On The Way To The Kongourinji Temple’s Main Garden
NOTE: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.

The flood of photo opportunities I enjoyed last November at the start of Kyoto's fall-foliage season began with a visit to the Kongourinji Temple in Shiga. I posted about it in “First Taste of Fall Colors” and “Deep Sorrow at the Kongourinji Temple's Path of Jizou”, but the aforementioned flood has kept me from following up with the main attractions from the visit.

The main stuff still awaits, but today's post moves us one step closer.

The path to the temple's main garden leads through an area that seems as pretty as a small garden in its own right...

Side Gardenesque Area Kongourinji Temple, Shiga Japan -- Kongourinji Temple (金剛輪寺) -- Aisho, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/8000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Side Gardenesque Area
Kongourinji Temple, Shiga Japan

I took that photo from the spot holding the first of the 1,000 jizou (地蔵) statues described in the previous path of jizou post...

The Temple's First Jizou -- Kongourinji Temple (金剛輪寺) -- Aisho, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/1000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
The Temple's First Jizou

The tourists in the first photo add a human element that I tend to like, but it makes for a prettier desktop background without them, I think, so here's a version suitable for that...

desktop background image of a mini garden on the way to the main garden of the Kongourinji Temple in Shiga, Japan -- Kongourinji Temple (金剛輪寺) -- Aisho, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/8000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Desktop-Background Versions
Standard: 1024×768  ·  1440×1080  ·  1600×1200      Widescreen:  1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600

Some alternate views...

Backdrop For Cherry-Leaf Colors -- Kongourinji Temple (金剛輪寺) -- Aisho, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Backdrop For Cherry-Leaf Colors
desktop background image of a mini garden on the way to the main garden of the Kongourinji Temple in Shiga, Japan -- I Love These Duo-tone Leaves -- Kongourinji Temple (金剛輪寺) -- Aisho, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/800 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
I Love These Duo-tone Leaves
Desktop-Background Versions
Standard: 1024×768  ·  1440×1080  ·  1600×1200      Widescreen:  1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600
desktop background image of a mini garden on the way to the main garden of the Kongourinji Temple in Shiga, Japan -- Garden Entrance that way -- Kongourinji Temple (金剛輪寺) -- Aisho, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — 1/3200 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Garden Entrance
that way
Desktop-Background Versions
Standard: 1024×768  ·  1440×1080  ·  1600×1200      Widescreen:  1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600
Garden Entrance the old sign above the door seems illegible to me -- Kongourinji Temple (金剛輪寺) -- Aisho, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 220 — map & image datanearby photos
Garden Entrance
the old sign above the door seems illegible to me

The path continues inside the wall for a while before it opens up to the main garden. At first, it runs alongside a small stream...

Stream with Moss-Covered Footbridge -- Kongourinji Temple (金剛輪寺) -- Aisho, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 360 — map & image datanearby photos
Stream with Moss-Covered Footbridge

... and then next to a side entrance for the main temple building, in which it seemed a video crew was at work at the time...

Kongourinji Temple (金剛輪寺) -- Aisho, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 900 — map & image datanearby photos

I tried a shot zoomed up a bit, exposing for the leaves outside in the background, and after some heavy massaging in Lightroom got something, though I don't know what...

Kongourinji Temple (金剛輪寺) -- Aisho, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos

Continue around the corner, and the main garden opens up before you....

Continued here...


All 2 comments so far, oldest first...

Call me a novice (OK I am). How did you get such a broad depth of field at f1.4 in the picture entitled “Side Gardenesque Area?

By focusing far away. Everything in the scene “far away” will be in focus… the further away you focus, the wider the depth of field becomes. Those folks are probably almost as far away as the hyperfocal distance. As you move the focus distance away, the depth of field grows more quickly behind the focus point than in front, so in this case, the main effect of f/1.4 is to put the leaves in the front out of focus. —Jeffrey

— comment by Eric on January 17th, 2011 at 8:08am JST (13 years, 10 months ago) comment permalink

Dear Mr. Friedl, I thoroughly enjoyed your beautiful photographs. It brought so many memories of the time I lived in Tokyo 7 years ago. I love taking photographs as well but not as good as you for sure. Currently I’m living in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea – teaching at St. Joseph’s International Catholic School. All the best with everything that you do & your family as well. Warm Regards, Yogi

— comment by Yogi Barampataz on September 15th, 2013 at 5:42pm JST (11 years, 2 months ago) comment permalink
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