Tanabata Party or Typhoon Party -- Which Will It Be ?

Little Typhoon Neoguri

 

 

There's a storm brewing out there in the west Pacific.

Some sources, say Okinawa may get whacked.

It is also, Tanabata Festival time.

The seventh day of the seventh month is when the stars line up a certain way.

Tanabata or, the Star Festival is popular throughout Asia.

The Milky Way separates two stars, who happen to be lovers.

And, they only get a chance to come together, at this time of the year.

In the past, I have visited Tanabata Festivals day and night to take photos.

The decorations are wishes for good fortune and happiness.

This sweetheart from Nanjo City used to decorate her property for Tanabata.

We stopped by last week to see how she was doing.

All the decorations were gone. But, she gave us a map to where she donated them.

They are down in Urasoe City, somewhere.

The map showed the location and pointed out No Parking, available.

So, that's my excuse to not, go to the city. Hah !

Fumiko Nakamoto, happens to be more important, to me, than all those decorations.

It was good to see her, alive and well. She remembers me and, she has free parking, too.

What a darling. 

Tanabata in Northern Okinawa

Up in the Kunagimi territory, we do things a bit differently.

We may not have all the fancy trimmings city folks have but, we still celebrate.

Tonight, I will be heading out to a Tanabata event.

Finding one of my favorite subjects at night, is always a challenge.


There's no way to capture these rascals motionless, without using a flash.

 When you yell, "Get up against the wall" they act a little nervous.

Then, when you say, "Spread your wings wide, like a little angel" the smile, goes away.

This is a technique, I need to work on. Huh ?

 Tanabata Festival on the Weekend

 

They couldn't have planned this one better, as far as I'm concerned.

Going to Ginoza Village with the cameras, tonight will be a pleasure.

Not sure if the event is inside a building or, outdoors, I'll carry a flash.

And, when I'm done shooting, it'll be Tanabata Partytime.


Keep an eye on this typhoon.

We may just have to schedule a Typhoon Party, too !

The Okukubi River and Some Dragonflies

One Has a Club for a Tail

 

 

It all happened when blue skies showed up again today.

The plan was, to go back and get some photos of the Kin Bridge with water flowing under it.

In the lower, left of the frame, you can see the river.

It bends and winds all the way to the Kin Dam, in the right of the photo frame.

This photo was taken shortly before 9AM, using a wide angle lens.

I had been on top of the bridge before 6:30, taking pictures of the Kin Dam.

After taking this shot, I pulled the 50-500 lens out of my backpack.

 Dragonflies Were Enjoying the River and Hot Sun 

 

They were buzzing around both sides of the river but, you need a big lens to catch them.

It was a relief, to get that backpack off and on the ground.

The little 10-20mm lens went in the pack and the big lens was mounted on a tripod.

 Here are two different types of dragonfly in the same shot.

 The red one, we've seen before.

It's called Akatombo in Japanese (Trithemis aurora).

The English name: Crimson Marsh Glider

The name of this one is going in my pending files.

The closest match, I have been able to make, so far, comes from a website in the UK.

They have an assortment of Club Tailed Dragonflies in Europe.

None are marked exactly like this but, they are close.

Club Tail Dragonflies are common in Europe.

But, there's no mention of them being found in Asia.

If nobody has a scientific name for this dragonfly, yet, I'll help them.

After looking a hundreds of dragonfly and damsel photos, my head hurts.

If we have an entirely new one here, it has to get a Latin name.

Let's just call it a Ryukyu Orionbeer hangoveragainisis !

Viewing the Kin Bridge in Okinawa with a Wide Angle Lens

Which Photo Do You Like Best ?

 

The skies off to the east were looking good today.

A little after 3PM, I decided to take a camera, tripod and a few lenses for a hike.

It was hot and steamy, walking there and I was tempted to hail a taxi.

But, besides being a cheapskate, the exercise would do me good.

Five bucks was saved by walking on the shady side of the street.

Late afternoon is the best time to catch the scene in good light.

But, I didn't want to get there too late.

Once, rush hour traffic begins, plenty of traffic crosses the bridge.

Chrome and glass, from vehicles crossing the bridge, causes glare.

Even, from way back where my camera is positioned.

Using different focal lengths, from 10-20mm, I moved up and down the Okukubi River.

Construction work is being done along the river.

So, I tried to move around and keep earth moving equipment out of the scene.

The next time, I see blue skies like this, I'll check the tide schedule.

The scene would be much prettier, during high tide.

The only other way to make this a postcard perfect picture would be ask for help.

Those guys working the Kin Dam, could open the flood gates for me.

That would fill the river banks up, I bet !

Out of these 8 photos, which angle of the bridge do you like best ?

Let me know and, when the river and light suit me, I go back and getterdun for you.

A Quick Trip to an Outer Island

Okinawa Island is over there under the blue skies.

Today, we took a drive across a few bridges and visited Hamahiga-jima.

It Pays to Get Out of the Office

 

The plan was to accomplish certain tasks over there.

There was a photo, I wanted to deliver, from one of last year's events.

And, there is some sort of sacred ritual, coming up soon, that I wanted to confirm.

Hamahiga is a neat little island.

On the way over, Doc and I were trying to decide whether to visit Hama or, Higa first.

The small island, has a population of about 600 but, there are two villages.

One is Hama, the other Higa and I wanted to visit both village offices.

Joking, I said, "Maybe these people are like the Hatfields and McCoys."

Just in case there's a feud going on between the Hama and Higa folks, we better be careful.

It's best to only talk about Hama stuff at the Hama village office.

We went west, first to see this place. It's a sacred grove, where a special event happens.

Both of us have probably photographed this sign a dozen times.

For one reason or, another, we have missed the event every year, over the past five years.

It tells me, the rituals take place on June 28th and August 28th by the Lunar Calendar.

Once I took the photo, we headed over to the Hama Village Office.

Then, off came the yellow flip-flops and into slippers, I went.

When you meet the head the village and tell him what you are doing, good things happen.

Let him know you are interested in Okinawa culture and want to take photos of the event.

This image was displayed on my camera LCD screen and, I showed it to him.

Then, I told him, I know the next event will be on the 28th day of the 7th month of the year.

But, I don't have a Chinese calendar handy and, couldn't read one, if I did.

Before you know it, we left there with a goldmine worth of information.

And, through a little bit of joking, in Ryukyu dialect, have a new friend.

Over at the Higa End of the Island

Things couldn't have went any better if we had been paying somebody.

Some gentleman was leaving the office, as we entered.

He didn't seem overly friendly.

The framed photo, I had taken last year was a present for the office.

This gal, who remembered me, told the man, who I was.

She let him know, I gave the office a CD with about 200 photos on it, from last year's event.

And, told us, the event for this month is less than 3 weeks away.

We're invited, of course.

Now the guy, was smiling.

In local dialect, I told him, "Let's go drinking together, someday."

It got him laughing and maybe, we have another friend on the east side of town.

That's how we getterdun.

A GIF From the Neighboor's Garden I Was Snooping Around In

They Are Getting Used to Me

 

 

The landlord and the next door neighbors, is what I'm talking about.

Maybe, the bugs and other critters, too.

It was one of those days when nobody goes out with cameras; cloudy and windy.

So, I stayed around here and did office stuff, Groan.

That put me in a not so good writing mood. It makes my brain hurt.

For awhile, I was wondering, what the heck is there to write about today.

 Bugs came along and fixed everything for me.

The Garden Isn't Very Big

An 8x12 carpet could cover the whole thing.

The landlord came by to get in his car and a had  puzzled look on his face.

He saw me with a tripod and 50-500mm lens stretched out, sitting on the ground.

He sort of shook his head and, drove away.

Maybe, I'll catch him tomorrow and show him some of the 150 shots, I took.

Big Bertha (Sigma 50-500) was put away when I shot this Leaf Hopper.

For the GIF Motion photo, I was using a 50mm prime lens.

There was another, much larger, one of these insects, I was shooting, too.

When I went in to change lenses, it vanished.

Those photos are waiting processing.

If I have a nice sharp one, I'll print it for the lady next door.

For such a small garden, she sure has lots of stuff, growing in there.

About a dozen different types of vegetables and herbs, I'd say.

The Leaf Hoppers, didn't seem to be eating her Shiso plants.

Maybe, they eat some sort of parasites and help the Shiso along. Who knows ?

The gal was telling me one day, about the Green and Red Shiso plants she has.

I told her, "I know all about them."  Your plants are on my blog !

So, it might be nice, if I gave her a photo of some sort.

Tomorrow may turn out to be a nice sunny day and, we may hop over to another island.

It all depends on whether, I can get one of my infidel friends, to do the driving.

Er, else, I'll be stuck poking around in the garden, again.