Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/4000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Highlights
Well, I seem to have come down with a cold, and so I spent almost all day sleeping. Up now at midnight with just enough energy to stare blankly at the screen, so I'll just post a few pictures from yesterday to brighten my day (er, my night) before heading back to bed.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Welcome
small, private, high-end restaurant
Kyoto, Japan
The entrance way to the small restaurant next to our place has a tree that we can see the top of from our livingroom window, and each year at about this time, it turns all kinds of fiery reds and oranges.
We just see the top, but it's still pretty...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/1600 sec, f/2.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
View from our Living Room
So, yesterday, between taking pictures of Kyoto City neutering trees and riding through a fall-foliage tunnel, I spent a few minutes to go see the tree up close.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/250 sec, f/9, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Backlighting is the Key
When I got down there, I was surprised to find that the leaves that I thought were so fiery red were actually fairly drab, until you got the sun behind them and got a lot of light shining through. They transmit red, but don't reflect it as much. Backlighting is a great way to get the excitement from fall colors, whether it's via the sun or from high-intensity floodlights.
It's on my list of things to do this season to try using a small handheld flash (in my case, a Nikon SB-800 Speedlight) to backlight. Especially if I can use settings that allow the flash to dominate the ambient light, I suspect some really interesting results. We'll see whether the cold I've come down with will let me...
Anyway, yesterday, I had the sun almost directly behind the leaves, and I didn't have the lens hood with me, so the result was occasional flare, like the greenish hexagon in the upper-left of the shot above, or the big sweeping circle in the first shot.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/4000 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sorta' Abstractish
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/250 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Another View of the Entrance
but I think I like the first one, better
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 160 mm — 1/200 sec, f/10, ISO 800 — full exif
View from my Office Window
that I took last year
That is, so appropriately, a Japanese Maple. (Peter, please correct if I’m wrong) At least that is what they’re called here in Ohio.
Mine is a Threadleaf Japanese Maple and while the leaves are still on the tree, they have turned brown under the thick layer of new-fallen snow. They will soon all fall at once with an audible “plop”.
Of course, your Mother is right!
Whilst I don’t envy her the snow, I do envy you your late autumn and consequent shorter winter! Here in Wales, our one Japanese maple dropped its leaves some weeks ago, and even the oaks have now lost their leaves. The only remaining splashes of autumn colour here are a shrub called Stephanandra tanakae – a Japanese native (kana-utsugi) – no wonder it is one of my very favourite shrubs. Its reddish stems even look good when the leaves have fallen.
Nice shots! There are various reasons to always use a lens hood but in case of the first shot the green flare produces a nice contrast and proportioning, so its my favourite.
Get well soon!
Beutiful. Wish I had that view in my backyard!