A BREAKTHROUGH WEEK...10.14.17

It's ALOHA FRIDAY! I'll leave you with this shot, have a safe & great weekend my friends!!!

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

BOXED WATER...10.15.17

Blustery Sunday morning sunrise, forcing me to wiping my Breakthrough glass filters after every shot. The multi-resistant coating (MRC) on both surfaces of the filters was a breeze, pardon the pun, to wipe of the salt spray, but it was so annoying! Grabbed this shot, 2nd to the last frame while adjusting my shutter speed for the ambient, before I packed it up. 

The weather apps was predicting light rain for the morning, I was hopeful & thankfully it held out! I still got a lot wetter than I wanted to on both Saturday & Sunday but not from the rains! I guess old habits are hard to break. 

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved  

BREAKTHROUGH FILTERS, 1ST THOUGHTS...10.15.17

Breakthrough's claim to fame is it's high quality SHOTT MRC coated optical glass, color nurtural ND filters. On Sunday morning sunrise shoot, I arrived on location & stepped out of my car & the 1st thing that hit me was the 20mph winds blowing from east to west parallel to the shoreline. My major concern was that of the salt spray that the winds were tossing up into the air. I was able to find some rocks to shield me from some of the wind & spray. The 1st thing I noticed with the Breakthrough filters & it being glass, it was so easy to wipe off the salt spray with my little bottle of eyeglass cleaner with NO smudging!

I did stack the 6-stop ND, 3-stop GND & finally the 3-stop reverse grad for pretty much the whole morning. I really did notice with the 6-stop ND that yes there was no color tinting as with my Lee Little Stopper Filter, very impressive! Another thing I did notice with this new set of 100mm square & rectangle filters is that it's not as dark as the Lee Filters with the same gradation & it was something I had to adjust to & correct with my shutter & ISO while shooting. See the unprocessed RAW image below...

The 10-stop did have some but very minimal blue tinting to it, absolutely nowhere near what the Lee Big Stopper filters was putting out. This affected me in post where I normally would do the white balance.

As I posted in last weeks Fridays blog, Breakthrough did not send out their X-100 holder which left their Kickstarter investors out in the cold, since they shipped the filters 1st & nothing to hold the filters. I was originally going to use the Wine Country Camera's Vault system to hold the Breakthrough filters but a buddy of mine let me borrow his NISI V5 holder & it worked! So for now i'll be using that until the Breakthrough holder comes in.

RAW file unprocessed, straight out of camera.

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved  

BREAKTHROUGH WEEKEND...10.08.17

This was taken at a slightly different angle from my Tuesday's image I posted this week. It definitely called for a darker moodier feel to it. I was able to darken down the sky with a faster shutter speed but it did give the surrounding environment darker shadows, I though it worked.

Tomorrow & Sunday I'm going to try using my new Breakthrough Photography Filter set from their Kickstarter campaign. I ordered & received my 3 stop GND, 3 stop reverse GND, 6 & 10 stop 100x100mm ND. The only disappointing part of this Breakthrough fulfillment process is that they sent out all of the glass filters 1st & with no holder no one can use it!?! I tried to use my Lee Filter holder but the BT glass filters were just to slick & slide completely through the holder. So with that, I dug up my Wine Country Camera filter holder system & dropped the Breakthrough glass filters into the Vaults. If I remember I'll post a picture of the setup on my Instagram page...Wish me luck!    

Breakthrough Photography is suppose to be the leader in having no color cast with their filter system. I haven't attempted to use it before because they only had the round screw on ND filters & I didn't want to stop using the Lee's GND. Another reason why I invested into Breakthrough's Glass filters is just because the Lee filters are resin based & they scratch easily. I've had to replace 2 of the Lee filters because of very large scratches. I also need to put this to the test, that the glass filters are much easier to clean when wiping off the salt spray. 

Come on Breakthrough send the DAMN holders already!!!  
The above photo was taken with the Lee Filters system & not the Breakthrough system. Next weeks blog will have the images taken with the new Breakthrough Glass Filter Sysytem...stay tuned to this blog next week!  

It's ALOHA FRIDAY, have a safe & fun weekend!!!

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved  

BLUE NOTE HAWAII...10.08.17

I had a very hard time trying to find half way decent composition with this scene. I stood there for a while & then sat still nothing. I took a sketching shot & through the cameras eye, I saw this. Next had to try & time the sets of waves coming in & all the while telling the sun to stop rising so fast! That didn't work but I got lucky with this final shot, I was happy.

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved  

FLOW...10.08.17

I loved the composition on this image but was a little frustrated with the sky blowing out & position of the sun. I had to wait for the sun to go behind the clouds just to remove the sun from the final image, but the glow was a bit too strong. I had to do some tweaking in Lightroom to tone it down & I knew that this was going to be a black & white image from the get go. After editing I think it turned out fairly well.

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

MYSTIC OF THE DARKNESS...10.08.17

I returned to the same beach I shot at on Saturday, I just wanted to do a bit more exploring. I know that I've shot this area before but have never came up with any good compositions before. This time around I decided to get down really low, about 10" off the surface of the rocks & water. I took a chance & later that morning a rouge wave rolled in & I did have to pull up my tripod to prevent the gear from getting wet. I was lucky to have some steady wave action rolling in just enough to give me that misty middle ground water.

As much as I love my Rokinon 12mm I can't help but come back to this native super wide Fuji lens. Fuji is planning to release a 8-16mm f/2.8 lens in early 2018, but it has a bulb dome type of front lens, so for me to use it I'd have to invest into a filter holder that can accommodate the dome type lens, not looking forward to that!

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

MOSSY GREEN...09.24.17

It's ALOHA FsRIDAY! I'll leave you with this shot, the moss is always greener on the other side :)  Have a safe & great weekend my friends!!!

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

VOGGY SKIES...10.01.17

One more from Sunday's sunrise, the clouds almost looked like it was a long exposure in real time! Very pastel colors streaking across the sky. 

I tend not to over do my edits in post production. I'd rather have the colors look subdued with more of a pastel palette than the more popular over saturation of colors. Nothing wrong with the over saturation look but just not my flavor of editing, to each his/her own. It's part of how I've defined my style & the Chromaco Hahnemühle fine art paper Photo Rag Satin is a perfect fit for my type of photography, more so than the Aluminum Metal prints. 

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

STEPPING STONES...10.01.17

Sunday sunrise, tides were super low, hardly any wave action, but an occasional good size swell would roll in from time to time, which saved the morning! Threw on my Rokinon 12mm manual lens. Going to try my Fujinon 10-24mm next week, kinda miss that lens, mainly for the auto focus, my eyes just not what it used to be!

There was hardly any wind blowing due to the Kona winds dropping in. I could almost feel the thick & heavy muggy air as I walked into the backside of Sandy's.  This mornings sunrise was a big orange ball, due to the vog. Beautiful morning colors, one of the side effects of the vog. 

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

A ROCK, A TREE & AN ISLAND...09.23.17

Went back to Waiahole to shoot Da Tree again! For me & my personal taste, this tree is best photographed with the black & white imagery in mind. It just calls to me. 

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

GOING WIDE...09.24.17

As I said last week Friday, I grabbed my trusty X Mount Rokinon 12mm lens & drove out to the exact same spot I shot at last week Sunday. The reason why I didn't post all of last week was because I came up empty & had nothing worth sharing with you. It was horrendously windy last weekend & no matter what I did my filters ended up with so much salt spray all my images was totally unusable. 

Before I left the house yesterday I doubled check my iPhone app to see the wind conditions, which was blowing at a light 5-10mph. When I arrived there it was more like 10-15mph winds which I was debating to stay or go & find another location. I made the call to stay & the wind settled down!  Unfortunately as soon as I finished finding my comp & setup my camera, it started to drizzle?! Luckily it only lasted a few minutes, Yay!!!

The high tide peak at 5:26am, sunrise was at 6:20, perfect conditions for this spot! I've shot here before & it's know to have rouge waves that would roll in, so I was constantly watching the incoming swells. I was very lucky until a few minutes after the sun had peaked over the horizon, then I saw this wave start to build up, a good 25 yards out. It got bigger & bigger, it hit the reef & into the tide pool I was shooting & as it hit the lip I pulled my tripod & camera into the air, swung my right side of my body to the wave & SPLASH!!! Shorts, t-shirt got soaked with water dripping down the bill of my cap. I pulled down my tripod & camera to check it & it didn't even have 1 drop of water on it!!! Whew, dodged another bullet, but I got this beautiful shot & lived up to my reputation of being a crazy photographer once again!       

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

EVERYBODY DIES, BUT NOT EVERYBODY LIVES...09.22.17

This is a Spoken-word artist Prince Ea, I 1st saw him with this video on the Oprah Show, SuoerSoul Sunday & this poet touched the very essence of my soul!!! I'd just want a chance to share his words with you. My hopes is to one day create images as fluently as his words flow from his heart.

You don't have to watch the video but just listen to his words it touches too close to home for me...enjoy

Aloha & have a safe & great weekend my friends!

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved 

LACKLUSTER...09.16.17

Went out to shoot at Lanai Lookout this past Saturday, feeling a bit uninspired with shooting my long lens project, almost bored with it! I think it's time for a change once again! I have to say that with the long lens I have the reach to photograph area of the coastline that would definitely not be safe for me to walk in closer to take a shot, like the image above.

Change is always good, it keeps the mind, eyes & heart fresh! I'm leaving my 100-400 home this coming weekend & will grab my trusty Rokinon 12mm lens & toss it onto my XT-2. Or maybe I'll grab another lens?! Who know?! Haha, we'll see where the wind takes me as I pack my camera bag Friday night.

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

PULL BACK...08.27.17

It's ALOHA FRIDAY! I'll leave you with this shot, have a safe & great weekend my friends!!!

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

THE GUIDING LIGHT...09.09.17

I had to take a shot of the lighthouse, there were some beautiful clouds hovering behind the lighthouse & I wanted that etherial slow dragged out look on the clouds so I dragged my shutter & took my shot. After my 3rd attempt, I had it, so much detail in the lighthouse, I can actually see the linked chain & post that surrounds the bottom of the lighthouse, when I zoom in to a 1:1 view, freakin' amazing quality glass that Fujifilm puts out!

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

MOONSHADOW...09.09.17

I've been trying to get a shot like this before but most of the time there wasn't enough clouds or the camera would black out all the surrounding clouds. So in the wee hours of Saturday morning  before my friends arrived, I setup my  gear & started to play with my shutter speed & ISO & got this. My settings were, shutter speed 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 12800 & racked out my lens to 400mm. This this shot & this Wednesday's blog totally made my day!!!

As far as my wave shot for that Saturday morning, even Sunday's shots, I pretty much came up empty! But I'm OK with it, it just means that I have to dig deeper into my creative vision next weekend! 

 Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

GODOX TT350-F...09.11.17

Received my MoLight aka Godox TT350-F speedlight in the mail today. It is soooo cute!!! It fits in the palm of my hand, I'd say it's about the same size of a pack of cigarettes, a little taller. It works perfectly with my Godox X1T-F controller.

The only limitation I encountered with using it with the X1T-F controller is that the TT350 only has 3 groups, A, B & C. I have 3 AD200, each one was dedicated to group A, B & C. Group A is my main keylight. Group B is my fill & C was my background. I'v changed the background light to group D & placed the TT350 in group C on the X1T-F controller. I just have to remember the change in groups. 

I now can just toss this little flash in my bag & if I need a pop of light anywhere I'll have it. It takes up so little room & weights next to nothing! Godox has bridged the gap that many camera manufactures have failed to inovate when it come to lighting with speedlights! 

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved
 

FUZZY WATER...09.03.17

It's ALOAH FRIDAY! I'll leave you with this shot, have a safe & great weekend my friends!!!

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

POWER & BEAUTY...09.03.17

The power & beauty of Mother Nature...nuff said!

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2016 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved