placed alongside the trail,  some on rocks, some at the base of trees in the forest, and others at small stone or cement shrines.

After we left that sacred site, we went to the less-traveled paths.  Places where we found caves, water wells, springs, thick brush, jungle, and hills a mountain goat wouldn't enjoy climbing, we kept running across three freshly laid piles of salt.  We're fairly certain the same two women had traveled off the beaten path and reached every location ahead of us but, never saw them again the entire day.  Dozens, if not a hundred, or more, remote locations and probably a few kilos of fresh salt had been placed in locations where we had to beat our own path.  Big mystery here.  Hmm.

After I'm done picking all the burrs out of my undercarriage, I wonder if I should go try and solve this mystery about the forest, rocks and salt piles on the less-traveled paths of Okinawa. 

Or, should I  just stay home and drink beer?

What's Karst ? Photos and Links to Learn Rock Science

I just saw this word recently.  It's in a brochure from the Dai Sekirinzan mountains in northern Okinawa, Japan.

When I read that,  I thought "Karst. Hah!  They spelled something wrong and I gottum good"!
It sounds like something you'd hear on the Redneck Channel.  "Hey, Bubba.  What'd that karst ya"?

 Well, I took plenty of pictures of these rocks and could hardly wait to get the research done.

 The mountains in the Okinawa Quasi-National Park are full of these limestone-looking, jagged rocks.

 Some of them have flowers and ferns growing out of them and nice green grass grows around others.

 When you get back in the forest where there isn't so much sunshine, not much grows on them.

 In some spots, trees grow between the rocks and stay there until they get blown over or fall over dead.

It's some rugged country.  Some of those rocks are sharp as a knife so, I wouldn't recommend walking around there barefoot or in flip-flops, because I can testify, it'll mangle your feet.

Well, I did my research for you.  Karst is a word that came from GERMANY.  No wonder I never heard of it. 

Now, you know what it looks like.

If you want to learn more about it, all the scientific descriptions are in WIKIPEDIA.

You can study-up on rock science to see if there's any karst where you live.  

That way you'll know where not to go in flip-flops.  Rednecks would say "It won't karst you anything at all"!