In the Kyoto Winter Preview I posted the other day – about an uncommon snowfall in Kyoto last winter – the story left off with us arriving at the Heian Shrine....
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 34 mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Entrance Gate
Heian Shrine, Kyoto Japan
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/80 sec, f/6.3, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Normally you can go up and through the big gate (such as done by these cute kids in kimono and these demons and this family), but this day it was roped off with “beware of falling snow” signs, as if there was actually enough snow to accumulate on the roof to a dangerous level. It seems sort of silly to me, but in any case, you can still enter the shrine grounds through doors on the side.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Must. Disturb. Snow
It's what little boys do.
Now we're at the point where I took the pictures that lead off the post I published that day, Amazing Snow at the Heian Shrine.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/1250 sec, f/4, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Photogenic Snowman Construction
I like the ornate little building in the background, and we've seen it here on my blog before, most recently as the backdrop to a kimono-laden family portrait.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/1250 sec, f/4, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Then there are the little ladles featured on the previous post, Snowy Quiz: What am I?, which, as I expected, didn't prove to be very difficult....
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/1250 sec, f/4, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Easier to See In This View
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/750 sec, f/2.8, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lifting a Ladle
( from a visit on another snowy day a week later )
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 23 mm — 1/320 sec, f/8, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
As the Day Wears On
( from a visit on another snowy day a week later )
Back to the day at hand, it took me a few moments to realize how this square of non-snowiness came about...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/200 sec, f/10, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Square of “No Snow”
in the middle of a “some snow” area
Under the ground at that point is a big cistern, one of a pair I saw being used at the event covered in my Intense Burn: Shinto Rite at the Heian Shrine post. The water must have warmed the ground enough to melt the snow as it landed.
The short fence/railing seen in the background of the shot above is pretty in its own right...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 44 mm — 1/1250 sec, f/4, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Golden Endcap
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/1600 sec, f/4, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
The red/orange fence is apparently fragile enough that they don't want people actually touching it, so there's a light twine and wood fence just in front of it. I liked how the wet, sticky snow built up even on the tops of the wood posts, like little tufts of frosty white hair....
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — 1/320 sec, f/6.3, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
The colors are wrong, but it makes me think of the Muppet Beaker.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/160 sec, f/3.2, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
hard to make a bad picture when you've got
Lanterns
Several buildings in the shrine complex have these lanterns; one of my first pictures with my D200 a few years back was Lanterns at the Heian Shrine, of those on the building across the courtyard from this one.
We were the first visitors to the shrine that morning, but soon others came...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/1250 sec, f/4, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Teeming Throng of Photographers
Those are awesome pictures – I’m once again jealous you get to live in Kyoto year-round, my wife and I have been lucky enough to spend some time sightseeing in Kyoto in the fall, but we didn’t get to see any snow when we were there. Thanks for posting this, it’s always nice to see some more pics from Kyoto 🙂