Photo by Ryukyu Mike

This week’s This Is My Day submission comes from Ryukyu Mike, with a photograph of his granddaughter Marin’s graduation from Elementary School.

The school year ends in March in Japan. This year my first grandchild, Marin, graduated from elementary school and will start junior high in April. This is a shot of her graduating class. This is Okinawa, Japan.

I was allowed, along with another photographer, to go up on the balcony and capture the event. There, we could set up tripods and take pictures without any interference from the munchkins bouncing around on the wooden floor below. We could also avoid the other 900 spectators packed into the auditorium, who you can’t see in this photo.

The blue sheet on the left side was laid out to protect the flooring, and the white boat setting on it is a planter. All the plants and flowers are real, projects of the students.

The only problem was everyone had black hair and uniforms. I couldn’t find my granddaughter!

So I just took plenty of wide-angle shots to capture everyone. That saved the day for me. Marin is in the front row, 3rd from the right.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

You can connect with Mike via his personal profile in the Matador Travel Community, and see more of his photography on mikesryukyugallery. And if you’d like to submit a photo of your own to This Is My Day, take a look at the submission guidelines.

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About The Author

Michael Lynch

Michael Lynch is a wildlife photographer who lives in Okinawa. His work has appeared in Apogee, Bootsnall, In the Know Traveler, NihonSun and Wend. Visit his homepage: Mike's Ryukyu Gallery.

  • http://www.solofemaletraveler.com Sabina

    I love the story behind this photo. Very cute!

  • http://www.mikesryukyugallery.com Mike

    Sabina,
    Thanks. I think Leigh or Nick maybe helped with some wordsmithing. Just doesn’t sound like me unless, maybe I was sober when I typed it.
    I can hardly wait for Marin to show-up today. Gonna show her, she made the cover of Life Magazine!

  • http://wheretherebedragons.com Tim Patterson

    Omedetou!

    • http://www.mikesryukyugallery.com Mike

      Tim,
      Thanks. Geez, seems like just a few weeks ago she was screaming. “Ji-ji. oshiri fui, oshiri fui (Grandpa, wipe my ass)! Next thing you know I’ll be buying her first car. Know anyone who wants to hire a cameraman?

      Cheers,
      Mike

  • http://thesinglewomantraveler.blogspot.com inka

    I can see where the ‘problem’ is! Nice story, as always with a lot of humor.

 

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