Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sakura and the Main Gate of the Heian Shrine
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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 Shrine, from a different angle
• Weddings and the Heian Shrine
• Kyoto City Half Marathon
• This Coffee Makes Me Sad

I must say, the one above is now my favorite, which is why I made versions suitable for use as a desktop background, both widescreen and standard (links are just after the caption, above). These add to the variety of images among my desktop-background posts.

A wider view is shown below, with the building slightly visible to the right being the same Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art that made a cameo in the first of the Easter cherry-blossom night shots from the other day.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 31mm — ¹/400 sec, f/9, ISO 200, P.P. boost: +0.25EV — map & image data — nearby photos
Gate, Cherry Blossoms, and a Canal

So, I decided to take a short walk east along the canal, to see how the gate looked from various angels. It was hard to see through all the cherry blossoms, which are especially thick along the museum, but I found a few places where the gate poked through....

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 102mm — ¹/2000 sec, f/4, ISO 200, P.P. boost: +0.25EV — map & image data — nearby photos
175m to the East

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/4, ISO 100, P.P. boost: +0.30EV — map & image data — nearby photos
The Gate's in There Somewhere

I still have tons of great cherry-blossom photos that I want to share from recent outings (Easter evening, two mini outings today, one into northern Kyoto, far southern Kyoto, into Gion... twice, not to mention plenty from last year). For some reason, I have a strong feeling that I should post at most one item per day, but I may have to start doubling up if I want to get through these before the year is out.