The Foul Weather Shoot
By Keith Graff
27 Nov 2008
Late Fall and Early Winter on Okinawa is usually the very best time to get outdoors and shoot your camera. But on those rare occasions when you can't, you need a place to shoot where you can experiment with colors and low light. The best place for that we've found is the old Ichiba or marketplace in downtown Naha.
Our first stop of the day was to the Kimono shops in hopes that we would get another chance to shoot some beautiful young lady being prepped for the upcoming Seijin-no hi, check this photo essay out for details: http://jpgmag.com/stories/7670 . The "One-San" pronounced "Oh-nay san" who runs the shop where I shot the photos for that story had told us that beginning in November, we'd have plenty of opportunities to see more fittings and get more photos. Seijin-no-hi comes in January and people, the young ladies especially, will need to get their kimonos reserved early.
When we arrived and to our dismay, we didn't find anyone being fitted for the big day but the ladies all made sure that we new about the Japanese "Ningyo" or "Doll" festival they were planning for this coming weekend. They already had a few dolls on display and happily obliged us by covering most of the distracting things from the background as well as allowed us to place some of the dolls how we wanted as we set up our cameras and tripods to shoot.
After about a half an hour or so and already behind schedule for the day, we politely excused ourselves and went down stairs, around the corner and down the block to the main fish market. We had some fun there a few months before as well and thought why not see if I could use my new camera and practice on the colors.
Okinawa is of course subtropical and the species of fish just as colorful as the coral in which they feed and use for protection. Unfortunately, being closer to noon than the last time we came, it was a bit crowded with tourists. Still, they had plenty of colorful fish on display and of course we couldn't help ourselves from taking a few shots.
3 responses
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Zerina Phillip said (27 Nov 2008):
Beautiful photos and story is very informative. My niece is in the USMC and spent 2 years in Okinawa, but she never visit much of the places. Thank you for sharing.
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Zerina Phillip gave props (27 Nov 2008):
got my vote
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Michael Lynch gave props (1 Dec 2008):
Got the big YEAH from me !!!
More Photo Essays
More stories by Keith Graff
No Loaves and One Fish
Photo Essay — 8 Dec 2008
Kin town on Okinawa prepares a tasty treat for visitors to the annual health fair.
