Archive for the 'Desktop Backgrounds' Category(IMAGE: Sturdy) Main door to the grounds of Nijo Castle, Kyoto Japan Driving by Nijo Castle today, I remembered that I hadn't really posted much yet from my previous visit there (which was my first visit, which is embarrassing to admit because I've lived in or near Kyoto for 12 years). So, here are some pictures of the main gate, a huge, heavy, thick wooden door augmented with bands of steel. (IMAGE: View from the Inside) In the glow of the setting sun The wide-angle lens I used to achieve the picture above camouflages the sheer size of the door. Note the small opening at left, [...] 
View full post » (IMAGE: First Cherry Blossom) Kyoto, Japan · Spring 2008 ( Desktop Background Images ) Well, at least the first that I've noticed. Returning from a trip to the store around 2pm, I noticed a few blossoms on the trees near my place. It's just in time, too, because as I noted in the last couple of posts, the plum blossoms have started to wane. So, I grabbed a few snapshots of them, and even turned a couple of ones with blue sky in the background into desktop backgrounds.... (IMAGE: Most Trees Still Like This) Using the time-lapse sequence I made last year as a guide, [...] 
View full post » (IMAGE: Plum Blossom Desktop Background) ( Desktop Background Images ) After Easter mass, we made the 15-minute drive over to Kitano Tenmangu, a Shinto shrine in north-west Kyoto that dates from 947, famous for its pink and white plum blossoms. It was my first visit. (IMAGE: Most Trees Were Like This) We didn't realize just how past their prime the plum blossoms were: the trees were mostly bare. I see now that they have their plum-blossom festival in late February, so we're a month late to the party. Still, there were a few bunches of blossoms here and there, in deep pink, bleached white, and [...] 
View full post » (IMAGE: Bamboo Floor) ( Desktop Background Images ) Bamboo floor of the outside walkway at the tea house of the Murin'an gardens, taken last summer when my friends KFC and Verena visited Kyoto. The next two are stones on the beach of Honohoshi Cove on Amami Ooshima, of the Amami island group in the far south of Japan, in the South China Sea. The curved stones make a surprisingly calming sound as the waves wash up and down them. (IMAGE: Smooth Rocks) ( Desktop Background Images ) (IMAGE: Smooth Rocks II) ( Desktop Background Images ) The final one today is also from our trip to [...] 
View full post » ( Desktop Background Images ) (IMAGE: Gardens at the Heian Shrine This Morning) Kyoto, Japan With a forecast for snow all night, I was disappointed to wake up to find less accumulation than we had the other day (Amazing Snow at the Heian Shrine), which itself wasn't really all that much. In fact, it was sunny out. Still, we all went for a walk, and despite no prognosis for good photography, I brought along the camera and tried to make the best of it. It was clear that it was going to be an unphotogenic time when we arrived at the bridge featured in yesterday's Snowy Bridge [...] 
View full post » I love my Nikon D200, but yesterday added a new woe to the “Dead Battery Syndrome” I experienced a couple of months ago: “Black Frame Syndrome” Yesterday, Kyoto was a cold and heavily overcast, with sporadic misty rain. Occasionally and all too briefly, the sun would poke out in brilliant fashion to set the foliage momentarily on fire, so on the way back from picking up Anthony at preschool, I stopped by the grounds of the old imperial palace, now mostly a big park heavily laden with fall colors at their peak. The trees were amazing, but it was dark and dull, so it wasn't too interesting [...] 
View full post » Wall Made From “Unrolled” Bamboo ( Desktop Background Images ) On the way back from the Eikando-Temple event that yielded the Bonanza of Fall-Foliage Desktop Backgrounds (among others), we came via a street here in Kyoto that I've traveled often, and whose views I've always admired. Yet, it was the first time that I noticed that one of the walls lining the road along the way was covered in weathered, “flattened” bamboo. I'd never seen such a thing. The bamboo had apparently been scored lengthwise many times over its entire circumference, then flattened to make a flat veneer. Without ever having heard of such a thing, one [...] 
View full post » ( Desktop Background Images ) Today was one of those “I hate where I live” days (in Kyoto, Japan) that I seem to be having a lot lately. A simple visit with some friends to the “Fall-colors Festival” at the preschool of one of their friends turned into a veritable feast of indulgent photographic delights. The fall colors have been creeping up for the last couple of weeks, as I've shown in a few posts (here, here, here, and here), but it's definitely not yet even near peak. Still, there are some wonderful spots of color, and many of them are at the Eikando Temple (where, according to [...] 
View full post » I really hate where I live. Not only Kyoto in general, but in particular, the specific area of Kyoto where I live. This morning I walked to the nearby convenience store for some bread, and I was assaulted by beautiful scenes of inner-city fall foliage. Not only did they positively scream at me, they punched me in the face, demanding that I photograph them. Geez, all I wanted was some bread, and I get this!? I don't have time for this. What a crappy place to live. (IMAGE: Machiya on Jingu-Michi, Kyoto Japan) ( Desktop Background Images ) Jingu-Michi (“Shrine Street”, which dead-ends at the front [...] 
View full post » I seem to be buried under a photographic avalanche of my own making. I thought that today I'd get started with the bonanza of interesting and/or pretty pictures that I hinted at yesterday, but instead, today I took two more shots that I want to share. While waiting for the fall colors to come into full swing, there are the occasional early flashes of color that entertain. My office window affords a nice view of the neighbor's front garden, with one such “early flash of color” tree. It was overcast and rainy today, with occasional short bursts of sun sprinkled throughout, and during one such sprinkle I finally [...] 
View full post » I had an unexpectedly interesting day, photography-wise. In the morning there was a rare ceremony to close down a Shinto shrine, and then I got an invite to meet an old friend at Nijo Castle, a wonderful World Heritage Site about two miles away that I've driven by a hundred times, but until today had never visited. I'm sure that photos from both events will be filling my blog for a month, but for the moment, a desktop background from each.... (IMAGE: Wishes for Good Health) Desktop Backgrounds The shrine being closed down was a very small one (about the size of a single parking space) [...] 
View full post » (IMAGE: Chestnut) We took a nice drive this afternoon on the Hiei Parkway in the mountains to the north-east of Kyoto, to see the foliage. We hoped that up in the mountains it would have progressed a bit more than it has so far in the city, but it turns out to still be pretty much at the beginning. At one point we paused at a moss-covered clearing that was somewhat littered with chestnuts. At least I thought it was moss at the time, but looking at the picture makes me think that they were super tiny little ferns. Maybe that's what moss is? There [...] 
View full post » (IMAGE: Kyoto Spring)Desktop Backgrounds It's hot and humid in Kyoto now, so I'd like to try to cool off by returning to the quintessential pleasantness of Kyoto's spring. The image above was made by applying the same Photoshop “Darken” blend-mode technique that I used to create the Color of Kyoto foliage desktop background last fall, but this time to a pair of pictures I took during a cherry-blossom outing in April. Links below the picture are to desktop-sized images in both widescreen and standard versions. Unlike the previous time where I used three pictures, I used only two this time. Also, instead of near/fall focus [...] 
View full post » (IMAGE: Vine and Bamboo Fence: Summer Edition)Kyoto, Japan As I mentioned the other day, we visited the Nanzen Temple, and on the way, stopped by to see the area where I took the Vine and Bamboo pictures that I posted last fall. It seems that the vine had come back to life, so this is the summer version of the picture. Just like last time, I've included links to desktop-background versions in various sizes, both widescreen and standard. (IMAGE: Vine, Bamboo Fence, and Silly Kid) The vine emerges from behind the fence in its middle, with the part growing above the center apparently new growth. I find it [...] 
View full post » (IMAGE: Leaf on Wall's Roof) Continuing with shots from my visit to Giouji Temple (祇 王寺) the other day, and following on from yesterday's description of the wall construction at the temple, this leaf on top of one of the walls is something I noticed on the way out. It seems so peaceful. I've provided links to various desktop background sizes (for both standard and widescreen desktops) for your enjoyment. 
View full post » (IMAGE: Small Path at the Nanzen Temple) I'd like to share a few more shots from yesterday's impromptu visit to Nanzenji (南禅寺 the Nanzen Temple, Kyoto Japan). The path above seems to lead to some part of the temple complex, but I've never seen anyone on it. I like the view, and think it might make a nice desktop background, so have provided links to both widescreen and standard-format versions. (IMAGE: Placing Incense) If incense smoke wafts over your head, you'll become smarter..... or so it is said. (IMAGE: Sharing at Full Tilt) After the “Looking for Goodies” shot from yesterday's post, [...] 
View full post » (IMAGE: Old Wood-Veneer Siding in Kyoto) In my post the other day about my randomly photographed stroll in Kyoto, I included a photo of a mud-packed wall with badly-damaged wood-veneer siding. The picture above is the wall of the house next door, which is in much better shape. I thought some might find it appealing as a desktop background, so under the picture I've included links to various sizes, in both standard and widescreen aspect ratios. A wider view of the house shows a much less compelling view. Part of the art of photography is knowing what to hide. For [...] 
View full post » Unlike yesterday when I photographed the voluptuous cherry blossoms of my previous post, today was misty/spritzy all day. One nice thing about such days is that the bed of stones filling some of the alcoves in my building glisten sumptuously, and I enjoy them for brief moments as I walk by. On one such day, I paused to take a picture of them, and I thought some might enjoy such an image as a desktop background, and hence this post. Links below the image above lead to sizes appropriate for common desktops, both standard and widescreen. Personally, I like a background with less contrast (despite the [...] 
View full post » Sakura and the Main Gate of the Heian Shrine We ran out of milk at lunch time, and in stepping out the front door on the way to the convenience store, for some reason the view struck me in a way I hadn't noticed before. So I got the milk, then went back to take a picture. Living so close to it, the gate certainly has appeared plenty of times in photos on my blog, including: Two views (snowy and sunny) of the main gate of the Heian Shrine Fire Department Parade, and my new D200 Camera The main gate of the Heian [...] 
View full post » I mentioned two weeks ago that I'd post some cherry-blossom pictures from last year, as we await this year's season, and so today I begin. To help get me in the mood, I'll start with a picture from my balcony of the trees across the river, and then two from ground level. These were taken on April 7th last year. I'm not very confident of their color balance — they seem to have a redish tint to me — but the sun was heading down, so perhaps it's deserved. Looking Down Looking Across Looking Up I like these because they show the fluffy, cloud-like nature [...] 
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