JasonKimball.org

Earlier this year I bought my first DSLR camera, the D40x . From that day I have been obsessed with learning as much as I can about digital photography techniques. I would have to say that one of my biggest photography accomplishments of 2008 was getting the opportunity to have two of my photo’s published in a local calendar here on Okinawa.

Since then I have sold the D40x and replaced it with a D80. Most importantly, I look forward to pushing my creative limits in 2009.

I wanted to share my top 10 favorite photo’s of 2008. Let me know which one is your favorite!

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My wife and I went out to American Village and decided it would be fun to test out my new 50mm 1.8d lens that she got me for Christmas.

American Village is a popular hangout area for Americans and locals. It is centrally located around Kadena Air Base, Camp Lester, and Camp Foster in Okinawa, Japan. Generally, any day of the week you can find some type of performer doing their thing!

My wife even decided that she wanted to take a couple shots with the new lens. You can check out some of the shots below.

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Here are some photo’s that Britt took

You can check the rest of the night photo’s from American Village here . If you feel like checking out all of my Okinawa photo’s, check out my Okinawa gallery page.

Another day living on Okinawa is another day full of opportunities to take some wonderful photo’s. Here are some of my latest shots when I ventured out to Araha beach.

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You can check the rest of the Araha Beach photo’s here . If you feel like checking out all of my Okinawa photo’s, check out my Okinawa gallery page.

If there is one thing you must eat before you leave Okinawa, I believe it has to be Okinawan soba. My wife and I just love this little soba restaurant that we think is called Sobaya Chirugwa.

One of the things I really enjoy about this restaurant is the atmosphere. You can sit down and listen to taiko drums in the background while you enjoy a nice bowl of soba. Not to mention the entire restaurant is Okinawan themed, the waitresses even wear Okinawan outfits!

This time I went for a Okinawa soba and pork cutlet set which was just around ¥900. Another great thing about this place is that the majority of the items on the menu are under ¥1,000. I may have seen two huge sets that were around ¥1,300. My wife had a bowl of Okinawa soba which was pretty large, she could not finish it by herself. In addition, we decided to try out some of their gyoza which was ¥330.

As for drinks, they all are under ¥600. They serve awamori, draft beer, juice, Coke, and Kirin by the bottle. One thing to remember is If you walk in and don’t see an English menu, don’t worry! Just ask and they will bring one over for you.

To recap, the soba is great and inexpensive. You can enjoy a large size bowl of soba for just around ¥600. What more could you possibly need?

Helpful Information

Hours/Phone

Hours: Open Daily 11:30 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Phone: 098 926-2202

Okinawa City Misato: 098-938-1811

Naha City Tsubogawa: 098-836-3719

Location/Directions

Directions: From Kadena Air Base Gate 2, turn left at the first stoplight. After going down a ramp, merge onto Rt 85 and get into the right lane and drive until you reach this overpass with a junction to Uruma. Take a right at the overpass and drive straight on Rt. 85 until you come to an intersection just before the building with an huge apple on it on the right side. Take that right and just after passing CoCo’s curry you will see it on the right.

I just got a new lens and I love it. The 50mm f/1.8d lens is a super fast and sharp prime lens for Nikon DSLR camera’s. I have only had it on my D80 for a day, but I love how sharp the images are.

One thing that I really like about the lens is how fast it auto focuses with my D80. One thing to note is this lens will not auto focus on the D40, D40x or D60 DSLR camera’s. I still do not think even that should discourage anyone from purchasing this great lens.

For just around $100 brand new, there is no excuse not to own this lens. If you are not completely sold on the idea of owning this prime lens, check out a review over at KenRockwell.com.

This song is taking over!!

This video made me jizz in my pants!

I recently got a chance to have two of my photos published in the 2009 Kadena Calendar. I am really excited about getting this opportunity because there are some really great photos included in the calendar from other Okinawa based photographers.

You can check out some of the other photographers work by going to their websites below:

• www.pamelaoliveras.com
• www.aviva-photography.com

Here are the two photo’s I got published

My buddy Matt sent me this video of Ken Block having his way with his Subaru STI. You can check out more at KenBlockRacing.com . This is same guy that jumped his STI 171 feet .

This video is sick!