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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/16, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Towering

So, continuing with the story about our recent visit to the Sanzen-in Temple in the Kyoto mountain suburb Ohara on Sunday (which produced the pretty desktop backgrounds I posted yesterday)....

As I said in the first post, it's a mountain temple, and so it has different zones separated by various flights of stairs....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/250 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ever Upward

You can see in the background of the picture above the trunks of some cedars disappearing above the lower canopy of maple and other leafy trees. The cedars here were all very tall, and ramrod straight...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/5000 sec, f/3.2, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Vertigo

The next level included a modern (circa 1989) temple building (one you could wear shoes in!), and in front was an incense station....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — ¹/8000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Incense Station

At a station like this, you light some incense and make a wish while the smoke wafts over you, (and, perhaps like the gomaki sticks I wrote about in Part I, the wish then accompanies the smoke as it drifts up toward the heavens). I mentioned it a couple of years ago in a post about the Nanzen Temple, but at the time I was less clear about what was going on. (Not that I'm totally clear now, but I digress...)

So, Anthony lit three sticks for us...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/5000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lighting the First Stick

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Our Three Newly-Added Sticks

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/8000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 720 — map & image data — nearby photos
Partaking in the Wish-Filled Smoke

Anthony was very sweet... he called me over, then wafted smoke toward me, and said something that translates along the lines of “that your back feels better”. Although I've been in good shape lately, I have a history of back problems, so his wish was very thoughtful and selfless.

Up some more steps and there were more buildings, and a pleasant area for taking a break...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pleasant Area
all to themselves

Of more immediate concern was that the final stamp station (discussed in Part I) was there, so Anthony could complete his “stamp rally” and collect a set of “remembrance stickers”....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 58 mm — ¹/4000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Inspecting the Fruits of his Efforts

This was as high as we went.... I'm not sure how much more further up the mountain is the temple grounds, or where it just becomes mountain hiking, but we turned around and headed down a different path...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pretty and Fun

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/6400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wall of Fern

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/13, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Random Temple Rooftop #28

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 28 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/6.3, ISO 3200 — map & image data — nearby photos
(somewhat spooky)
Friends Forever

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/2000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
View into Town
the village of Ohara in the background

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/13, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ice-Cream Break
just outside the temple grounds, near a signpost for a different temple

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — ¹/2500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Entrance Signpost

We bought an ice-cream cone from an old lady at a shop right across from the entrance to the temple grounds, and while Anthony was enjoying it, an apron-laden girl about Anthony's age — likely the granddaughter of the owner — emerged from the shop and proceeded to carefully search the big stone steps leading up to the grounds. I don't know whether she was looking for bugs or seeds or what, but it was cute, especially with the apron. That's her in the picture above.

Continued here...