Rainy Day in Arashiyama

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — 1/750 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos
Rain

Today was entirely miserable, weather wise, with an unrelenting rain that just would not, er, relent. The rainy season has started, where the key phrase seems to be “100” (at which the temperature, humidity, and chance of rain converge and stay). At least it should finish by.... oh.... August.

Having noticed the Hougon'in Temple (宝厳院) while in the Arashiyama area of Kyoto yesterday, and finding out that it was about to close to the public for the summer, I wanted to pay it a visit. It's open through Sunday, but I wanted to avoid the weekend crowds, and I thought a garden temple might have a nice ambiance in the rain, so decided it had to be today.

Arashiyama's famous Togetsukyo Bridge (渡月橋) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2007 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 44mm — 1/180 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500 — map & image datanearby photos
Arashiyama's famous Togetsukyo Bridge (渡月橋)

I went with a huge umbrella, a rain jacket, and my D200. It was somewhat awkward trying to hold the umbrella while shooting, and I got wet anyway. A little rain shouldn't hurt the D200 because it's weather sealed, so I eventually gave up on the umbrella.

I kept the lens hood on the Nikkor 17-55/2.8, which kept the glass free of water. Everything got wet, but worked fine.


Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 32mm — 1/100 sec, f/5, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos
Inside the Hougon'in Temple

The Hougon'in Temple was small but nice. It had a very different feel from the Giouji Temple three quarters of a mile away, the latter being off the beaten path and originally designed for self enjoyment. It seems that Hougon'in was designed for the public to enjoy, and it has a wide variety of garden features and statues and such.


Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — 1/100 sec, f/3.5, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 34mm — 1/100 sec, f/3.5, ISO 800 — full exif & map
Path in the Hougon'in Temple

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos
Will Be Red and Yellow in the Fall

The leaf in the center of the picture above turns brilliantly yellow in the fall (see the first pic on this post), while the momiji at left will turn some vigorous shade of red or orange (see the background leaves in this post).

On the way home, I passed a private residence with many odd flowers in front, including the water-laden pinkish redish ones seen below.


Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos

Here's the front to someone else's house. It's got a certain “modern traditional” minimalistic Japanese flair to it.


Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 17mm — 1/180 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos
“Modern Traditional” Japanese Look

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