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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hey, Check It Out, On That Rock!
I think I see a yellow leaf!
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lots of Leaves
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Full Coverage
Last week, Kyoto friend Britto posted on his blog about a couple of recent bicycle trips he'd recently taken, including one to a shrine in the mountains north of Kyoto that sounded so appealing that I went there myself the next day (though I went by motorbike). Paul Barr is still in town, so I invited him along; that's him in the photos above.
It was a long and steep enough trip on the scooter... mad props to Britto for doing it on a bicycle!
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Iwato Ochiba Shrine
in the mountains north-west of Kyoto, Japan
In the shrine's name (岩戸落葉神社; iwato ochiba jinja), iwato means “rock above a cave entrance”, ochiba means “fallen leaves”, and jinja means “Shinto shrine”. I didn't investigate the large rock face behind the shrine, but the “fallen leaves” part got my attention.
The last few weeks in Kyoto have been filled with spectacular fall foliage, both by day and by night, but after a while, spectacular or not, one starts looking for something a bit different. The carpet of leaves at the Koutou-in Temple post represented a bit of the search for something different, but since most places clean the fallen leaves as quickly as they fall (why!?), it's hard to find a good carpet-of-leaves area, so when I saw the wonderful carpet in Britto's post, I knew I had to visit.
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Last Bit of Sun
The clouds and the mountains took the sun almost as soon as we got there, but we had five minutes with some intermittent sun. Most of these shots are from after the direct sun was gone, but the two above, and a few below, were lit with the last rays we got...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/4000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/4000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Steps
in there somewhere
The carpet is fed from a bunch of huge ginkgo trees that tower above the area, now almost completely bare...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
I don't generally care for ginkgo trees or their leaves, perhaps because I associate them with Kyoto's annual atrocious arboreal neutering that leaves large areas of the city looking horrid. But maybe there's hope because there didn't seem to be any neutering done this year, and the streets lined with ginkgo were beautiful.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Drip Fountain
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Bifurcated
one side is quite a step up from the other
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/4, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
More Steps
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Auspicious
Shinto symbols hanging from the gate
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Engulfed
I see that some of the shots were taken with the 24/1.4. There has been much written about autofocus inaccuracies using this lens, particularly with the D700 and D3 iterations. Has this been your experience?
I haven’t heard of any issues, nor noticed any myself, but I haven’t been paying much attention. When I see the focus is off I usually assume it’s my fault unless I know I was really paying attention… —Jeffrey
Wonderful photos Jeff,
This post makes some real justice to the temple’s beauty. Thank you.
When I visited this temple, I was exhausted and took only a few snaps.
I think this post captures the beauty of the shrine better than any other. Great work Jeff.
And, Thanks for correcting the reading, 落葉, I thought it was Rakuyo, but it should have been Ochiba. that shows I need to improve my Japanese 😉
BTW, my B’day was on 5th 😉
This is a great shot (http://regex.info/i/JF7_049291_1600x1200.jpg). I like the others as well. Thanks for posting them.
Regarding the 24mm f/1.4, here is a review that I found interesting: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/24mm-f14.htm
Regards, Tom (San Francisco)
I haven’t read that particular review yet, but generally speaking, that site is primarily for entertainment use only, and perhaps to get you thinking about some alternative perspectives on things. My experience has been that you must take what you read there with a very large grain of salt. The guy’s enthusiasm is wonderful, though, even if it does get in the way of common sense sometimes. —Jeffrey
Hello~ i was looking to your blog and saw some pics that reminds me of Mansion Himuro (Fatal Frame Game) and i guess you found it lol it really looks like its the mansion, you took very amazing photos just love it 😀