WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S BLURRY?!?!?!

A work in progress...

What do you mean it’s blurry? Haha! Not exactly sure why I grabbed my camera & tripod off this comp, but it was a happy mistake at the end. I think that the massive grey cloud that was hanging over Mokoliʻi, just got to me! It was big, with no texture to it. So even though it was moving, on a long exposure it would still look like a big grey blob, I think that’s why I picked up & moved.

Learn, grow...repeat!

Aloha a hui hou my friends!
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2021 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserve

LOVE IS IN THE AIR...02.05.21

A work in progress...
I’m continuing to build my portfolio for my portrait, individual, couples family & engagement shoots. I met this beautiful young couple on Friday morning’s sunrise shoot. I kindly ask if they would model for me & luckily they said yes! After I did a few silhouette shots I packed up & gave them my card so I could send them the images that I took. As I walked back to my car I found this big puddle of water surrounded by grass & took a few shots with a shallow depth of field to reveal the bokeh balls! I soooo love bokeh!!!

I continued on to my car & looked back & saw the couple hugging & I quickly mounted my 100-400mm & grabbed a few shots. Using the bokeh ball frame & the hugging shot I combined those 2 frames to create the above final image.

For inquiries & pricing about setting up a photo shoot, contact me.
Learn, grow...repeat!

Aloha a hui hou my friends!
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2021 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserve

JUST BEFORE THE RAIN...02.03.21

A work in progress...
I Love these offshore rain squalls that are backlit by the rising sun, IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!!! The orange glow from the sun is so diffused, nature's own softbox. As my buddy & I walked back to the car to avoid the incoming squall, that was hugging the shoreline about a quarter-mile away from us, I turned around just to admire the beauty & then took 3 steps & turned again. I stopped dead in my tracks & told Bran that I HAVE to shoot this! I dropped my backpack, swapped my wide for my 100-400mm tele lens & rattled away about 15 shots, then off to our cars we went. Just as we arrived at the back of our cars it started to pour! Perfect timing & then off to eat breakfast, a perfect ending to a beautiful sunrise, even with the rain, actually the rain made the shot!!!

Learn, grow...repeat!

Aloha a hui hou my friends!
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2021 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserve

THE 1

A work in progress...

Sony’s new flagship A1 camera body is simply amazing! I’m speaking from a stills photography POV, I don’t give a crap about the video, at least for now & don’t see it happening anytime soon in the near future, so strictly stills. In my opinion, this camera & any camera body will not make me a better photographer by any means! Only I can make myself a better photographer!!! I’ve heard this many times before & hate it, those people who say this have no clue about what the art of what my craft entails. I don’t mean this in a bad way, those friends really don’t understand the things that we as photographers have to go through or how we capture an image to create that piece of artwork. However, the Sony A1 has new technologically advanced features that will help me create images with more ease so I can focus more on the image I’m capturing & less on the technical aspects of aperture, ISO & shutter speed. Am I going to pull the trigger to get one…ABSOLUTELY YES! I’ve been preparing for this for the last 3 months. I’m selling 2 bodies, 3 lens, 1 backpack, 1 studio strobe, 2 softboxes, & 2 ballheads. LOL! And I’m still going to come up short but making the transition a lot easier on the wallet. 

Learn, grow...repeat!

Aloha a hui hou my friends!
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2019 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

PANDEMIC, ISOLATION & DEPRESSION

With less than a month left in the year, this pandemic has turned the world upside down! Being a photographer I’m pretty much looking out from the inside through my lens. I do miss the handshakes & aloha hugs, not having to walk out of my house without a mask & hand sanitizer. For myself, I’ve always seen life as a glass that’s half full rather than half empty person,  but that’s just me. I know that many other people are having a difficult time dealing with isolation & depression due to the lockdown the pandemic has caused. My daughter suffers from depression & was having a difficult time during the 1st Statewide lockdown in March but she’s doing the best she can & so far things have been pretty good! 

I do not want the pandemic to ruin & run my life! Trying to find a balance between “normal” & the “new normal” is not so easy! We are on the verge of a vaccine, so I’m hopeful that, that’s the light at the end of the tunnel!!! With that said, will we ever be “normal” again?!?! 

I envisioned this shot entitled, “Pandemic, Isolation & Depression”, with the thought of, is this our new normal & how it’s affecting people’s mental health? What we once had may never be again? I wanted to focus on how this pandemic has been affecting depression in people that’s been isolated not only in your home but not being able to sit right up next to a friend & talk story face to face, the Aloha hugs, handshakes & kisses. 

I’ve had this shot stuck in my head for a while now but was looking for the right person to bring that vision to life. Enter Melani, I met her about a month ago on a photoshoot I did with her & you know that good vibe you get when you meet someone, I knew she was the one! So I pitched my vision to her & she was all in! 

This small body of work was meant to be seen as such. The main image the “Hero Shot” supported by the closer detailed shots tells the story of the pandemic in 2020 through my eyes, here in Hawaii. My hope is that, if the images we’ve created touches 1 person, I’ll be moved & humbled to have created something that can move someone emotionally or even to take that 1st step to get help. Mental Health is nothing to be ashamed of & the 1st step to getting better is knowing that you need help. The main reason why I created this set of images is to bring more awareness to the overwhelming number of people who have depression but are afraid to get help. My daughter & family has received help from an organization called NAMI the National Alliance on Mental Health, www.nami.org, on IG @namicommunicate This organization is your 1st step, don’t be afraid to get help & know this, you are not alone. Mental health awareness needs to be brought to the attention of the public & not seen as a taboo topic!

Of course, I couldn’t have done it without the help from my good friend Brandon & the beautiful & multi-talented Melani, thank you soooo much for indulging my crazy visions, you guys are the BEST!!!

This post is dedicated to my baby girl Kim, stay strong & don’t ever give up, love you so much, babe!!!

How to become a better photographer?

How to become a better photographer? I must admit that I do watch a ton of YouTube videos about photography. I love gear videos but gear will not make me a “better “ photographer now or ever. What interests me in these videos is to see & hear the philosophy of each photographer & how they see a scene & analyze what they’re seeing. How they see light, all of these things influence my creative vision. 

For myself, photography consumes me it’s not just a “picture” every time I take a shot, a part of me is in that image. If you have read any of my posts/blogs I refer to my “pictures” as an “image”.  To me, a picture is a spur of the moment snapshot. Not saying that there’s anything wrong with taking a snapshot, I do it all the time. In my opinion, an “image” is a thought out composition of a scene through my eyes. 

I hear this a lot, how do “I” get better at photography? I always say go out & shoot everything under the sun. Whether if it’s sunrise, sunset, events, people, portraiture with lighting, natural light, documentaries or journalists style of photography… find out what genre drives your passion. Once you find that out go out & shoot as much as you can. You have to put in the time or you’ll get nowhere real fast! I didn’t get to where I am just shooting once a month, I have thousands of hours under my belt. I’ve made a shitload of mistakes, more than I’d like to admit & I still do but it has helped me become a better image storyteller. 

If you're complacent with shooting once a week, once a month, staying home & watching YouTube or CreativeLive, you’ll get better, eventually, but it’ll take 100 times longer than someone who’ll watch the video & then go out & shoot that technique. You’ll make a ton of mistakes but the next time you shoot it, you’ll get better, OJT (on the job training) the best practice you can do. Make mistakes & learn from it, that’s what will make you a better photographer!  

Photography to me is not a business, it’s not a hobby, it’s not work, it’s an extension of my soul. 

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2019 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

COMPLACEMENT...04.06.19

I hear this a lot, how do “I” get better at photography? I always say go out & shoot everything under the sun sunrise, sunset, events, people, portraiture with lighting, documentaries or journalists style... find out what genre drives your passion. Once you find that out, go out & shoot as much as you can, minimum twice a week. You have to put in the time or you’ll get nowhere real fast! I didn’t get to where I am just shooting once a week, I have thousands of hours under my belt. I’ve made a shitload of mistakes, more than I’d like to admit! 

If you're complacent with shooting once a week, staying home & watching YouTube or CreativeLive, you’ll get better, eventually, but it’ll take 10 times longer than someone who’ll watch the video & then go out & shoot that technique. You’ll make a ton of mistakes but the next time you shoot it you’ll get better, OJT (on the job training) the best practice you can do. How do I know this? Because I was that guy who shot once a week, sometimes once every 2 weeks. I would spend the next 2-3 weeks editing my pictures, the ones that I'm deleting now, & try to make it look better. They say that you can't polish a turd, & that was so true with what I was doing. I thought that I was getting better but only in my eyes, in retrospect it was crap, & it remained that way until I finally realized that I wasn't fooling anybody but myself! I made it a point to find a meetup group & started shooting more & more & with every shoot my composition & imagery became more meaningful.  

SEEING THE WHOLE PICTURE...03.09.2019

Yes I finally sat down to try & figure out exactly how long Ive been shooting. I think after 15 years of shooting, my artwork has started to evolve to where I think it can sell more prints consistently. 10 years ago I was just another “photographer” who believed in my peer's hype & to a certain point, with a small chip on my shoulder. I was still learning who I was as an artist, I was definitely not ready for it & not even sure if I’m ready for it now?! I’ve learned a lot since I started. And through my journey, I've taken a liking to pass on & to teach/share this acquired knowledge doing workshops.

Today I see photography friends & acquaintance who have been shooting for 1-5 years & see the same struggle I went through 15 years ago. Most of them never ask for guidance but those who do I try my best to steer them into the right direction, but sometimes it's best for them to "figure it out" on their own, I believe it'll stick & mean more if they do that. I believe that failure is a  learning process of how we become stronger & better at our craft. I still make a ton of mistakes, hopefully, I'll learn from it. 

I'm not saying that I'll sell more prints, just because I "think" I'm ready, I may fall & face plant this whole idea of selling more prints, but I have to try. For myself I'd say in the past 3 years I've finally realized that I shoot for myself & my artistic vision, no one else &  that's what makes me so very happy! There was a point in my journey that I did shoot for the money & that made me frustrated & angry that I didn't get any keeper shots. It was a very unhappy time & I did finally realize that after about 2 years of looking at the $$$ & not the artistic concept of what I was seeing, that I needed to stop & see the whole picture for my wellbeing.

How am I going to sell more? A friend of mine gave me a lead that I’m going to explore & I’d rather not elaborate. I know for sure that craft fairs aren't for me & my type of art. Not to say that craft fairs aren't good, in my experience, craft fairs are not really for selling artwork, especially high end priced artwork. However, it is an excellent format for making people contacts, the 1st step to a sale outside of the craft fair & remember that the craft fair is how you made that 1st contact. I think a lot of people misunderstands how this works. If nothing comes from this lead, I'm still good with where I am today & have no regrets.

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2019 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

AUTOFOCUS...02.16.19

My eyes aren’t what they used to be & in the past, I’ve relied heavily on my camera's autofocus but within the last year or so, I’ve forced myself to start manual focusing & have noticed a big change in how sharp my images have been in my seascapes. So who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!?! Haha! However, when I’m shooting waves, for myself it’s impossible to manual focus on an incoming wave as I track it through my lens. So different scenarios require different techniques. 

The thing is that I wear glasses but when I shoot I don’t wear them, for 1 reason, the sea spray will fog up my glasses & have gotten tired of cleaning the lens every 2 minutes. I’ve adjusted my cameras diopter so when looking through the EVF everything is in perfect focus. I’ve had to change from looking at my back LCD to seeing through my EVF viewfinder to make sure that I’ve locked focus. 

The downside to not wearing my glasses while I’m shooting is that when a friend approaches me or are in the distance & waves at me, I have no idea who they are until they come closer! So I’m not being stuck up when I don’t wave back, I just can see your face! Haha!

It’s Aloha Friday, have a safe & wonderful weekend everyone!!!

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2019 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

LOOKING FOR THE UNOBVIOUS...02.17.18

This weekend I decided that I'd go in for the detail shots. After a miserable shoot the previous shoot where I just couldn't find a decent shot with my 16-35mm wide, every little element in my shot just seemed so blah or chaotic! This is almost a continuation of my last post from 2/11/19. Today I was looking for the unobvious, the element that I would normally overlook which was this little rock formation next to a very huge rock to the left. I watched it as the constant waves crashed over it & observed the inrtaction of the 2 elements. 

Sunday morning the ocean was very angry, & at 6:50, 10 minutes before sunrise the tide was at 0.67 ft a bit more than halfway down to low tide & the surf was still pounding the sandy shoreline. Not even a minute past as I watched the surf breaking onto shore, a big swell rolled in up over my knees! I hadn't even put my tripod down yet & I was wet! 

I already had my 100-400mm mounted to my Sony A7RIII with my rain sleeve protecting my gear from any saltwater splashes & spray. As I ran a 3-minute long exposure for this image I kept an eye out on the surf on the other side of the beach. My original plan was to shoot waves this morning but that idea was washed away with the sound of rain as I woke up this morning, among other things that broke my peaceful sleep, but that's for another blog. By the time I drove down to Sandy's the rain had passed, which was a good thing & I was very happy!

So back to shooting waves, the rains had brought in some dark grey clouds over the horizon, so I had given up on any hope of shooting waves. BUT I stuck around until the sun had risen above the dark clouds, there was hope! I changed my location & was ready to shoot waves. For unknown reasons I pushed my shutter speed up to 1/10 of a second & shot hoping for the sun to backlight the waves. I though the sun was too high in the sky & was blowing out the water behind the waves so after about 10 minutes of shooting I packed it up. 

After I reviewed my images on the big screen I was pleasently surprised on the effect of the 1/10 shutter speed had on the waves movements & how the bright sun reflecting off the water's surface behind the wave added a wonderful contrast between the front & back of the wave! I learned something new today!!!  Stay tuned for my wave images….

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2019 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

VISIONS INSIDE MY HEAD...

For sunrise, I've had to deal with getting up early, rainy weather, cloud conditions, tides & getting wet. My personal projects require a human element, I'm not a people person, I need to find the right model, the right location, lighting setup & a small crew to assist with multiple light setups. It's hard work, for me finding a model is the hardest part & communicating my vision of the shoot.

I have these visions of pictures with the perfect lights, model & locations. It's not only 1 vision but many of these images floating through my head.  I’d say shooting boudoir has been carrying my vision for the past 6 months. I’ll continue to shoot my style of boudoir but I've also had a spark of interest in dance. No, I’m definitely not dancing, way too uncoordinated for that, but photographing dance, ballet dancing in particular. I've been following a photographer Omar Z. Robles & would love to shoot his stylized ballet street photography. The only problem is finding a ballet dancer to complete my vision! If any dancer sees this, please, please, please drop me a line, I’d love to collaborate, I have so many ideas in my head & I need to get them out, to create some beautiful art!!!

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.lightandlace.ink
Copyright 2019 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

LACKLUSTER...02.09.19

Been feeling a bit uninspired as of late, for my seascapes. I feel like I'm just going through the motions trying to force my compositions! I know that like anytime I’m feeling like this, I'll have to work my way through it. I shot at Sandy's on Saturday & the waves were looking really nice but I wanted to work my way through this funk to see what I could find. Unfortunately, I came up with 2 shots that I wasn't too particularly fond of. I think their OK images but nothing to write home about. Fist couple of things I noticed right off the bat was, there’s no light & no mood to the image.

For the past couple of weeks, I've been shooting with my wide 16-35mm, more so on the long end at 35mm. I think next week I'll definitely lock on my 100-400mm to look for the details of my scene and hopefully, the surf will be up!  

There’s more to this, perhaps moving on to the next best thing in my photographic journey! Please see my next blog post for more insight.

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2019 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

SHOOTING CREATIVELY...01.07.19 (Japan time)

I’ve always been a loner, definitely not a social butterfly by any means. I thought that this image above symbolizes myself as a loner but yet still fighting & flourishing new leaves as the ice melts, as it moves into Spring. Through my journey, I've met a lot of people, many of whom I admire & find inspiration from. It has taken many, many, many hours of hard work to learn the craft of photography to make it my own. When I 1st started shooting back in 2004, strictly sports photography I had no idea of where it would take me 15 years later. I truly didn't realize that my journey had started so long ago! Wow, 15 years!!!

2009 was a milestone when I decided to start shooting more "creatively" outside of sports. It took me several years of shooting every genre of photography until it pointed me to specifically shooting sunrise & now both sunrise & portraiture. 

At this point in my life, I'm very happy about where I am, photographically speaking & have taken what I've learned to start teaching others through workshops. By no means am I saying that I know it all, that is so very far from the truth! I continue to learn, watching, listening, questioning & then experimenting on my own to try & grasp that new technique or stylized look from someone that I am inspired by. First & foremost, I teach for the love of my craft & to pass on that knowledge for the benefit of others, never for the money.

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2019 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

EVER CHANGING LANDSCAPE...02.02.2019

Once again Sandy Beach surprised me with its ever-changing landscape. Normally you'd see that rock exposed another 3 feet, but this time around it was covered in sand. the tide was receding but the surf was pounding. I needed to get close to make the rock look larger than what I was seeing in my 16-35 wide angle lens, even maxed out at 35mm it was too small. Knowing that I'd get wet up to my knees I fully extended my RRS TVC 33S legs to protect my gear & got this long exposure shot.

I did post this same shot on IG but didn’t like how it compressed the image & devastated the sky! So I re-edited it, lightened the sky & tinted it blue, I think it a more appealing image after the edit.

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2019 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

INTRO TO BOUDOIR PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP

On February 2, I taught my 1st workshop for 2019 at Hawaii Camera, Intro into low key Boudoir Photography. It was so different this time around from my other photography workshops that I’ve taught before. I wanted to structure this class as a hands-on, where the students take part in shooting a model. We had a total of 7 students. I brought my own equipment a Flashpoint 400 Pro monolight & a Godox AD200 & various versions of the Godox X1T to the latest Flashpoint R2 Pro MII triggers for Canon, Nikon, Fuji & Sony.  For our light modifiers a 27” Molight Beauty Dish, I love this beauty dish, & a Cheetah Stand 9”x35” Strip box. I want to show the class that you don't need to buy expensive Profoto or Elinchrom lighting systems & light modifiers to start shooting with flash/strobes.

Our model for the night was Kelsy, she's a pro at this & even contributed to the class discussion on a models point of view on a photo shoot. Darcy & Brandon was also there to help with the setup & assist. My only regret was that we didn't have enough time to run through a couple more lighting setups.   

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Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.lightandlace.ink
Copyright 2019 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

HOKKAIDO WINTER LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY ADVENTURE 2019

Spent an amazing 12 days in Hokkaido photographing the winter snowy landscape with Martin Bailey's on his workshop. Our group consisted of 14 photographers from around the globe! Australia, UK, New Zeland, Portugal, Washington, Seattle & of course da 2 local boys from Hawai'i! Everyone got along so well, no drama & lots of Aloha!

We started out in Haneda & flew to Hokkaido as a group. From the time we arrived in Hokkaido we started shooting as we made our way to Biei. My most favorite place to shoot on this whole trip was in Biei!!!  The trees & snow-covered slopes were, in my opinion, the highlight of the tour with the Torii Gates in Haboro a very, very close 2nd!!! 

I was able to capture 1 sunrise & 2 sunsets. However in this climate, setting up for the capture, something that would normally take me 5 minutes, here at home, to set up my camera, tripod, ND filters & shutter release, took me 15 minutes as I was encumbered with my thick gloves & heavy jacket. I ended up taking off my gloves & enduring the pain from the cold until I was finally set up & ready to shoot.  

We had a fairly tight schedule but there were some down times to relax & catch up on my editing. After dinner, I learned a few tips & tricks from Martin & Eric's mini-workshops. 12 days & 6 hotels later it had to come to an end sadly. Made friends with some wonderful like-minded people & came away from this experience a better photographer & person! Aloha to all my new friends & goodbye to the cold, cold snow, which isn't that bad for this local boy!!!

A big Mahalo to my bruddah Dave, for showing me around Tsukiji Marketplace & keeping me company throughout the tour! 

If anyone is interested in Martin's 2020 Hokkaido Winter Landscape Adventure, please follow this link to his website. Unfortunately, I just checked his website & the 2020 workshop is SOLD OUT, but you can signup to be put on the wait list, if there are any cancellations. I would highly recommend indulging yourself to take this tour, I promise you won't regret it!
https://www.martinbaileyphotography.com/hokkaido-winter-landscape-photography-adventure-2020/?aelia_cs_currency=JPY 

One last thing, I finally finished my edits on the images I took while in Hokkaido & the gallery can be viewed under “BUCKET LIST” on the main navigation bar or follow this link,
https://www.ryansakamoto.com/bucket-list/ A few of my images are posted below…enjoy & Aloha.

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2019 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved
 

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52 SANDY’S MAGIC NUMBER...12.31.18

Ventured out to Sandy Beach for my last sunrise shoot for 2018, but not alone. Met up with 2 good friends Nicholas Kau & Darcy Fiero. Just being with friends made it a great day! The magic number, 52? That’s how many days I’ve shot sunrise at Sandy Beach in 2018!

The ending of another year, My family & I have been through a lot, that's a definite understatement, this past year. The passing of my father in law, my mom being in & out of the hospital sooo many times with health issues. I really thought I was going to loose her 4 months ago, but Fate has dealt her cards & through some miracle, my mom is healthier than ever, for that I thank God! My daughter Kim with her bipolar depression has proven that she is STRONGER than ever! Granted that this is a battle that she has to fight with every single day of her life with. I know that if I die tomorrow, I am positive that she & her sister Sam, will be fine to face the world, they are fighters & I am so proud of both of my girls!!! 

The beginning of 2018 was tough, really tough! But in the last 4 months, things have started to look up! I pray 2019 will bring brighter days to my family as well as yours! I am not a person to dwel on things of the past, tomorrow will be a better day! So with that, I wish you a safe, happy & prosperous New Year! Bring it on 2019, I'm ready as I'll ever be!!! Don't forget that the glass is always half full...not half empty!!!

In 2019 I’m planning to shoot more towards my burning passion of “The art of boudoir photography”, my new tagline, hope you like it! It calls to me more so than the sea!!!

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2018 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

THE ART OF BOUDOIR...12.16.18

Last blog entry for 2018, on December 16, I got together with one of my favorite models & friend Marie, a great tattoo artist in her own right from TORA TATTOO. I've been playing around with 2 lights & I think I finally nailed it with this combo of light modifiers, I still need to learn how to tweak the intensity of the lights to match the ambient. A 30" beauty dish with a white interior, combined with the deflector plate & the outer diffusion, I realized that this will give me that "perfect" light I've been searching for!  The kicker light, a 9”x35” strip light, to camera right just behind Marie illuminated her beautiful curves in her back & bum! The falloff of light from the beauty dish is perfect in every sense, at least to my eyes. 

A BIG THANK YOU to Marie for indulging my vision as she held that pose!!! To my good buddy Tien Enga for always being there as a great assistant with his very helpful views & input!!!

In 2019 I’m planning to shoot more towards my burning passion of “The art of boudoir photography”, my new tagline, hope you like it!

To all my family & friends I wish you a safe, happy & prosperous 2019 NEW YEAR!!! 

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.lightandlace.ink
Copyright 2019 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

A PERFECT DAY TO FLY...11.25.18

Last Sunday the winds were down & it was a perfect day to fly!!! I arrived early at the location that I've been wanting to shoot with my drone for a while now. Can't seem to break the habit of getting up at 4 am, even though the sunrise is at 6:44 am. I was tempted to launch the drone during twilight but, I figured why, it's too dark & even thou the Hassy camera is much better with dynamic range, that 1" sensor is nothing compared to what my A7R III can pull detail out of the shadows. So I waited, sipping my 32oz Hydroflask filled with my favorite coffee! 

Sunrise from Makapuu, Hawaii
DJI Mavic Pro 2 | PolarPro Exposure Collecton ND256 8 stop ND Filter
Edited in Lightroom Classic & Photoshop CC 2018
Copyright 2018 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

While I waited, I popped on an 8 stop PolarPro ND filter in anticipation for the sunrise with hardly any clouds in the sky, I knew the sun was going to come up hot & heavy. There was another person flying their drone in the same area so I had to be careful to keep my distance from theirs. As soon as the sun peaked over the horizon I launched & this is what I got...

Sunrise from Makapuu, Hawaii
DJI Mavic Pro 2 | PolarPro Exposure Collecton ND256 8 stop ND Filter
Edited in Lightroom Classic & Photoshop CC 2018
Copyright 2018 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

I truly found out on that Sunday what the full potential of the Mavic Pro 2 & the Hasselblad camera combo can do! I'm hooked, I just need more windless days!   

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2018 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved

IS THAT SANTA UP THERE?!...11.24.18

This past Saturday, I had the privilege to shoot my daughter's boyfriend's, family Christmas portrait. I hate to admit this but due to a mix up in packing my gear, I grabbed the wrong softbox, auwe!!! How would I light a family of 7, actually 6 plus my daughter Kim, with a strip box?! It was too late to go home & grab my 48" Octa, so I went with my Flashpoint AD200 with the round head, bare bulb with a diffuser dome. Not as soft & focused as I would have wanted but it did the job. 

I shot 4 different looks at different angels & locations in the park. Just as they were getting ready to leave, I remembered another shot I wanted to get. I gathered the family in a circle & launched my Mavic Pro 2 drone into the air. I had them look up & throw da shaka!

I love incorporating the drone into my portraiture it has this different vibe to the image! I have another idea that's been stuck in my head for a drone shot, but I need a beautiful model who'll brave an early morning sunrise on the beach in a bikini. Anybody interested?

Aloha a hui hou my friends! 
www.ryansakamoto.com
Copyright 2018 Ryan Sakamoto, All rights reserved