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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/10, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Private Entrance
at the Myouhouin Temple (妙法院), Kyoto Japan
妙法院（京都市東山区)の景色。この記事の写真は処理過剰ばっかりですが、今日はそんな気分です。 （今週は特別拝観が有ります。お寺の中は中々美しいですが、残念ながら中では撮影禁止）。
I paid my first visit to the Myouhouin Temple (妙法院) in eastern Kyoto yesterday. The buildings are closed to the public except for early November, so I took the opportunity to visit on the first day of this year's open house.
The good news is that the buildings and inner gardens and many artifacts on display were magnificently beautiful, but the bad news is that photography was not allowed at all. Still, well worth the ¥800 if you can get there before the open house ends on the 18th.
The first building you enter on the open-house tour is, apparently, the old kitchen, and I heard that it might be open to the public all year. It's amazing... you can look up four stories' worth of massive rough-hewn beams leading to what looks a bit like steeple or belfry, but merely acted like chimney. You can see the outside view of the building in the last photo on this post.
The outside grounds seem to be always open and free to visit, and being the only place I could use the camera, so I availed myself of the opportunity.
Most of the photos on this post suffer from “an abundance of heavy-handed post processing”; that's apparently the mood I'm in today. C'est la vie (parfois).
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/5, ISO 2800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Busy
Entrance Gate of the Myouhouin Temple
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Fringed
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/1.8, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Old and Old
The camera was old and the lens hazed over
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 140 — map & image data — nearby photos
Together
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/4.5, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
“No”
Zak Braverman's answer to my asking whether this had any artistic merit
( I'd asked about the color version; it seems to have more merit as a B&W )
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Simple
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Slightly Off Kilter
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 5000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Bud
I don't understand how this branch can still have a bud
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Bend
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/8, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Cliché side of Gritty
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/8, ISO 10000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Connecting Levels
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/8, ISO 7200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Twisted
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 720 — map & image data — nearby photos
Rising Flame
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Carving Detail
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/9, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Kitchen Building
of the Myouhouin Temple (妙法院), as mentioned in the prose above
I like ‘Twisted’ a lot. Framed just right so I can’t quite tell what’s going on – which brings my attention to the color and textures. — Maryland, USA
Well I think Zak is probably right about your black and white effort… but hey ho – nothing venture nothing gain. I just love the kitchen and the private entrance shots.
Re the bud. I think the key is that it is not “still” showing a bud but that it is “already” showing a bud for next year. The magnolias in south west London are dropping their leaves and the flower buds are already forming for next spring . But Peter in Wales – if on line – will no doubt offer the definitive view!
kieep on photoshopping!
Loved your recent shots of the Japanese ‘archers’ on horeseback (I think it was). You do a better job of capturing ‘real’ Japan than I’ve seen in any National Geographic, Saveur or any other ‘high brow’ intellectual supposedly non-biased magazines. I love how you capture Japan w/o infusing a sense of ‘Oooh, look at these exotic non-western people!!!” -that is a horrible theme but sadly its prevalent in a lot of photos of Japan that you see.
Also, I can’t stress enough, the art is in the struggle. You definitely have an inner voice, you may just not know it or maybe play it down too much. The fact that you had to ask Zak shows that that inner voice was saying, “I dunno, Jeffrey, maybe MEH to this one.” There are all these flickR photographers that take photos of sweet cars, hot women and landscapes and then they HDR them and then go…”Look at me, I’m an AR-TEEST!” You are kind of the opposite, you take GREAT photos of humble subject matters and say, “Nope, still not good enough.”
That is what defines art. That journey or struggle. Keep listening to that inner voice. And at this point start to use the force a little bit more Luke, turn off that instrument panel (Zak).
Spot-on Annie – buds are the overwintering device of the tree/shrub. From the leaf, this looks like a Corylopsis, but whether this is a next-year’s flower-bud, or one from last spring that failed to open, I’m not sure – I slightly suspect the latter. My Corylopsis here has no fat buds like that, so I do wonder if it is abnormal in some way.
‘Carving Detail’ is the top shot for me.