Wordless Wednesday: Ryukyu Ritual

Images from 3 Nights of October 2018 Full Moon

Before Sunrise on October 23 2018

The Chinese calendar sometimes places the full moon differently than a Roman calendar.

That was the case this month. I won't argue with the Chinese or Romans either.

For this month's full moon photography, the plan was, to catch the moon setting in the West.

Waking up at 2:30 in the morning, I would walk to the beach with the dog and a camera.

By the time I wandered home, the sun would be rising.

Scene at 5:22 AM October 24 2018

Its cool enough in the mornings to wear a light jacket and, the mosquitoes aren't awake, yet.

The moon shines and fades as clouds blow by. 

My preference would be for clear shots of the moon but, some folks like to see the weather.

It didn't rain and wasn't too windy. Clouds kept drifting in and out of my scenes.

October 25 2018 at 4:52 AM

Clouds and moisture in the air can change the colors captured in the moon.

There are ways to change the color after taking photos but, I leave them natural.

So, what you are seeing is, exactly what I saw, except for cropping and enlarging the scenery.

Shortly after 6 AM, this was my parting shot.

Standing on a seawall at Kin Port, I caught the moon reflecting over the bay.

A few minutes later, it would be setting behind the clouds.

Wordless Wednesday: Just a Bird

Sashiba (サシバ) Grey-faced Buzzard Eagle

Wordless Wednesday: Pull Your Right Foot Out

12 Fireworks Photos from the Kyuzo Toyama Matsuri in Kin Town

Away from Festival Grounds

Kyuzo Toyama is considered the father of Okinawan emigration.

Kin Town is celebrating the 150th year of his birth during this annual festival.

Grounded by doctor's orders and heavily medicated, I didn't attend the matsuri.

Having been to this festival dozens of times, I came up with a plan. Stay home.

Under orders, to not leave the house, I simply went up on the roof.

Normally, the bursts of fire would appear off to the west of my position.

This year the wind decided to carry the show off towards the north.

Having the camera and zoom lens mounted on a sturdy tripod made things simple.

It was easy to swing the contraptions around and capture a few good shots.

The camera was taken off Auto Focus and, I focus to infinity.

That way the lens won't be continually searching in the dark for fireworks.

Starting things off, I use an exposure of f/11 1/60 ISO 100.

Hanabi can be tricky and you learn to adjust the shutter speed, quickly.

Some photos were exposed 0.3 seconds, others to 1.6 seconds. I go with the flow.

There are advantages to being up on a roof shooting festival fireworks.

Number One: Nobody can walk in front of the camera and ruin your shot!

My method of shooting is, use continuous firing mode or rapid fire.

That means, I hold the shutter button down and fire bursts of 3 or 4 images at a time.

Everyone has their own preferences for fireworks photography. That's mine.

If, you Google "Fireworks Photography" there are probably a dozen other ways of doing it.

A tripod makes things a lot easier and eliminates camera shake somewhat.

But, I have also steadied the camera resting on a fence, wall, or rock and, done just as well.

An advantage I discovered this time around, to being farther away pleased me.

The wind seemed to clear the smoke surrounding the fireworks, more quickly.

Smoke can ruin some great shots when it clouds-up images.

Hanabi, translated to English, would mean, flower fire. What flower is this?

Maybe a dandelion or one of those weeds growing on your lawn?

Grand Finale

The Mad Moment, when all Hell breaks loose gave me flashbacks.

They must say, "Times up" and load everything they've got in their mortar tubes.

Not very pretty but, this photo shows some buildings silhouetted in the foreground.

I could email you a digital copy for only 5 bucks! 

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