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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — ¹/60 sec, f/13, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
View from the Ice Room
Himuro Shrine, Kyoto Japan

Click through to the large version to see how compensating for severe underexposure has left a dreamy, almost drawing-like quality to the result.

On the outing last fall with Paul Barr into the mountains north of Kyoto that produced “Kyoto Mountain Restaurant 'Yama no Ie Hasegawa'” and “Carpet of Yellow at the Iwato Ochiba Shrine”, we first made a detour on a small path even deeper into the middle of nowhere to stop into a remote village I'd spotted on a map, to check out its shrine. There's certainly appeal to the big, rich, fancy shrines and temples like the one we live near, but I find a certain appeal in simple, local ones as well (like this and this), so I like to pop in to check them out when I notice them on the map.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Not Much To See From the Road

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Not Much Up Close, Either

There wasn't much there but a small stage with an ornate roof, the entire of which was protected by a big ugly corrugated roof. The ornate roof didn't look particularly old, but I suppose it must have been to merit the protection.

The ornate roof had a lot of wood carving, done perhaps without much skill, but clearly with a lot of love...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos

My mom is a skilled wood carver, so random carvings around the house are much better than these, but like I said, they have a certain appeal....

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/80 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
West Side

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/4, ISO 2000 — map & image data — nearby photos
South Side

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/80 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
North Side

The shrine's stonework wasn't something you'd be likely to find at Nishimura Stonecarvers, but they share an appeal with the wood carvings...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/160 sec, f/2.5, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Seemingly Random

Despite such a remote feeling of the area, it was pretty important in the history of Kyoto; because it kept the coolest during the summer, it's where winter ice was stored during the summer. The shrine's name means “Ice Room”, being that's the name for the area.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — ¹/2500 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos