Kyoto Winter Preview (Sort Of)
Snow in Kyoto this past February -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 40 mm — 1/320 sec, f/3.5, ISO 250 — map & image datanearby photos
Snow in Kyoto
this past February

Kyoto doesn't get much snow. The surrounding mountains get plenty, but the city proper might not get any real snowfall all year, or maybe up to a few mornings of accumulation a season.

It's already been cold enough for snow... the temperature has dipped to freezing a few evenings, although during the day it's still bout 10°C (50°F). But since many in the Northern Hemisphere are already seeing their first snows, I thought I'd post a few more pictures from the few snows Kyoto had last winter.

The shots on today's post are from one morning in February were Anthony and I walked to the Heian Shrine in the snow. The shot above is on the bridge nearest our place; other photos from the bridge (including comparisons of the view during cherry-blossom season) appeared at the time on my Snowy Bridge in Kyoto post.

Walking along...

Undisturbed for the moment -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos
Undisturbed
for the moment
Bikes at the Museum -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 35 mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos
Bikes at the Museum

Since it rarely gets more than a few degrees below freezing, snow remains very sticky, and so piles up thickly on even the thinnest surfaces, such as the brake cables of the bikes.

Just looking at this statue of a samurai in front of the library made me shiver...

Frozen in Time -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/640 sec, f/3.2, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos
Frozen in Time

It was here that I took the snowy crow shot.

At the playground, Anthony reveled in the chance to wreck the virgin snow on the slide...

It's Mine, All Mine.... Bwahahahahahahaha -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/320 sec, f/5, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos
It's Mine, All Mine.... Bwahahahahahahaha
Giddy with Excitement -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 32 mm — 1/250 sec, f/5, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos
Giddy with Excitement

The only-the-subject-has-color treatment of the shot above is cliché, but except for Anthony the scene was almost monochromatic to begin with. The other color in the scene – the slide and some traffic signs in the background – were just distractions, so I desaturated them.

pleased at having destroyed the virgin snow, grinning like a Cheshire Cat -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/180 sec, f/5, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos
pleased at having destroyed the virgin snow, grinning like a
Cheshire Cat

Working our way toward the shrine, we came to the corner in front where Jingu Michi (“Shrine Street”) dead-ends....

Heavy Snow for Kyoto -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 45 mm — 1/350 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos
Heavy Snow
for Kyoto

Inside I took one of my all-time favorite photos, of Anthony enjoying the snow. I'll share more from inside in a later post.


One comment so far...

The photograph titled Undisturbed is just wonderful. There are just enough snowdrops at or near the plane of focus to give it real depth.

— comment by Bahi on December 19th, 2008 at 3:51am JST (15 years, 10 months ago) comment permalink
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