Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 + 1.7× TC @ 340mm — 1/40 sec, f/4.8, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Kyoto, Japan
After yesterday's first taste of autumn while being stuck with nothing better than a point-n-shoot, I thought I'd head back to the same area today with some better equipment. I brought my Nikon D200, Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 VR zoom, a Nikon TC-17EII 1.7× teleconverter (my first outing with it), and my monopod. And Anthony.
What I neglected to bring was enough time, light, or skill.
I got there just before the last direct rays of light disappeared, and without the dynamic clouds of yesterday, there were no visual fireworks in the sky, so the whole point of being there sort of vanished.
The lack of light meant that I'd need longer shutter speeds to photograph whatever remained, especially if I were playing with the teleconverter, which turns a 200mm f/2.8 lens into a 340mm f/4.5 lens: I'd need longer shutter times to handle the reduced light, and also to offset the increased effect of vibration and shake that a longer focal length results in.
So, I'd need to be able to hold the camera very steady to get anything usable. I took a lot of pictures, but the aforementioned lack of skill resulted in most being throw-away.
The shot above is at 340mm, at only 1/40th of a second, and although it's not super sharp, even with the VR and the monopod, I'm still proud of myself. It ranks up there with the “Thatched Wall, Edge On” shot from my Giouji Temple Part 2: Gate and Walls post.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120mm — 1/60 sec, f/4.8, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
One of the only shots I got before everything was engulfed in shadow was of these trees, which had somewhat taken on the appearance of being on fire, both due to the shape of their growth, and due to the redness from the imminently-setting sun.
They were in shadow moments later, but there was still sun higher up...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120mm — 1/350 sec, f/4.8, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Okay, that's really a chimney on the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, but it looked like a control tower or ultra-modern lighthouse in this shot. I didn't see it that way at the time, though, having taken the shot merely because I liked the colors and contrast on the hexagonal column.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/20 sec, f/4.5, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 + 1.7× TC @ 220mm — 1/5 sec, f/4.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Having mentioned the Westin Miyako in my previous post, I thought I'd show the closer view that a big zoom (or a short stroll) can provide. It's not that interesting a building or picture, but I like the warmth of the incandescent light filling the windows.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1.8 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
It was quite dark when we headed back at 5:30pm, and on the way home we passed the area where we'd played with the remote-control car yesterday. There, we found two kids on bikes, taking turns driving down the steps of the back entrance to the museum. They both had flashing tri-color LEDs on their wheels, and one had a very bright flashing LED headlight.
I knew that it would make for an interesting long exposure (where “long” in this case means “about one second” – the shot about is 1.8 seconds) which absolutely requires a tripod.
I didn't have a tripod, of course, which is why the picture above is all out of focus. However, since the focus of the picture is not, well, the focus, it seems to work well enough to show the effect of the moving lights.
When I got home and looked at the results, it took me quite a while before I could explain the decidedly odd paths of the wheel lights in this next shot:
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Leaving the kids and their bikes, looking across the Kyoto Biwako canal to Nioumon St., I thought the warm lights on this building looked inviting...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/15 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos