

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

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.
I’m at home in upper michigan on the Shiras of Lake Superior
But will be in Shiga Oct 18 for ten days and on the 19th I
Will be visiting the Cafe and sweet shop that you write about
In “sunainosato”. So your writing is very exciting.
Paulette Lindberg
Marquette Mi