Must read article on a career in travel photography

Today I'd like to send you to another blog. Not that I don't like you having you on my blog mind you. It's just that my good friend and wonderful travel photographer Ewen Bell has posted a great piece entitled Five Philosophies for a Photographic Career.

In this day of unbelievably high ISOs, massive amounts of Megapixels and more video options than you can poke a stick at, it often seems that a prerequisite for working in this field is having the latest and greatest equipment.

It's just not true and Ewen really tells it like it is. Here's a quick excerpt:

'Travel is ultimately about people, so your relationship with people is the key ingredient to your photography. Anything less is a compromise. And it's not just respect for the people you photograph, it's everybody else too. Humanity is all around you, but it's also within you - unless you honor the humanity within you're just a lump on a rock instead of human on our planet. Everybody you meet deserves respect, from the security guards at a temple, girls working at a coffee shop, the van driver who gets you to the shoot, and even those annoying tuk tuk drivers who try to cheat unwitting travellers.'

Couldn't have said it better myself! There's a lot more great information on the Photography for Travellers site so I would really encourage you to dive in and have a look around. I've known Ewen for many years and he is a man of great integrity and a good friend who, fortunately for him, takes a pretty awesome picture,as you can see above. Highly Recommended.

Perfect weather for paddling.

If you're thinking of coming to Cairns for a holiday better get on a plane quick smart! The weather up here is simply sensational at the moment. Beautifully warm days, cool evenings and the mozzies are all gone. It's perfect weather to get that kayak out and go for a paddle. This image was shot off the coast of Port Douglas, just up the road.

It's a super wide-angle lens with a small aperture for a large depth-of-field, as well as a polariser filter to really make those bright colours pop. The trick is to get all paddlers to come past me in the right place, and have them al paddling together! It's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it. :)

Fantastic FNQ Photo Friday

 

I'm not really sure what it is with me and aquariums. I seem to end up in one no matter where I am in the world. Sydney, Singapore, Okinawa and this one...Reef HQ in Townsville. A bit closer for me than all the rest and just as spectacular. Of course the fish, sharks and turtles are all really great but nothing is as exciting to a small child as a cleaner in scuba gear and face mask cleaning the inside of the glass!

Ryukyu portraits

A decided lack of sun in our week in Okinawa meant that there wasn't a lot of time spent on the beach! In fact our days were mostly filled visiting the various attractions on the island - such as the Churaumi Aquarium and this place. Ryukyu Village is like a theme park, for want of a better word, that shows ancient Ryukyuan culture. There are examples of traditional arts and crafts, dancing performances, even a water buffalo crushing sugar cane! The highlight of our visit though was the people working there. Without a doubt some of the friendliest, most helpful people I've ever met. Many of the workers are elderly Japanese men and women who really seem to enjoy talking with tourists and explaining their culture. This fellow above was one of the wandering minstrels who would sit down and play his 'shamisen' - a traditional Japanese stringed instrument - and sing for the crowd.





This lady was selling traditional cookies at one of the recreated traditional houses. What a fantastic smile.




Another fantastic smile - this lady had remembered my kids' names and brought them out to dance with her on stage at a large dance performance at the end of the day.



The Ryukyu Mura is a great place to watch traditonal Okinawan dance, performed by women in costumes worn by their ancestors. You can really see the Chinese influence from an island which traditionally had very close links with that part of the world.


Here's our wondering minstrel friend again, this time with his mate the Lion God - or Shisa as it's known locally. And here are some more portraits of the fantastic people we met that day:

A really wonderful day with some incredibly hospitable people. Again it's one of those experiences that I would highly recommend but the recommendation comes with a caveat. It was so wonderful for me and my family mainly because we speak Japanese. I didn't see much evidence that the people there spoke much English at all. Of course I wouldn't expect them to, as I don't expect anybody to anywhere I go. But without a doubt being able to communicate was a huge part of what made the day so much fun for us. I did see a lot of American families there (Okinawa is home to a huge US Military base) and they seemed to be having a great time as well - just in different ways. Anyway I hope you like the portraits. For the technical amongst you they were mostly taken at ISO 400 or 800 with a 24-70 f2.8 lens. Except for the first shot of the minstrel - that one was the 10-22mm, and the one of the minstrel performing with the Lion God was the venerable 70-200 f2.8. Enjoy!

Churaumi fountain

One last aquarium shot for the road. On the way out I noticed this fantastic fountain spraying mist into the sky. It looked wonderful against the late afternoon sky, and of course my boys had to get in there and make themselves as wet as possible!

Next stop is a historical village showing the ancient Ryukyuan culture which dates back thousands of years to when the islands were closely allied to China.

Fantastic FNQ Photo Friday

Well it's that time of the week again. Where I get to show what a beautiful part of the world this is. I heard a Business guru on the radio this week talking about how she had lived in Cairns for a bit but thought that it was the kind of place you lived when you had accomplished everything you want to in life! I guess I can see where she's coming from if you want to climb the corporate ladder, but for those of us who love being surrounded by nature and watch beautiful Sea Eagles like this one fly through the skies then I think it's a pretty good place to live. And I definitely haven't accomplished everything I plan to in life!

Getting gro(u)ped at Churaumi Aquarium in Okinawa

Although the main viewing tank that I posted on Monday is arguably the most spectacular place to watch the fish swim by there are a couple of other options. One of them comes with tables and chairs! This is the little restaurant and cafe area where the tables face huge glass panels that look out on to the tank itself. Here you can see a Giant Grouper as well as Manta Rays and large schools of fish. The Whale Sharks also swim by making it a fantastic place to fill your tummy as well as get up close and personal with the fish.