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Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Shrine Gate Carving
elegantly simple

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As I mentioned the other day in the post about an outing with Vaughn Hart to the mountains of north-western Kyoto, we stopped by a simple, unassuming rural shrine. The entrance to the immediate shrine area was through a small little wooden gate, seen here at the top of the steps Vaughn is standing on...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Simple Entrance to the Toufuu Shrine
Vaughn pauses to soak it in

You can't see them in the photo above, but the gate actually has doors, propped open at the moment...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 720 — map & image data — nearby photos
Reverse-Angle Shot

Something about the carving at the top of the gate caught my eye. The light was just wonderful for it... strong shadows, yet somehow soft....

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5, cropped — ¹/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos

The carving is much less complex than that seen in this post about a similarly-unassuming shrine not too far away a bit deeper in the mountains, but at the same time this gate's carving seems more elegant, yet not at all opulent or lavish, as might be found in a well-funded city shrine. I liked it.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/4, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos