Jeffrey Friedl's Blog » Yet More Early Plum at Kyoto’s Kitano Tenmangu Shrine

Yet More Early Plum at Kyoto’s Kitano Tenmangu Shrine

by Jeffrey Friedl Thu, March 7th, 2013 4:16pm JST (11 years, 1 month ago)

desktop background image of plum blossoms at the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮), Kyoto Japan -- White Plum Blossom at the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) Kyoto Japan -- Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
White Plum Blossom
at the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮)
Kyoto Japan

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I heard from a friend today that the plum blossoms at the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) in northern Kyoto are at their best, so I thought I'd revisit my went-too-early visit from two weeks ago, last written about here, with more of the same.... blossoms blossoms blossoms.

I prefer the white ones over the pink, so let's start out with some of those...

desktop background image of plum blossoms at the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮), Kyoto Japan -- Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/1250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

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Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

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I'm always amazed at how a tiny change in perspective or composition can make an otherwise similar photo feel completely different. Maybe it's just me, but this next shot, almost identical to the one that leads this article, feels quite different....

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/4, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos

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Plum are better known for their pinks, so here are some of those. One plum tree was next to what appeared to be an orange tree, and for some reason I tried to get the oranges in the background...

Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos

The blossom was pure pink... no white fringe... but it was backlit by the sun, so the color you see so richly in real life gets washed out to white in the camera. 🙁 It took all manner of post-processing contortions just to keep this much detail:

desktop background image of plum blossoms at the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮), Kyoto Japan -- Sill Washed Out but still pretty in its own way -- Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sill Washed Out
but still pretty in its own way

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Somehow (for some reason) I wanted the oranges, so when this wide-aperture shot didn't work...

Wide Aperture, Thin Depth-of-Field at f/2.5 -- Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wide Aperture, Thin Depth-of-Field
at f/2.5

... I tried stopping down a bit...

Too Busy at f/16 -- Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/50 sec, f/16, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Too Busy
at f/16

Oh well. There's always the ever-pleasing super closeup.

desktop background image of plum blossoms at the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮), Kyoto Japan -- Enveloping You In Pink -- Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/4, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Enveloping You In Pink

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Walking elsewhere on the large grounds, they have a storm-runoff stream with a so-so path that probably looks a lot nicer today (two weeks after these photos) with the trees in bloom....

Stream -- Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Stream

Path -- Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Path

Modern but Tasteful -- Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Modern but Tasteful

One corner of the property is on a hill overlooking much of the rest, and on the way there you get a nice view of some of the complex roofs of the nearby buildings...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

Roofs as Far as the Eye can See Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) -- Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 cropped — ¹/500 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Roofs as Far as the Eye can See
Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮)

I wanted to try to get as much detail of as many roofs filling the frame as I could... this was the best I could do...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/22, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos

Pointing elsewhere, you could see the photographers scurrying around like ants...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos

The closest roof to this vantage point was quite complex... I just wondered what it must have been like to design it and the underlying structure...

Roofer's Nightmare -- Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Roofer's Nightmare

Exiting the fee-required orchard area, you return to the open area of the shrine where you can see people waiting to say a little prayer at the main shrine building (that of the roofer's nightmare)...

Waiting as seen through a gate with its golden lantern and hanging banners in the foreground -- Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Waiting
as seen through a gate with its golden lantern and hanging banners in the foreground

Continued here...

August	6th,	2008	Why Does “Brightness” Wash Colors to White?
February	24th,	2013	Plum Orchard at the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine: Not Quite Prime Time
February	25th,	2013	More Budding Plum From the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine
March	13th,	2013	Plum Blossoms in Full Bloom at Kyoto's Kitano Tenmangu Shrine
March	26th,	2013	More Early Cherry Blossoms along the Kamo River
April	9th,	2013	Cherry Blossoms at Kyoto's Ryouanji Temple, Part 1
February	22nd,	2014	Kyoto Plum-Blossom Preview: Scenes From a Year Ago Today

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All 2 comments so far, oldest first...

Wow Japan is such an amazing place for photography. I was planning to visit it but so far I wasn’t able. I really enjoy the photographs of the roofs with these nice patterns and lines formed by the unique architecture.

— comment by Nikolai Mirchev on March 8th, 2013 at 1:39am JST (11 years, 1 month ago) — comment permalink

thank you for sharing the beauty of the world. i always enjoy photos in this blog. they are truly beautiful and amazing. i really love your photography style and i hate it everytime i read your blog, my soul is dying to go to japan. keep blogging. btw i’m from malaysia.

— comment by Faizul on March 9th, 2013 at 8:55pm JST (11 years, 1 month ago) — comment permalink