Amami Superman Photography

A Place to Share My Photos

Aug 20, 2010

Another Happy Day

Posted by Amami Superman

Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/30 sec, f/10, ISO 200 -- EXIF
Playing in the Waves

It was pretty hot last Monday so we took Jade to Ohama Beach Park after work. I was happy to go and take some photos. Photography is like anything else I guess, if you want to get good and stay good at something, you have to keep at it. I haven't taken very many photos over the past 2 months and most of the photos I took from this day were pretty craptacular.


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/200 sec, f/3.5, ISO 100 -- EXIF
I Used My Flash

I used my flash for some fill light in the upper photo. I thought it turned out ok. Instead of Jade's face being all dark, you can actually see her.


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/50 sec, f/22, ISO 100 -- EXIF


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/50 sec, f/22, ISO 100 -- EXIF

The two previous photos were taken with the same camera setting about the same time, I just couldn't decide whether I liked the portrait style or the landscape style one. The both look nice to me.


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 45mm, 1/50 sec, f/22, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Deep Thoughts
by Hikari Barr
"I bet one legend that keeps recurring throughout history, in every culture, is the story of Popeye."

That's an actual quote from Jack Handy's Deep Thoughts. I used to get a kick out of watching those on Saturday Night Live.


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/200 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 -- EXIF


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/15 sec, f/3.5, ISO 400 -- EXIF
In the Parking Lot

So that was another happy day for us. Jade got to do some swimming, I got to take some photos and Hikari got to... watch us do our things.

comments (2)

TOP

May 6, 2010

Sakibaru Beach

Posted by Amami Superman

Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/200 sec, f/9.0, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Coral Bits

We had kind of a busy Golden Week this year. My wife's older brother got married on the 3rd so we had plenty of family and friends over to visit. We had plans since the beginning of this year for what we wanted to do for Golden Week, but my brother-in-law and his wife decided kind of suddenly that they wanted to get married before she turned 30 and our plans went out the window. Oh well, hopefully no one will get married next year during Golden Week.

These photos were taken on Saturday. We took a drive up around the northern part of the island. I have particularly fond memories of this beach. My wife first took me here just before we got married. She carries a photo of me taken here at this beach.


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 55mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Fine


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 55mm, 1/160 sec, f/9.0, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Pestering


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 55mm, 1/80 sec, f/9.0, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Dainty

The first photo was fixed up a little. It was a bright sunny day, but it was also pretty hazy. The sky had no color so I used a filter inside of Lightroom and gave it some. The photo of the hermit crab is also cropped just a bit.

comments (0)

TOP

May 4, 2010

Panorama at Tomori Beach

Posted by Amami Superman

Panoramic View of Tomori Beach

Click here for enlarged photo
**WARNING**
This enlarged photo is larger than my regular enlarged photos. It may take some time to appear depending on your internet connection.

I patched these photos together in Photoshop CS3 using photomerge. I thought it turned out well. I had to do some retouching manually to fix some distortions but nothing too serious. These photos were taken in the later half of March. We were having some pretty nice weather so I took the family to the beach. I brought some shovels and buckets to see if we could make some big sand castles. So if you look just center right of the photo, you can see Jade and Hikari sitting there by a big mound of sand. We had some fun and these are just a few of the shots I took from this day.

comments (2)

TOP

Mar 11, 2010

Lots of Wind

Posted by Amami Superman

Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/2000 sec, f/7.1, ISO 400 -- EXIF
1.

I can't tell you enough just how much I love tax season. It's my ultimate goal in life to be bald and fat with a hairy back. I'm already fat and I'm working on the hairy back, but my hair just won't fall out. But, thanks to tax season this year, my dream is starting to come true. Life couldn't be better!

I've been having such a blast doing my taxes. The tax people must have read my mind this year and sent me a Japanese 2009 Income Tax Guide instead of the one in English they usually send every year. I've been getting a bit bored with taxes over the years and I was looking for a new challenge. Having the guide in Japanese is an added extra bonus. Maybe next year they could send it to me in Korean or Chinese!

I was having so much fun doing my taxes over the past couple of days that my wife thought I was having too much fun and told me to take a break and go outside and play. "Awww, do I have to?" She was pretty stern so I grabbed my camera gear and went for a drive.


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/1250 sec, f/7.1, ISO 400 -- EXIF
2.

While other places up north in Japan have been getting lots of snow, we've been getting lots of wind. Strong wind. I was just looking up how strong it was. The wind was blowing at about 30km/h with gusts up to 68km/h. I had a hard time standing up to some of the gusts let alone holding the camera still. I was afraid my car may get tipped over while I was driving. Although it only says 30km/h for the average, it seemed like it was blowing a lot harder than that. It felt like typhoon wind.


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/1250 sec, f/7.1, ISO 400 -- EXIF
3.


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 20mm, 1/1600 sec, f/7.1, ISO 400 -- EXIF
4.

These waves may not look that big, but they actually are. On a regular day, the waves here aren't that big. They're usually small long-breaking waves that come in.


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55m f/3.5-5.6 @ 20mm, 1/1600 sec, f/7.1, ISO 400 -- EXIF
5.

I was trying to find a shot of something that I could use as a scale to show just how big the waves were. I decided to use my car. The only problem was this spot was probably the windiest and I couldn't hold the camera still for the life of me. This was about the best shot I got.

So those were the photos I took on my drive yesterday. Although I was upset at my wife for making me go outside to play and not letting me do my taxes, I forgive her. I think she's just jealous I get to have all the fun.

comments (0)

TOP

Jan 4, 2010

Happy New Year!

Posted by Amami Superman

Another year has ended and another year has begun. I hope everyone's holidays went well. We had plenty of things to do. I tried to go take sunrise photos on the New Year's day but it was overcast and a bit rainy despite the weather forecast. It did however clear up about an hour after I returned home from trying to take the sunrise photos. This was good because the wife's family gets together every year and celebrate New Year's day together and it's usually outside at her uncle's house.


It was a special year because my wife's grandmother turns 97 this year so they had a special celebration for that. I took some photos of that but I took a lot and I haven't had the chance to download them to my computer till today so I'll just make a small post of the shots I took today.

It was great weather today. It was warm and sunny so I decided to go out and take some sunset photos. I went to a nearby beach park called Ohama and found a nice spot. The photos didn't turn out that great. I did a bit of post editing changing the exposure, temperature while upping the vibrancy and saturation. The colors are pretty exaggerated but I think they turned out OK.

Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/1250 sec, f/4.5, ISO 100 -- EXIF


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 24mm, 1/160 sec, f/8.0, ISO 100 -- EXIF


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 24mm, 1/10 sec, f/25, ISO 100 -- EXIF


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 20mm, 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 -- EXIF

So those are a few of the photos I took today. As I said, I did a bit post editing so the actual photos weren't this colorful. :P

With that, Happy New Year to you all and I'll talk to you soon!

comments (0)

TOP

Sep 28, 2009

Kakeroma Island

Posted by Amami Superman

Kakeroma Island is the island just south of Amami Oshima. It's only a 10-15 minute boat ride from the town of Koniya. Earlier this month, work had my wife and me down in Kakeroma for a few hours. I wanted to spend more time there but it was a regular weekday and we needed to be back before our daughter, Jade, got home from school. So as we drove around Kakeroma trying to get our business done as fast as we could, I stopped here and there to take a few photos. I know there are plenty of places to take photos, but we just didn't have the time nor the opportunity to get to those places. Still, I was able to take a few shots so I thought I would share them with you.


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Nikon

On the ferry, they had a binocular type device that cost 100 yen to use. I took this photo because I thought it was cool that this device was made by Nikon.



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Koniya



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/100 sec, f/5.0, ISO 200 -- EXIF
Gajumaru



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/100 sec, f/5.0, ISO 200 -- EXIF
Road Mirror Perspective



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/160 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Broken Pier Beach



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Secluded Beach



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/500 sec, f/3.5, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Look Out Point Swing

I kind of laughed when I saw this swing. If you were right up next to this swing, you would see that it is right close to the edge. If you were swinging on this, you would be swinging out over the almost cliff like mountain side. Pretty scary. I couldn't imagine putting Jade on that and pushing her... scary.


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 140 -- EXIF
Another Look Out Point



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/40 sec, f/3.8, ISO 200 -- EXIF
Sun Poking Through

Well, those were the few photos I was able to take while we spent out short time on Kakeroma this month. I'd like to go camping there and spend some time driving around to find better places to take photos.

comments (0)

TOP

Jul 10, 2009

And Everything Else

Posted by Amami Superman

These are the other photos I took when we went to Ohama Beach the day before yesterday.


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 110 -- EXIF
Palm Trees and Blue Skies



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 29mm, 1/320 sec, f/9.0, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Tracks



Nikon D60, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 200mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 -- EXIF
Yadokari
(hermit crab)

I'm not sure if "yadokari" is an Amami dialect or if they use this everywhere in Japan.



Nikon D60, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 200mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 -- EXIF
On the Move

I wasn't too close when I took these photos because this hermit crab was a bit frightened of me. It wouldn't come out if its shell if I was too close so these photos are cropped a bit.



Nikon D60, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 200mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 -- EXIF
Making Tracks



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 22mm, 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 125 -- EXIF
Adan

In a previous post I mention and a famous artist named Tanaka Isson. I've seen a few of his paintings of adan. They have a museum here in Amami and his paintings are there on display. I also came across a site that had a few of his painting posted here.



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/500 sec, f/11, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Cliche Adan Sunset

Many people have taken sunset photos with a silhouette of adan in them. I feel it's a bit a cliche and I've never tried to take one until now.



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 -- EXIF
More Adan



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 34mm, 1/100 sec, f/5.0, ISO 200 -- EXIF



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/500 sec, f/11, ISO 100 -- EXIF



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/80 sec, f/22, ISO 100 -- EXIF



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/160 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100 -- EXIF

So these are some of the other photos I took the day before yesterday at Ohama Beach.

comments (2)

TOP

Jul 9, 2009

Afterschool Fun at Ohama Beach

Posted by Amami Superman

Yesterday it was pretty hot so we decided to go to the beach after Jade got home from school. I'm not sure what the temperature was yesterday but it was about the same as today. Today is about 90℉ with around 80% humidity. I can't wait until mid August!


Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 22mm, 1/250 sec, f/8.0, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Adjusting Her Goggles

We recently enrolled Jade in a swimming school. She goes every Saturday in the afternoon. Her class starts at 4:00pm and my English classes end at 4:00pm so by the time I actually get out to see her, she's just finishing up and I don't get the chance to take any photos, unless I go into the women's shower room which wouldn't go over too well...



Nikon D60, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 70mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Our Missy Mutt



Nikon D60, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 55mm, 1/250 sec, f/8.0, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Hmmm?!



Nikon D60, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 125mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 160 -- EXIF
Looking for Shells



Nikon D60, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 200mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 -- EXIF
Gotcha!



Nikon D60, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 200mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 -- EXIF
Failed Escape

I was trying to take some close up shots with a thin depth of field of something else when I took these shots and I had the camera set on aperture priority with aperture wide open. I'll post the photos I was actually trying to take when I took these in another post.



Nikon D60, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 200mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 -- EXIF
Just Close Your Eyes
(it will all be over soon...)



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 55mm, 1/200 sec, f/7.1, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Heart Shaped Coral

While visiting my wife before we were married, we were at the beach and I came across a heart shaped piece of coral and gave it to her. Ever since then she collects heart shaped coral.



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 55mm, 1/250 sec, f/8.0, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Dirty Dirty Dog

Missy likes to get wet and then goes crazy trying to dry herself off. We tried to clean her off as best as we could before we left but she still had sand in her eyes, nose and everywhere else.



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/60 sec, f/4.0, ISO 200 -- EXIF
Cartwheels



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 55mm, 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 -- EXIF
Sand Angels
(as close as you can get to snow angels in Amami)



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 32mm, 1/80 sec, f/5.0, ISO 200 -- EXIF
Happy Girl



Nikon D60, Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/2500 sec, f/4.5, ISO 100 -- EXIF

I was having a difficult time with my 18-55mm lens today. I was getting some weird lens flare that I never had before. I cleaned the lens but it didn't go away. I've taken plenty of sunset photos before but today was the first time I've had it happen. Here is a photo with the lens flare in the right portion of it. Here is one more with the flare in the upper half. I don't know, maybe I just never noticed it before in my other photos...

comments (1)

TOP

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)