NOTE: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/18, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hirakubo Lighthouse
Most northern point of Ishigaki Island, in the far south of Japan in the East China Sea

Well, thought I'd be releasing a new plugin for Adobe Lightroom today, but ran into a roadblock that killed it at the end. Sigh. So, I've decided to take the evening off from plugin development and get back to my story of our recent trip to Ishigaki Island. It's part of Okinawa Prefecture, but is 400 miles further south-west from the main Okinawa island, just shy of Taiwan.

It was a short but photogenic trip. Today's story picks up in the afternoon of Day 2, with Day 2's morning already posted, as well as a mid-day trip to a secluded beach (Part I · Part II). The beach was about half way up the 13-mile-long peninsula that makes up the north-east of the island, and so we continued along toward the end of the peninsula to the Hirakubo Lighthouse.

The weather was iffy, with a threat of rain at any moment. Above the lighthouse was a rocky hill, upon which the dynamic weather made for some powerful wind.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heading Up Into the Gloom

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hold On To Your Hats
it's windy!

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 35 mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony Did Dinosaur Play
explained here

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/10, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looking West: Wind-Whipped Gloom

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/10, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos
The “Karate Kid” Pose Seemed Popular Here

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 125 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/13, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ishigaki's North Shore
to the east of the Lighthouse, where the weather seemed much brighter

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 90 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/5, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
To the South: Rain and More Gloom

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 75 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
( there's just something about this one that I like )

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pretend Dinosaur Nap

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/22, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
These Rocks Were His Dinosaur House

I actually liked the lighting and the wind (though it wasn't as windy as this incredibly windy day on Amami Island), but after a while the clouds parted and the sun came out, and everything changed...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sun is Coming This Way!

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Bright!
but still windy

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heading Down

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sun-Filled Photo Op

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Taking Some Shots Herself

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looking West Again
quite different than the earlier shot

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
The Sun Brings Out
Some of that Emerald Blue

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
One Last Shot Before Heading Out

The little five-car parking lot is sandwiched between two tall hills, the shorter of which we had just been on. The taller of the two was off limits, with a fence and an “Entrance Prohibited” sign in front of a well-worn path heading up...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
No Entry
( but here's a well-worn path for your convenience )

Having seen the sunset from a different Lighthouse the previous evening, we wanted to get back to our hotel to see the sunset from its beach. There are few other pairs of locations farther apart on Ishigaki Island than our hotel and were we were now, so we hopped in the car and hightailed it back...

Continued here...