Photo Essay: Tanabata Decorations are Up in Nanjo, Again !

Just yesterday, I was in Nanjo City Okinawa checking on Tanabata.

There weren't any decorations hanging in the trees and nobody was at home. 

Groan.

That got me worried about whether, or not Fumiko Nakamoto was doing alright.

She's the sweetheart who celebrates Tanabata, the Star Festival, every year by sprucing up her

property with thousands of brilliant, folded-paper doohickeys.

Today, we went back down that way and, discovered that overnight, the job got done.

It was a little bit windy and that made all the paper stuff move around a lot.

 But, you rarely hear me cussing the wind, when it blows on a hot day in July.

 Shooting photos of all the brilliant colors, from every angle, is what I was there to do.

Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding.

Fumiko is a Master at Origami, I'd have to say.

   She folds and strings all the artwork.

And, she hangs the decorations in the trees, by herself.

Mapitokinawa got a photo of the real star of Tanabata in Nanjo City Okinawa.

There she is shaking hands with some old guy ! 



Related Post: Brilliant Colors at Tanabata Festival in Okinawa 




 

1st Visit to Shimashii-Ozato Castle: An Unplanned Photo Essay

Don't ask how these things happen because I haven't got an answer.

The plan for today was to go shoot a bird from Africa but, he never showed.

Next, we went down the east coast of Okinawa to see if this old gal, who decorates her yard for the

Tanabata Festival, had started hanging her stars and streamers yet.

Nothing was hanging in the trees.  And, nobody was home.

So, Doc Graff looks up in the hills and points at some tower.

He thinks Ozato Castle may be somewhere, up there.

Son of a gun if he wasn't right.

Neither one of us had ever been to this castle before, because it's so hard to find.

And, I could kick myself for leaving all my short lenses behind.

Big Bertha, the Sigma 50-500mm, isn't the kind of lens I would usually use for castles.

The way to stop having these unplanned photo essays would be to take all my camera stuff

with me when I go out shooting.  I want to go back and do this castle right.

Guaranteed, if I leave Big Bertha home when I go back to Ozato

THAT CRAZY AFRICAN BIRD WILL SHOW UP !

Visit my website for today's Feature Photo

Wildlife Photo: A Dragonfly Named Blue Dasher and a Rant

A few nights ago, I was too burned-out to continue my research.

So, I went and posted this dragonfly as either a Orthetrum Triangulare or Glaucum.

The next morning, I came in and checked my Facebook Page.

BINGO !

A gal, all the way over in Texas, posted the correct ID on the critter.

My hat goes off to Vicky Vivona, a Facebook Fan who found me through MAP IT OKINAWA.

Researching these bugs can really drive a person crazy. 

And, I don't like misidentifying anything I post online. Scientists will jump all over you.

So, I'm glad somebody came along and corrected me, on this one.

The Blue Dasher got a doozy of a scientific name:

Pachydiplax longipennis

What could those scientists have been thinking of when they named this critter ?

I try to keep this blog family friendly.

Are you scientists ashamed of what's under your lab coats, or just some kind of nuts ?

You could have said longiwingus, er something like that. 

Dang !

END OF RANT

Travel Photo: Reflections on the Okukubi River in Okinawa

Sometimes, out looking for wildlife, I end up taking photos with wood in them instead.

This observation deck and stairs going into the mangroves on the Okukubi River

in Kin Cho Okinawa, were man-made.

But, the dude who makes the sun go up and down gave me the reflections !

Visit my website for today's Feature Photo

Dragonfly Photo: Orthetrum Triangulare or Glaucum

This dragonfly has me stumped.

It was photographed today at Kanna Dam in Okinawa, Japan.

It's going on 9PM and I decided it's time to go home.

Looking all over the internet for the proper ID can drive you buggy.

So, I figure I'll let you decide.

Is it a Orthetrum Triangulare, or a Orthetrum Glaucum ? 

It beats the devil outta me !


THIS JUST IN: THIS DRAGONFLY IS NEITHER OF THE ABOVE

HAVE A PEEK AT MY FACEBOOK PAGE

THERE WILL BE AN UPDATED DRAGONFLY ID, SHORTLY.