“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It’s what sunflowers do.” – Helen Keller
Posts Tagged ‘Kitakyushu’
Photo Shoot with Tomoko: Wakamatsu, Japan
October 20, 2011Swimming Session with Fuuta: Wakamatsu, Japan
October 17, 2011Little Fuuta has been swimming since he was one. And, at a young age of five years, he is an impressive swimmer. This is not a kid who is forced to do this. He loves what he does! Between laps, he won’t hesitate to smile and give a good laugh. It’s been a complete privilege (I sound like an Idol judge) for me to take his pictures and to see him develop each year. Who knows? Fuuta might represent Japan one day. Here he is…Fuuta!!!
Wakamatsu, Japan: Moore Family Lifestyle Session
September 17, 2011Today’s blog post features a family from Texas: the Moores!! They spent 10 days in Japan to do summer ministry at our church. Although each day’s schedule was jam-packed, we managed to squeeze in a family shoot while playing at the beach. I am so glad for the opportunity to meet them. They were such a blessing to all the people they met. There’s such a zest in the way they live their lives that people take notice. Thank you, Moores, for reaching out and sharing God’s love with us!
**Don’t forget to watch the slideshow at the end!**
With Mr. and Mrs. Itoh: wonderful hosts during their stay
"That's the Pacific!"
What a great-looking family!
Ocean waves are the cause of this fantastic rock formation which makes for a great backdrop.
A beautiful daughter!
A beautiful daughter!
Time for the couple shots!
Love this moment between them! What did she say to him?!?
Everyone enjoying the sunset while exploring.
Ending our time with a gorgeous sunset!
Hiking Up Mt. Sarakura: Yahatahigashi, Japan
July 23, 2011Anne and I went on a hiking date up a mountain know for its gorgeous views of our city. The mountain (Mt. Sarakura) is not too far from our house, about a 20 minute drive. You can even see the mountain from our neighborhood. Anne and I had a great time hiking and exploring. The last time we did a hike like this together was when we lived in Kobe in the late 90′s. It was so fun that we agreed to do more hiking dates in the near future. As Anne shared yesterday, “You get exercise, photography, and each other all in one shot!” I couldn’t agree more!
Anne loves to climb!
This part makes me think of Narnia or Lord of the Rings.
My climbing buddy!
Here's our ride back!
And for lunch: Turkey kebab at a new joint in town! It was soooo good!
Play and Practice: Hibikino Campus
May 26, 2011What do you do when the wife is teaching an evening class? Take your kids to their favorite park. They play and I “play” and practice my off camera flash technique. Win-win!!
What gear did I have with me? I brought with me my Canon 40D. Haven’t used the 40D in a while so I decided to give it some love that night. The only lens I brought with me was the wide-angle 16-35mm. Now, because the 40D has a crop sensor, the effective focal length range is 26-56mm. It was wide enough for what I wanted to shoot and also, no distortion even at the widest focal length. I only used one flash, the Canon 580 EXII, which I set on a Manfrotto light stand. Why didn’t I use a second flash? I normally do but hey, I’m taking care of 3 girls!! This was their time, not mine. Lastly, for off camera lighting, I happily use the Scott Robert Lim triggers. I could have used a diffuser, such as an umbrella, to create “softer” light, but again, I was there to play with my girls. The few shots I took of them was strictly bonus. When you start hearing, “Daddy, let’s play hide-n-seek! Daddy, push me on the swing! Daddy, help me climb the slide!”, then it’s time to put away the gear. Enjoy the images!
Well, as promised, here is Part II of the inspiration shoot that took place last weekend. If you missed Part I, go here.
My models were Anne Crescini and Marla Ayatsuka. One of them’s my wife 
To be honest with you, my shots didn’t do any justice to the beauty that these two women have. God made them both beautiful on the outside. But the beauty they have on the inside is just as attractive. The strength and character of these women are something to behold. So, forgive me that these images fall short of truly capturing who they are.
I wanted to create a little bit of drama using the sun flare and a texture.
Thank you, Jessica, for designing the bouquets and head pieces! You're the best!
Location: Wakamatsu, Japan
Hair and Makeup: Marla Ayatsuka
Floral Design: Jessica Kondo
Florist: Chimoto
Assistant: Zhengtian Pan
Models: Marla Ayatsuka and Anne Crescini
All photos copyright 2010 by Riz Crescini
Last Saturday, we had an inspiration shoot and went out to Green Park for some fun in the sun! Jessica Kondo is a good friend and we collaborated together on this shoot. She designed the beautiful flowers (bouquets and head pieces) you will see below. Like I said before, I’m not a “flower” person but I can appreciate their beauty and Jessica did a phenomenal job. I am looking forward to doing many more collaborative shoots with Jessica. When you combine the flowers with beautiful models, then you have a winning recipe.
For our models, my wife and daughter (Anne and Mia) teamed up with another mother/daughter team (Marla and Hana). We’ve known Marla ever since we arrived in Kitakyushu eight years ago. She and her husband, Rocky, are wonderful friends. I need to do a lifestyle shoot of them just so I can show you their awesomeness! But I digress. Mia and Hana are best buds and well…they are just plain cute!! Okay, enough banter. Enjoy!
Getting ready
Putting on makeup is fun!
I don't like this part, Mommy!
Hold still, baby!
Pretty Hana
Friends
Love their expressions here!
Tea time!
I love the shadows being caused by the flower headdress!
Can we play now, Mommy?
What beautiful girls!
By the way, you don’t want to miss Part II of this inspiration shoot. Anne and Marla get their modeling on! Here’s a sneak peek:
Spring Time in Kitakyushu
May 11, 2011
Kinzan River Photo Shoot: Kitakyushu, Japan
April 21, 2011This week, Shouten, Winnie, and I went out for another photo session. This shoot took place at Kinzan River. Every spring is the Cosmos Festival highlighted by the blooming of various kinds of flowers, especially tulips. On either side, the river is flanked by gorgeous flower beds and cherry blossom trees. We were too late for the cherry blossoms but just in time for the flowers.
Winnie really enjoyed this shoot because she loves flowers!
Winnie looking beautiful in her spring dress
I'm not a "flower" kind of person but even I can appreciate their beauty!
This one is shot with a long lens and the next one with a wide-angle lens. Which one do you like?
Shouten wanted to learn more about flash photography. He specifically wanted to know how I got the nice starburst effect on some of my shots. For those shots, I use a Lastolite triflash bracket. You are able to mount 3 flashes. Using 3 flashes will allow you to “overpower” the sun. Having 3 flashes also gives you a faster recycling time between shots as the flashes don’t have to be on full power. On the next 3 images, my aperture setting is the same but look at how the mood changes when I adjust the shutter speed.
F22, 1/200 A dramatic look with a sharp sun starburst
F22, 1/60 With a slower shutter speed, you bring in more of the scene. The starburst is not as sharp but still pretty good. I also had the model face more in the direction of the flash. I also love the little starburst reflections on the water!
F22, 1/50 Now the sun is starting to wash out. But still a nice warm, pleasing shot of Winnie.
F18, 1/50 Sometimes, I introduce texture to compensate for the harsh lighting. The texture also gives a nice fine art look which I was going for in this image.
I also use a reflector to bring light back into the face when in open shade. The reflector I love to use is the Lastolite Trigrip. I am using the reflector in the next 3 images.
Learning lighting is essential when doing photography and I’m thankful for my mentor, Scott Robert Lim, who has taught me a lot about lighting and photography. Check out his site and be inspired!
Thanks again to Shouten and Winnie for an awesome photo shoot. Looking forward to our shoot in May!
***Update: I forgot to include one more photo. See below:
Can you "feel" the warm spring sun on her face?
Photo Session with Winnie: Hibikino Campus, Wakamatsu City
April 19, 2011Last Wednesday, I went shooting with one of my former students on the Hibikino Campus. This is the campus where I work part-time as an English teacher. Our model that day was Winnie. She is a graduate student at Waseda University but as you will see, she is also a beautiful model. Shouten, my former student, is from China and he loves photography! Today was his first time to shoot using the off-camera lighting technique and he did a great job. He was so excited that he is now planning to buy his own trigger system for his flash. I had a great time shooting a beautiful model and getting satisfaction from Shouten’s improvement as a photographer. Thanks, Shouten and Winnie! Can’t wait to do it again soon.
Here’s a black and white version of the same image.
