Yoshiko Annen (Markins Ball Head)

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Theme

Toyama in early summer

Photographer

Yoshiko Annen

Date

2021年05月

Location

Toyama

Device

レビュー

What made me become a photographer?

When I was 2 years old, my father left his job and started a small camera shop.

When I was in my third year of high school and had to decide on my future, someone from Fujifilm in Osaka came to visit my father, who was the president of the Toyama Prefecture Camera Dealers Association for many years. During a conversation with my father, he suggested that my daughter should study at a photography college in Tokyo. I decided to go to Tokyo and stay with my uncle in Tokyo, and that's how I got started in photography.

After graduating from college, I returned to Toyama and renovated a room to make a studio. I've been taking over the business ever since, but when I finished raising my children, I started to feel a strong desire to take more pictures and wonder if this was the end of my photography career.

So I decided that if I was going to take pictures, I should try Leica at least once, so I used my savings to buy a Leica camera and used lenses, and started traveling around.

One day, I met Professor Toshinobu Takeuchi through an introduction from the late Professor Yoko Ikeda, who had been so kind to me at university. She introduced me to the club where she taught, and I went to Tokyo every other month for two years to receive instruction, but it was around this time that I really started taking landscape photos.

My Encounter with Markins

Now, I work in a studio (commercial photography), and I often have to use public transportation when I go to distant locations for interviews because the time is limited. I carry a foldable travel tripod with me.

I was using a head that was specifically made for this tripod, but the other day it started to malfunction, so I decided to try out a Markins ball head that I had been interested in for a while.

When I attached the ball head Q3iTR-BK that arrived, I found it to be an ideal head, very light and firm for a travel tripod. Even when folded, it fit perfectly as if it was originally made for this tripod, so I purchased an additional one in a different color, red, for my other travel tripod.

Actually, I knew about Markins because I used an L-plate for the Pentax K1 Mark II, but this L-plate is very convenient because you can instantly switch between portrait and landscape orientation without tilting the tripod head. When I found out that a version for the GFX100S (PF-100S + LF-100S) had been released, I immediately introduced this one as well.

Thoughts during the coronavirus pandemic

These days, I can't go out and take photos as much as I'd like to because of the current situation, but Toyama Prefecture is fortunately a place rich in nature, with the sea, mountains, and rivers, so I'm going to take this opportunity to rediscover Toyama and look at the local nature again.

I create my work while running a studio, so there are many restrictions, but I'm taking photos with the aim of publishing my fifth photo book, with the desire to "take photos that heal people and make them feel happy."

This time, the report was titled "Toyama in Early Summer," and I hope that my examples will heal you, even if just a little.

FIJIFILM GFX100S / GF100-200mmF5.6 R LM OIS WR
F22　30 s　ISO-400　Velvia

The sunset can only be seen before and after rice planting. The drama begins after the sun has set.
The key is to start shooting while the color is still visible in the rice fields.
Since it is a long exposure, stability is essential. The Markins Q3iTR-BK held up well.

FIJIFILM GFX100S / GF100-200mmF5.6 R LM OIS WR
F5.6　1/210 s　ISO-250

I visit this location several times each year to photograph water lilies. It works better to take photos when there aren't many flowers.
After taking the photos this time, I converted them to monochrome in Photoshop and emphasized the lines of the stems.

FIJIFILM GFX100S / GF80mmF1.7 R WR
F16　1/5 s　ISO-200　Velvia　

The flowers haven't bloomed well in the past few years, but this year they bloomed in abundance.
In the early morning before the sun hits the alluring wisteria flowers, the green leaves add to their beauty as if they are holding hands.

FIJIFILM GFX100S / GF23mmF4 R LM WR
F11　1/50 s　ISO-400

In early summer, the sun rises from the sea at Amaharashi Beach. I couldn't get close to the beautiful female rock, so I went to the male rock...
It looks quite small from the female rock. Unfortunately, the sunrise on this day was obscured by clouds as I was leaving for work, but for a moment I saw an interesting cloud...

FIJIFILM GFX100S / GF100-200mmF5.6 R LM OIS WR
F22　1/4 s　ISO-100　Velvia

The waterfall after the rain is dynamic and has a lot of water. The colorful waterfall is also interesting.

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