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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4, cropped — ¹/5000 sec, f/1.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sunainosato Cherry-Blossom Orchard
Shiga Prefecture, Japan

As I wrote in yesterday's post about the doggy funeral, we had lunch at a great cafe. In the southern part of Shiga Prefecture, perhaps an hour's drive from Kyoto, is a private business called Sunainosato (寿長生の郷), which consists of a restaurant, a cafe, and a confectionery, all on 50 acres of wonderfully wooded land in the countryside.

The grounds are open as if it were a public park, and they're very nice.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/320 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Drop-Off Shelter
near the parking area

The little drop-off shelter near the parking lot illustrates the simple, understated class of the entire site.

From there, one enters a small orchard that has more than a dozen varieties of cherry tree....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/4000 sec, f/1.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Arrival

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/5000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Investigation

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/500 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Some Kind of Weeping Blossoms

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/1250 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
White Blossoms and Thatched Roof

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/320 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Welcome House

The first building you come to is a welcome house, with a mini cafe and a gift shop selling some of the confections they make on site. The mini cafe really isn't a cafe, though, since they don't charge you for the sweets and tea they offer anyone who wanders in.

We wandered in.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tasteful

There's just something about a tastefully done decoration on a cafe table that sets it so far apart from a flower dropped in a vase. This simple item, though looking fairly plastic in this unflattering photo, reminded me of my “Japanese Attention to Presentation” post a year ago.

The snacks and tea they brought were very nice, and I was shocked when I found out that we didn't have to pay. For Anthony's part, he was in a good mood with some sweets in his tummy...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Content

We then moved on toward the small cafe that was our lunch destination, and along the way I took one of the most surreal photos I have ever taken...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/3200 sec, f/1.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Surreal Family Gathering

Other than a white-balance correction, this is straight out of Lightroom with its default settings, but (particularly in the large version) it looks as if I Photoshopped them onto the empty scene. The nondescript gravel path combined with an almost complete lack of shadow and the sliver-thin depth of field at f/1.8 make for something that looks completely fake, destined to appear on Photoshop Disasters. Except it's totally real. Weird.

With some sugar in him, Anthony was in a dinosaur-play running mood (as described here and here), and I used it as an opportunity to practice manual focus on a fast-moving target.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/2500 sec, f/1.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Dino Attack
staying one step ahead of the focus plane

More commonly, this was the result...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/2000 sec, f/1.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Two or Three Steps Ahead
of the focus plane

Frustrated with a complete lack of success, I asked him to stop so I could focus, but to strike a pose as if he were running, so I could fake out the viewer....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/2500 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Totally Convincing
unstaged pure-action running shot

Meanwhile, Fumie set up shop at the casual cafe...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/2000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Outdoor Terrace

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/1250 sec, f/2.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lunch

There's a big formal restaurant somewhere on site that's apparently very famous and very expensive, but the cafe was perfectly reasonable (maybe $12 for lunch), and the food was very good.

Continued here...