Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
The Real Shogunzuka Overlook

I've posted many times the view of Kyoto from the overlook at Shogunzuka, such as this photo from a post last year:

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 102mm — handheld ¹/40 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Kyoto Tower, Kyoto Station, and Friends
( from a post last year )

... or this photo from a post two weeks ago...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
( sunset from a post two weeks ago )

The location I took these shots from is officially part of the “Higashiyama Summit Park” (“Higashiyama” – Eastern Mountain – being the name of the short mountain it's at the top of), but the area is better known as “Shogunzuka”, a man-made mound of some sort dating back to the 700s. It's now part of a temple's grounds, but I've always just come to the park's public overlook, and have never paid the $5 to enter the temple grounds.

As I mentioned the other day, I sometimes try to zip up to the overlook for the sunset, hoping against hope for a photogenic view of an amazing sunset. So far, no luck.

Although it was mostly overcast and threatening rain today, there were a few open spots in the clouds to the west, so I popped up. Not much of a sunset, it turned out, but while killing time waiting to see what would materialize, I wandered over to the temple, and then detoured down one of the various hiking trails that dot the area (of which I once wrote a bit about). This time, though, I realized that a trail hugged the perimeter of the temple grounds, and taking it, I was amazed to find that the grounds were much larger than I thought, and included their own overlook. That's the lead photo of this post... the real Shogunzuka overlook that I never knew existed.

I'll wait for better weather before actually going inside to where I can enjoy the view from the real Shogunzuka overlook, but the view from the hiking trail wasn't too bad, and faced north more than the public lookout. I was able to even see the Heian Shrine....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 5000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heian Shrine and Gate
from Shogunzuka, Kyoto, Japan

It's similar to the view I posted last spring, from a trail behind the Westin Miyako Hotel. It turns out (looking at Google Maps; see the “full exif & map” link under any photo) that the trail behind the hotel leads right up to Shogunzuka where I was today. Were I to walk that trail back home, I bet I could get back to my place from here in less than half an hour. I'll have to try it sometime. (Driving, although less direct, takes only five minutes if I hit all green lights).

I didn't enter the temple grounds, but they had some nice colorful foliage out front...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/7.1, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Momiji Finally Turning Red

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 90 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looks Like a Painting
a pleasing artistic effect of softness at ISO 6400

I've got lots I want to share from this evening's short outing, but I'm just too tired to write it up this evening.

Anyway, back to the public overlook, it's too much of a hassle to use the correct “Overlook part of the Higashiyama Summit Park”, so I'll still call the it the “Shogunzuka Overlook”. I'm just lazy that way.

Anyway, for the record, there wasn't much of a sunset at all. It started raining as I snapped this...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 110 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/4.5, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tonight's Non-Sunset
Kyoto, Japan