Finally Reaching the Kuuya-taki Waterfall in Western Kyoto
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desktop background image of the entrance gate to the Kuuya-taki Waterfall Shrine (空也滝) in Kyoto Japan  --  Gateway To the Kuuya-taki Waterfall 空也滝     Kyoto Japan  --  Kuuya-taki Waterfall (空也滝)  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1250 — map & image datanearby photos
Gateway To the Kuuya-taki Waterfall
空也滝     Kyoto Japan
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In my previous post, which continued on from “Discovery On The Way to The Waterfall”, we got as far as the shrine gate seen above, not knowing that just beyond it was a wonderful waterfall.

Not knowing there was a wonderful waterfall meant that we weren't prepared for a wonderful waterfall, so the shots on this post are lacking, but okay considering the circumstances.

First Shot  --  Kuuya-taki Waterfall (空也滝)  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1400 — map & image datanearby photos
First Shot

There were some large rocks far enough away that the mist wasn't too bad, so I tried to set the camera up on them for a longer shot, while Nicolas apparently made good use of the Gorillapod mentioned in an earlier post...

Waterfall And My Head inspired composition by Nicolas Joannin  --  Kuuya-taki Waterfall (空也滝)  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Nicolas Joannin, http://regex.info/blog/
E-P2 + LUMIX G VARIO 14-45/F3.5-5.6 at an effective 28mm — 1.3 sec, f/22, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos
Waterfall And My Head
inspired composition by Nicolas Joannin

It took a while, but I eventually got something from there that I liked...

Not Too Bad  --  Kuuya-taki Waterfall (空也滝)  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 0.4 sec, f/7.1, ISO 500 — map & image datanearby photos
Not Too Bad

All around were generally unhappy-looking statues...

Fuzzy at a handheld 1/6 sec  --  Kuuya-taki Waterfall (空也滝)  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/6 sec, f/1.4, ISO 500 — map & image datanearby photos
Fuzzy
at a handheld 1/6 sec

But everything looks nicer with a waterfall in the background.

Kuuya-taki Waterfall (空也滝)  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/60 sec, f/1.4, ISO 500 — map & image datanearby photos
Nicolas Joannin looking relatively sharp at 1/20th of a second  --  Kuuya-taki Waterfall (空也滝)  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/20 sec, f/3.2, ISO 500 — map & image datanearby photos
Nicolas Joannin
looking relatively sharp at 1/20th of a second

We eventually turned to head back, and I snapped this shot of Nicolas pausing to apparently check out the funky-bark tree highlighted in the previous post, standing on the same little bridge I had been standing on in the first photo of that post, but from the opposite camera angle....

Kuuya-taki Waterfall (空也滝)  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 3600 — map & image datanearby photos

Continued here...


All 7 comments so far, oldest first...

Sorry, you have the wrong title on the”Not Too Bad” shot. It should be “Enlargement and Frame-Worthy”.
Spectacular place to be.

— comment by Grandma Friedl, Ohio, USA on July 9th, 2012 at 12:37am JST (11 years, 9 months ago) comment permalink

Absolutely great photos!
I like the one with the stone gate and the waterfall in the background the best! 🙂
I need to go there next time I’m in Kyoto! 🙂

— comment by zoomingjapan on July 9th, 2012 at 7:04pm JST (11 years, 9 months ago) comment permalink

Hello, I am in kyoto in may and was planning to travel here. How accessible is it? And how did you get there?

I’ve gone by scooter and car. Car can be very difficult because the road is very narrow, and if you meet someone coming the other way, you’re in a pickle. If you don’t have a scooter, a bicycle or just walking the few km along the road can be nice. —Jeffrey

— comment by Todd on March 7th, 2013 at 4:32am JST (11 years ago) comment permalink

Awesome! Thanks, we’ll walk if its not that far. We’re staying near kyoto station, so will figure out how to get to the north west of the city

— comment by Todd on March 7th, 2013 at 10:23pm JST (11 years ago) comment permalink

What a wonderful pictures! I’m planning to visit Kyoto in July, and saw your pictures of Kuuya Falls. But I cannot find the exact location of it on Google Maps. However, I can find Kiyotoaki. Could you perhaps tell me which road/path leads from there to the Kuuya falls? 🙂

Thanks a lot in advance!

Greetings from the Netherlands,

Sebastian

There’s a “map & data” link under each photo. There’s a small road that leads to nearby, but it’s still a 300m walk (hike up mild steps) from the road. —Jeffrey

— comment by Sebastian on June 19th, 2015 at 6:11pm JST (8 years, 9 months ago) comment permalink

Thanks a lot! I hope my pictures will be just as good as yours!

— comment by Sebastian on June 21st, 2015 at 7:33pm JST (8 years, 9 months ago) comment permalink

My husband loves to hike and he is joining me for his first visit to Japan (my 4th). I am a moderate hiker so I am nervous that this will be too difficult for me. When I look at the contour map it doesn’t look like the hike from the bus stop, supposedly 60 minutes gains much altitude. Could you please comment.

Thank you and your pictures are wonderful. – Bonnie

“Hike” is a generous word for this situation… it’s a walk along a road. If you’d describe yourself as “moderate hiker”, the walk would not be challenging. It’s pretty, but not challenging. —Jeffrey

— comment by bonnie drucker on December 19th, 2015 at 2:16pm JST (8 years, 3 months ago) comment permalink
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