Moving blog to its new home.

We are moving Michael’s blog over to its new home on his new website. Please continue to enjoy Michael’s posts and subscribe to his new blog at http://www.michaelyamashita.com/blog .  Also be sure to check out the new pictures on the website at http://www.michaelyamashita.com.

New Years Prayer

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.”

– Meister Eckhart, 14th century German philosopher

Thanks to everyone who helped make 2010 a great year for us.

The Story Behind the Picture

Fire Call

Most every Sunday morning when I’m not on the road, I can be found at the big yellow firehouse of the Ralston Engine Company # 1 on Route 24 in Mendham, NJ.  I first joined up in a gesture of solidarity and thanks to my neighbors, most of whom were members of this all-volunteer fire department, during an environmental battle to save the 400 acres across from my home from being turned into a housing development. We lost the battle, but this was the beginning of a 24-year fascination with fire, fire engines and fire fighting.

So what does it take to be a fireman?  Burning (sorry) desire and the completion of three months of three-hour classes, three nights a week, and more hours for drills every weekend on the grounds of the county fire academy.  You graduate from the academy as a certified entry-qualified fireman, which means you get to enter a burning building while everyone else on the scene runs in the opposite direction.

In a small town like Mendham, about an hour west of Manhattan, with a population of less than 2000 families, we don’t actually see a lot of fires.  But every Sunday, we meet at the firehouse for Engineers Duty.  Everybody on hand pitches in to clean, check and service the trucks (pumper, tanker and utility support truck), maintain fire gear and equipment and perform practice drills.

Out of maybe 200 calls in a year, excluding ones for burnt toast, cats caught in trees and false alarms, there might be ten real deals — involving cars, forest fires or the ultimate, a working structure fire.   These rare occasions make for long nights and a lot of pumping adrenaline.  And pictures…

Happy Christmas To All

“Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night.”

The Story Behind The Picture

Worm’s Eye View

I often joke that I shoot a lot of low angles because at 5’7”, I’m not very tall.  My height, or lack of, gives me an advantage there.  In the old days of film, the Nikon F series had removable prisms that allowed you to look down into the finder, making it possible to precisely compose rather than just making a grab shot.  And recent developments in digital photography, like cameras with live-view, tilt and swivel LCD screens (Canon G 12 and Sony A 55), now make shooting from the knee easier than ever.

Hokkaido, Japan:  Rice paddy planting is back-breaking work. My camera hovers just above the mudd line with a 24mm lens.

Jiayuguan, China:  Workers build a section of the Great Wall using techniques from the Ming dynasty, rhythmically pounding down layers of earth.

Xiahe, China: Monks at Labrong Monastery practice blowing horns, which fortunately are not that loud, even at this angle.

STORY BEHIND THE PICTURE

Smoggy Days in China

Shooting in polluted conditions may be bad for the health, but can be good for pictures. I’ve been dealing with gritty grey skies over many years of shooting in China, arguably the most polluted country in the world.  And  Shanxi province, home to heavy industry and coal mining, is one of the most polluted provinces in China. Shooting in Zhenchuanbu, a small coal mining town near the Great Wall, I happened upon this scene as a fog of coal dust hung thick in the morning light.  I shot into the sun, turning laborers into shadowy silhouettes as they walked or biked to work in the mines.

Pollution of a different sort makes for a pleasing over all amber palette in this pic of a camel pulling a plow in the deserts of Gansu Province, caused by Gobi Desert sand which blows in with the west wind every spring. These seasonal dust storms darken skies as far west as Beijing, where residents don masks to protest their lungs from the fine particles.

STORY BEHIND THE PICTURE

The Koralja Brothers: Seeing Triple

One of my first Geographic assignments was on the great state of New Jersey, and it is partly due to this story that I now live there.  Often the more familiar a place is, the harder it is to shoot, as editors often have preconceived expectations and assumptions of what exactly the story should be about.  New Jersey, with its long list of stereotypes, was a perfect example of this.  I was one of three photographers to work on the shoot and ended up spending six months covering every inch of the state.  On one foray along the edge of the Hudson River I ran into a local paper’s piece about Jersey City’s finest, with a picture of the Koralja brothers, triplet cops.  I contacted the Jersey City police department about their “triple threats” and soon met with Andrew, Joseph and Robert.  I spent most of a day hanging out with them as they made their rounds in their squad car, photographing them always as a threesome.

As they day passed, the money shot still eluded me, until we drove back to the garage where the officers parked their cars for the night.  As they pulled into the garage, I saw my shot.  The big overhead doors opened, providing a light similar to a huge softbox, casting shadowless illumination over the front windscreen of the patrol car.  I asked all three brothers to sit in the front seat with the red and blue lights flashing.

I shot quickly from the ladder I keep in the back of  my pick-up, shooting the entire roll.  In all 36 frames, their expressions never changed.  The portrait was published in a 36-page story in the Geographic — New Jersey: A State of Surprise.  While I’m sure I added a few more to the long list of Joisey jokes with the one about the drunk who saw triple while being arrested, the Koraljas went on to land an ad for Seagrams VO.