Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Rainbow Under Fairly Clear Skies
Arashiyama (嵐山) area of Kyoto, Japan

Here are a few more shots of that intense rainbow in Kyoto the other day. Following Damien Douxchamps' lead, I moved to the other side of the street to get the rainbow crossing over Arashiyama's famous Togetsukyo bridge (渡月橋).

The angle from that side of the bridge also omits the storm clouds seen in the previous post, just off to the left, that are providing the rain swept in on the wind to create the rainbows, so the clear-sky look seems a bit interesting (if perhaps improbable).

For reference, here's another view from where I initially shot the rainbow, showing the storm clouds...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/400 sec, f/8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos

Anyway, back to the west side of the bridge...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Advertisement in the Making?

The green-roofed building that's the “source” of the rainbow above is a restaurant. I might bring them a copy, but while the rainbow is nice, the photo is otherwise pretty bad, and the photographer in me sees nothing but the harsh light and utility poles. )-:

It looks a bit better with a wider lens...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — ¹/640 sec, f/4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos

You do not want to go to the Arashiyama area of Kyoto on a weekend during fall-foliage or cherry-blossom seasons because it's so ridiculously crowded, but Damien and I were just passing through on the way from one temple to another. By this point we were sort of miserable in the rain, and when we saw the rainbow we stopped quickly to shoot it, leaving Damien looking temporarily more like an astronaut than a photographer...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/320 sec, f/10, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
“If You Take That Photo I Will End You”
( actually, he posed quite nicely, thanks Damien )

And when I mention that it was crowded, I do not exaggerate. We crossed the bridge and I snapped this photo:

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pleasant Day in Arashiyama
would not be found today

Arashiyama is a lovely area, as the “nearby photos” links under each picture shows, but like I said, stay away on weekends during these seasons.

Finally, here's a panorama that I created from 14 shots I haphazardly fired off, handheld, when I first got there. It's not that compelling, but Photoshop (CS5) did an amazing job of stitching them together. I touched up one area and applied a crop, but otherwise it was all automatic...

There's another sort of slightly-endearing factor to the panorama, but I'll let you discover it for yourself...

Continued here...