One of the famous spots in Kyoto for plum blossoms is the Zuishin Temple (随心院) in Yamashina ward, and its blossoms appeared on my blog eight years(!) ago in “Plum Blossoms and Photographers”. The style of both my blog presentation and photography has changed quite a bit in the intervening years.

Anyway, I made a visit this past March during plum-blossom season, but having already enjoyed the plum at the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine and at the Kyoto Imperial Palace Park, I decided this time to actually venture inside the temple building for the first time. I was joined by Damien Douxchamps.

The theme for my view of this temple seems to be “wood”, and the two wooden litter (palanquin) hanging from the ceiling in this hallway we came to right away were no exception.

A two-person palanquin is probably not meant to transport the likes of sumo wrestlers or tall foreign photographers, I'm guessing.

It was quite dark in the hallway, lit as it was by a single bulb at each end, but I still tried to capture the delicate painting on the door...

I prepared these photos for a blog post long ago, and for some reason prepared this B&W version of a similar scene to the previous photo. Maybe I did it for the “wood patterns” feeling, but now I'm not sure whether I should post it or just delete it. I guess I'll post it:

The lead photo for this post was taken from about the same place as the photo above, but looking more toward the right to get the open door to the outside.

Outside is a weather-worn veranda that wraps around much of the building.

From where that photo was taken, looking up, you see a small side garden and doors that enter the building. The nearest door looks mostly black...

... but when you get close, it offers a lot of colorful detail:

Getting up close and personal with the sun-drenched bottom of one of the planks, with my favorite macro lens, yields more for the “pretty wood patterns” theme:

Back over to the main part of the temple building, more wood awaits...

Being mid March, the mossy ground was in pretty un-photogenic shape, so we'll stick with the wood theme and leave moss to other places.

A shot like the one above conflicts me... should I set the white balance for the shaded wood, or for the sunlit greenery outside. If I choose the former, the wood looks rich and full as it does in real life, but the outside becomes bland and washed out. If I adjust for the outside so that it looks natural, the wood takes on an odd color.

Above, I choose to set it for the shade.

Above, he's likely taking this shot.

More wood and patterns await the followup post. To be continued...