Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Behave!
いい加減にしなさい！
The other day I did some photos with Ikuko-san, the friend we saw quite differently last month in “An Apprentice-Geisha Photoshoot Quite Unlike Any Other”. This time we could see her normal self.
この間北野天満宮で育子さんという友達と一緒撮影をしました。（先月、このブログでは育子さんの節分の「変身」をみました、本格的な舞妓になる事でした。）
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Before Getting Started
recording the light color for later reference
ホワイトバランスの調整のために光の色を記録します
You'll perhaps recognize this scene from last month's “The Many Lanterns and Overwhelming Sumptuousness of the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine”. She, too, was drawn to the many lanterns...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tentative First Try
wildly backlit, with weird reflections and ghosting
(the lantern above her dates from 1842 この灯籠は天保１３年のものです）
Before we got into the photography in earnest, she wanted to pay her respects (as described in the many-lanterns post).
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/4000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Paying Respects
お参り
And since we were at one of the best spots in Kyoto for plum blossoms, I felt obliged to snap one (but only one) blossom photo. Here it is:
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/5000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
梅
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Still Tentative
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/8000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Not Much View
I think the trees in this area are maple, so we should come back in autumn
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/8000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Gave This a Try
the wide-angle from a lowish angle accentuates her legs, but this location just wasn't doing it for me
やっぱりここの景色はいまいち。梅へ行こう。
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pensive Look
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nice Smile
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/2500 sec, f/1.4, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Banana Juice?
Inexplicably, she said they smelled like “banana juice”. To me they smelled like plum.
「バナナジュースの臭い」と言いましたけれども、僕は梅の臭いと思いました。
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/4, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
After We Stopped Laughing
about the banana-juice thing
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/4, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Bit of an Attitude
The gardens were remarkably uncrowded, but I found someone to impose on to snap a photo of us. He knew he wasn't handy with the camera, so had his wife redo the shot when she came by, and it's a good thing because her shots were better. 🙂
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Me and Ikuko
育子さんと私
photo by Subina Garyet
The lady who took the photo was there with her family, so I snapped some photos of them. They were freakishly photogenic. I was so jealous. Just look:
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Freakishly Photogenic Family
I've since sent all the shots to the family, but I'll share one more here, my favorite, of the husband trying to coax his daughter to look at the camera. (Good luck with that.)
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Look at the Camera, Honey”
“Hey buddy, I'm already busy here looking at my hand.”
Later I noticed Grandma off camera had the toddler's attention, so as per the lesson about kid photography I learned with my nieces and nephews, I quickly moved myself and the camera to be near Grandma, to take advantage of the child's attention focused in that general direction.
Back to Ikuko-san, one more photo before we end this part of the story...
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lost in Thought
Continued here...
続きはこちらです。
I liked the “Lost in Thought” but the cutoff arm is rather disturbing.
Interesting. Doesn’t bother me at all… the attention of the composition leads with her gaze the other direction, at least to me. To hear how a composition strikes others is really useful for getting a bigger-picture sense, thanks. Sort of along the same lines, the part-2 post will have a few images that I feel have a better crop inside them, but I was unable to find so I’ll be posting them as taken. Perhaps others will find the crop for me. 🙂 —Jeffrey
Jeffrey, yes, the gaze caught me too. Then I lowered my gaze to see rest of the image and see one arm, complete with hand, in contrast with none on the other side. Perhaps the presence of hand itself that magnifies the oddness.
I|We look forward to your images.
My wife and I were there at the garden at the same time as you. I had started following your blog before our trip to Japan. My wife even commented about how well you spoke Japanese and that you were laughing about a banana. We were visiting from Minnesota. Really enjoyed your pictures before our trip and even more now. Thanks.
Wow, you should have said “hi”! It would have been only the 2nd time in all these years that I was recognized out of the blue like that from my blog. 🙂 —Jeffrey