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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 160 mm — 1/3200 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Enjoying the Day
Tamatorisaki Lookout, Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
玉取崎展望台, 石垣島
The second day of our trip to Ishigaki Island in the far south of Japan was the one I was really looking forward to, because we planned to just drive around and check out the views.
Ishigaki is an oddly-shaped island that's about 21 miles long at its longest diagonal....
And it has generally wide, modern roads, so getting around is quick if you ignore the ridiculous 25mph speed limit. Our hotel was in the south-west, so for today's trip we planned on cutting a diagonal through the main part, then up the panhandle that is sometimes only a few hundred yards across.
It may be small, but you can drive for quite some time through the central lower part without seeing water...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 50 mm — 1/125 sec, f/13, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pineapple Field and Mountains
We stopped at the spot above because of the pretty vista, only then noticing that the foreground was a field of baby pineapples, each about the size of a fist...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Baby Pineapples
When then proceeded to our first destination, the Tamatorisaki Lookout (玉取崎展望台), a place I'd seen on Google Earth while scoping out the island, and Fumie had seen in her guidebooks. Even the view from the parking lot was wonderful...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 27 mm — 1/500 sec, f/18, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
View from the Parking Lot
Tamatorisaki Lookout, Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
Because Anthony rides the city bus to school by himself, we got him a cell phone for emergencies. Generally, he's not even allowed to touch it unless there's an emergency, but, of course, he's a kid and itching to play with it, so we decided that he can use its camera when we're all together traveling. This trip was one of the first times he could use it...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 98 mm — 1/500 sec, f/18, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Say “Cheese”
Photo He Took
Photo by Anthony Friedl
The view the other direction was much nicer....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 45 mm — 1/500 sec, f/9, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looking North
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heading up to the Lookout
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tiny but Pretty Pod/Flower Thing
seen along the way
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos
Getting Steeper
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/1250 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
View from the Top
looking South
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 58 mm — 1/500 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
someone's
Self-Independent Photo Op
For some reason, everywhere on this island during the entire trip, people almost never asked someone else to take a photo of them. Often, when you're in scenic places like this, you get asked to take a photo for someone, and vice-versa, but on this trip, it was rare, with people often spending an inordinate effort to set up little shaky collapsible tripods, propping cameras on rocks, etc..
We had no qualms about offering to take a picture, nor about asking....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 29 mm — 1/500 sec, f/4, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Us
We came out really dark in the photo, so I tried to lighten us up a bit in Lightroom, but didn't spend much effort on it and it shows, sorry.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 130 mm — 1/500 sec, f/9, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Boat
We eventually made our way back to the parking lot, where we availed ourselves of a guy selling ice cream....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 110 mm — 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ice Cream with Mommy
a kid's heaven on earth
My favorite was “Ice Cream with Mommy” but where did you find ice cream at the top of the mountain.? Did you bring it with you, and if so, how? Or was there a stand or something up there, which would make perfect sense.?
It wasn’t a mountain… just a lookout on a rise. There was an ice-cream truck parked in the parking lot. —Jeffy
There seems to be some font color related tag (for photo caption text, possibly “Photo He Took”), left open, which is producing low contrast between dark grey text on black background. Text of the first comment (other than in green) is “invisible”.
Doh! Thanks, fixed. I have a program that reports errors of the HTML of my recent posts, if only I would remember to use it(!) —Jeffrey
I know I’m being odd when talking about a medium as ephemeral as the Internet, but I find it interesting that you’re using Google maps for your GPS illustrations in your recent posts. Are you not afraid of losing that info if Google changes the API or goes under or anythign like that. Wouldn’t it be better to take a screenshot of teh google map or (maybe) with Google Earth save off a JPG (or png)?
Recently read your post on how you prepare for a blog post. Let me say – hats off to you from one aspiring hacker to another. I’ve got a few perl and python scripts running here and there on my server, Linux, and windows boxes. But you have got some serious ones going on.
I can always edit the post if some day Google goes away. I like the interaction and to play, and even though no one else probably does, I like having it there for myself. Am thinking of adding kml links for my photos, ’cause Google Earth is so amazing. Thanks for the kind words, but I’m no “aspiring hacker”. I was aspiring in 1981… now, it just happens. 🙂 —Jeffrey
I liked the interactivity of the map; I had no idea that island was so close to Taiwan! I wouldn’t have learned that if I couldn’t zoom out (ok, i guess you’ve mentioned it before).
Did you teach Anthony about the rule of thirds? I think he did a great job with the composition of that photo; it’s actually quite interesting to look at. I like the angle of his photo as well.
Your family photo reminds me of why i probably won’t ever switch to canon’s high end cameras–no built in flash, unlike the d700. Fill flash is so useful in vacation/family photography.
I do appreciate the on-board flash of the D700, although I don’t use it all that much (because generally speaking, I’m not yet sure what I’m doing with artificial light), but in the shot here, as I mentioned in the prose under the photo, I faked itin post, using Lightroom to selectively paint on a bit more exposure. —Jeffrey