Random Shots from a Kyoto Countryside Tour

I've tried getting this post done every day since Little Pink Flowers 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 days ago, but I keep getting caught up with Lightroom plugin work. I guess the balance between plugins and blog varies over time, with blog on the short end these days.

Anyway, the Little Pink Flowers post was from an outing a couple of weeks ago when I showed a visitor a bit around some of the fringe countryside areas of Kyoto. Our first stop was the Nishimura Stonecarver's garden, an amazing place that has its own category on my blog...

Rich Light at Nishimura Stone Lanterns (西村石灯籠) Kyoto Japan -- Nishimura Stone Lanterns (西村石灯籠) -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 140 — map & image datanearby photos
Rich Light
at Nishimura Stone Lanterns (西村石灯籠)
Kyoto Japan

Then we made a brief stop at the Tanukitanisan Fudouin Temple (狸谷山不動院) where I snapped a photo of a carving on a sub-temple for everyday life...

Clothes · Food · Housing · Love what this subtemple is dedicated to ( I don't see the connection between the carving and the dedication; maybe there isn't one. ) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 560 — map & image datanearby photos
Clothes · Food · Housing · Love
what this subtemple is dedicated to
( I don't see the connection between the carving and the dedication; maybe there isn't one. )

Then we popped up to Ohara and the Sanzen'in Temple (三千院). At one point inside a little boy came around the corner and saw me (and likely that I looked obviously different from people he normally sees) and just stood there looking at me, taking me in. I snapped a shot.

Evaluating -- Sanzen-in Temple (三千院) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/2500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image datanearby photos
Evaluating

After several seconds he apparently decided that I was neither a threat nor a source of treats, and proceeded to go on his way.

Taking It All In -- Sanzen-in Temple (三千院) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 280 — map & image datanearby photos
Taking It All In

Later in the garden I noticed these stone faces rising from the moss...

desktop background image of smiling stone figures at the Sanzen-in Temple, Kyoto Japan (三千院、京都市) -- Serene Slumber -- Sanzen-in Temple (三千院) -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1100 — map & image datanearby photos
Serene Slumber
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I'd never noticed them before, but in looking around now I found many. I'll have to go back when the light is better to try photographing them all.

This next picture was taken quickly when I noticed a group of three young-at-heart ladies in their 70s or 80s were forming a human chain to allow one on the end to reach over a pond to touch a stream of water coming from a bamboo pipe....

Helping Hands -- Sanzen-in Temple (三千院) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 640 — map & image datanearby photos
Helping Hands

I'm not sure what the deal is with the water and having to reach out over the pond, but it's a thing at the temple.

Anyway, in picking photos to include on this blog post I realized that I neglected to get an establishing shot that shows the wider context of the pond, but I knew I'd taken such a shot during a previous visit. Lightroom provides numerous ways to find photos, in this case all would be slow.

Several days of plugin development later, I came up with an extremely fast way to search my 130,000-photo catalog for nearby photos, and voila, here are a couple from 2010:

desktop background image of the garden and pond at the Sanzen-in Temple, Kyoto Japan (三千院、京都市) -- Sanzen-in Temple (三千院) -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/250 sec, f/4, ISO 2000 — map & image datanearby photos
Vertical Desktop-Background Versions
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desktop background image of the garden and pond at the Sanzen-in Temple, Kyoto Japan (三千院、京都市) -- Sanzen-in Temple (三千院) -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/250 sec, f/1.4, ISO 500 — map & image datanearby photos
Vertical Desktop-Background Versions
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As a bonus, I found some that I'd posted in 2011 but forgotten about.

On the way out of the temple you pass under a low-hanging branch that seems to have interesting leaves... after taking this shot the other day...

Sanzen-in Temple (三千院) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 160 — map & image datanearby photos

I realized that I'd done the same thing a few years ago, slightly later in the season...

desktop background image of fall foliage at the Sanzen-in Temple, Kyoto Japan (三千院、京都市) -- Imperfect -- Sanzen-in Temple (三千院) -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/4, ISO 5000 — map & image datanearby photos
Imperfect
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I'm not sure that the leaf pictures are particularly compelling, but the ability to instantaneously see photos from other times, taken in the same immediate area, makes me a bit giddy. I guess I'm just geeky that way.

desktop background image of a stone wall at the Sanzen-in Temple, Kyoto Japan (三千院、京都市) -- Bright Wall -- Sanzen-in Temple (三千院) -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 — map & image datanearby photos
Bright Wall
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We then took a drive on little-used roads through the deep mountains north of Kyoto, stopping by a little village...

Fireproof Storage Building with a window that can be shut tight in case the village is on fire ( because respect/fear of fire is deeply rooted in the Japanese psyche ) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 — map & image datanearby photos
Fireproof Storage Building
with a window that can be shut tight in case the village is on fire
( because respect/fear of fire is deeply rooted in the Japanese psyche )

Elsewhere in the village we came across an old couple harvesting rice, by hand, with just a sickle and hard work...

Wielding Her Sickle -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image datanearby photos
Wielding Her Sickle
Making a Bundle -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 — map & image datanearby photos
Making a Bundle
To The Racks -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image datanearby photos
To The Racks
Hanging to Dry -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image datanearby photos
Hanging to Dry
Much Yet to Go -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image datanearby photos
Much Yet to Go

Most of the rice has been flattened, likely by wind gusts during the typhoon the other day.

Reaching for the Next Bundle -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image datanearby photos
Reaching for the Next Bundle

I've written about the rice harvest various times in the past, including here, here, and here.


One comment so far...

Enjoyed seeing your people pictures, particularly the rice harvester.

The composition of “Rich Light” is also very appealing.

Regards,

Tom

— comment by Tom in SF on October 4th, 2013 at 1:19am JST (11 years ago) comment permalink
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