Amami Superman Photography

This was one of the many photos I took last March when we went out to Tomori Beach to build sand castles. The water was still on the cold side but it was quite refreshing.

These photos were taken the same night as my previous post. I slowed the shutter to 1/2 sec and just stuck the camera out the window of the car as I was driving. The first photo has been flipped upside down and cropped just a bit. The second photo was also cropped just a bit. I thought they were kind of funky looking so I thought I would share them with you. What I found kind of weird about the second photo is the crosswalk stripes. There was only two sets but in the photo with the first set coming in intervals of three. I would have expected them to be just a blur. Maybe there was some type of strobe effect nearby that lit them up this way.

I had to work late last night out in rural part of the island. It was well into the evening when I finished work and as I was driving home, I came across the amazing sight.

The name of this snake is mamushi. Mamushi are similar to habu in the fact that they are poisonous with the same type of venom (only weaker), but the similarities stop there. This snake is short when compared to other snakes. I would say on average they grow to be about 30 to 50 centimeters long. The one doing the eating is about 40 centimeters long. I've heard of snakes here in Amami eating other kinds of snakes, but I've never seen nor heard of a snake eating its own kind. Mamushi are pretty timid snakes and aren't very aggressive. You could step right up next to one almost touching it and it would do nothing. On the other hand, if you stepped on it, you would be in a world of hurt.

I've been trying to take photos of habu but haven't had very good luck taking nice ones. Last night I decided if I came across one, I would try to use my built in flash. I didn't find one, but I did take these photos using it. I thought they turned out pretty well for my first time and I think I'll try to use it again next time I'm out snake hunting. :P I'm also going to try and take photos of the other kinds of snakes they have here on the island and also give a rundown on the different things I use to catch them.

Here is another photo of a flower taken near my house. I haven't had the time to get out and do some shooting so I've been going through older photos. Hopefully I'll be able to make some time this weekend to get out and do something.

This is one of the insects they have here on the island. Every once in a while when your out in the woods or doing something outside around your house, you'll flip something over and find one of these creatures. At first glance you will notice the pincers and the scorpion like body and think it is a scorpion when in fact it is not and isn't even venomous.

The whip scorpion is in fact a spider apart of the arachnid family. Although it only walks on 6 legs, the front two legs have been modified to act like antennae. As I said, it also has pincers which makes it look so much like a scorpion. The actual Japanese name, sasori modoki, means mock scorpion. Sasori is scorpion and modoki means mock or impersonate. I've heard this called one other name for good reason, a puheri mushi. Short and simple, a farting bug. When disturbed, it will secrete/spray a liquid that has a tart, sour smell sort of like vinegar. It's an unmistakable odor if you do come across an agitated one.

This was a pretty bad photo. I took around 10 shots and this one turned out the best. I think my 55-200mm lens' autofocus maybe a bit off. I've been noticing this more and more. One example is when I was taking photos of Jade skateboarding. I was using continual focus with dynamic area mode on one single person and I couldn't get an in focus shot. Looking further at the photos I took of the skateboarder, I noticed that the asphalt just before the skater was in focus. I'm thinking about sending it in for cleaning and calibration, if it doesn't cost too much.

So this is one of the more scarier looking bugs they have here in Amami, but is harmless. There's another one here that I've only seen twice in the 13 years living here that just gives me the heebie jeebies. If I every come across 0ne again and I have my camera, I'll try to photograph it. But let me tell you, I'm a wussy when it comes to insects. They just creep me out too much.

The name of this plant is hikage hego. I did a few searches about this and came up with "Japanese tree fern". I always thought these were a type of palm tree! Anyways, these are the buds of new leaves. They are actually quite large. The base of these buds are larger than a soda can. This photo wasn't very interesting in color so I switched it to black and white, gave it a vignette and adjusted some of the variable settings inside of Lightroom 2.