The other day in “Getting Back Out with the Camera a Bit” I mentioned that I stopped by the famous Itsukushima Shrine (厳島神社) on Miyajima Island (a bit south of Hiroshima, Japan). I arrived at sunset on a gloomy day that was already dark, and stayed for just half an hour.

Deer roam the area freely, and are quite docile. This is in stark contrast to Nara, where the deer are extremely aggressive, taking your food right out of your hand or shopping bag if you're not quick enough to protect it. I should write up a post about that.

Some jerk used a stone lantern to dispose of a soda bottle. I've seen this kind of thing daily in this country for 20+ years, but it still boggles my mind each time.

As darkness quickly descended, incandescent floodlights conspired with the deepening blue of the overcast sky to make for some increasingly rich results.

This shot is color balanced for the incandescent floodlights lighting the scene from camera left. That color-balance choice accentuates the blue of everything else lit by the fading post-sunset overcast sky. It seems that something about the ridge tiles (their material, finish, shape, or angle) causes them to be highly reflective of that deepening-blue sky, giving somewhat of a neon effect here.

For what it's worth, here's a daylight view from the same location six years ago, during a higher tide (and aiming a bit further to the right)...

More daylight shots from the general area can be seen in this blog post from the time, and via the “nearby photos” link under most any of these pictures.