Friday Photo: Sunrise in the North of Okinawa

Here is a photo taken in 2008 from the northernmost point on the island of Okinawa.

It was for a magazine assignment I was on with Doc Graff.

Rather than have to wake up early in the morning and drive to catch the sunrise

I packed up the car and hit the road at midnight.

Sleeping on a concrete park bench was more comfortable than trying to curl up in a bucket seat.

So, that's what I did.

It's been a few years since I shot that sunrise.

Maybe, it's time I headed back up to Hedo Misaki do it again.

Tachigaa Waterfalls Revisited and a Revised Spelling

Here is another view of that waterfall where I joked about a mean caterpillar running me out of town for harassing him with a zoom lens.

This is probably the coolest waterfall on the island when it comes to access and conveniences.

Every now and then, I catch a mistake, somewhere, on one of my old blog posts and go back to make a correction.  That's why we're revisiting this waterfall today.

Another photographer, who goes by the handle Okinawa Soba, created a link to me through his Flickr account.

When I was looking at his waterfall photos, I noticed my Tachigaa Waterfall was missing an "A".

While I'm busy running around trying to revise the spelling on my waterfall photos here's what you could do, if you have a few hours to kill.

Go visit OKINAWA SOBA'S FLICKR PAGES

Guaranteed.  

There is nothing, anywhere on Flickr, that comes close to what you are about to experience !

Another Day at Senaga-jima in Okinawa, Japan

Senaga-jima has become one of the islands in Okinawa that I enjoy visiting with a camera.

Look at the size of that limo.  

I have no idea who was in it; just know they aren't any friends of mine.

 Ospreys are the main reason I like visiting, because they always put on a great show.

If I was the Mayor of Senaga-jima,  I'd tell the airport to go fly their planes over some other island.

You don't suppose that limo belongs to the Mayor, do you ?

Wildlife Photo: The Chinese Bulbul with a Sigma 50-500mm Lens

Here is a practice shot taken with the Sigma 50-500mm lens at 500mm.

The Chinese Bulbul ( Pycnonotus sinensis ) is a bird I've posted here before.

This shot was taken en route to the Okukubi River in Okinawa, Japan.

That's got to be my favorite spot for Photographing waterbirds, because I can walk to the place.

That Sigma lens gets fairly heavy when you're out for a few hours so, I haul it in my backpack.

The Pentax gets an 18-250mm lens until I get near my shooting destination.

While hiking, the camera is in a holster and I can grab it in a split second if needed.

As soon as I'm within a few minutes walk of the river, out comes the big Sigma.

I stretch that lens out as far as it will go just to take some practice shots.

This was my first photo taken on March 29, 2012 and there are a few hundred more waiting.

This week I'll just be doing some quick blog posts because I'm using one of those WiFi spots.

There's a bunch of giggling, yapping high school girls in here.

They make more noise than a whole flock of those noisy Chinese Bulbuls so, I'm outta here !

Wildlife Photo: The Common Snipe by RyukyuRusty

This bird is a snipe.

We were just heading home after a day of shooting with the Pentax cameras.

All of a sudden, Rusty started driving backwards.

He spotted this bird and wanted to shoot it but his camera was packed away.

So, I ripped mine off the tripod and handed it to him.

He leaned out the driver's side window and made some shutter speed adjustments.

CLICK

He shot the thing.

Then, he shows me the thing and says he's never seen one of these birds before.

It is a Common Snipe (Gallinago  gallinago) and Rusty shot it in the wild.

This bird is usually a winter visitor to Okinawa, Japan.

Well, I congratulate RyukyuRusty for the fancy shooting.

But, I think somebody needs to tell that bird winter is over !