Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 125mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos
Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto Japan
清水寺
San Francisco friends Eric and Gigi are in town again. We last saw them earlier in the year buying a Kimono and playing in the snow. Yesterday they made a visit to the Kiyomizu Temple, and I popped over to join them.
It was a Monday, but the place was crazy crowded like during a high-season weekend. The economy must really be doing better.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 130mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 160 — map & image data — nearby photos
one of the streets leading to the temple
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 98mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 125 — map & image data — nearby photos
Eric and Gigi like to shoot portraiture, and the challenge in a setting 8like this is to find places and angles that omit the crowd, yet still lend a feeling of the location. As we instinctively moved away from the main gate, I saw two ladies in kimono taking a picture, and immediately felt the location held promise...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
I felt that the top of the steps where the photographer was standing was the place for the subject, with a rich green background devoid of people if you got the camera low enough to the ground.
Soon Eric and Gigi were photographing one of the ladies...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 125mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
(Unfortunately I didn't get the camera low enough to the ground for this shot to omit the people down below.)
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 125 — map & image data — nearby photos
cute little girl toddles
Moving on to other parts of the temple grounds, we found a little bridge next to the hustle and bustle of the crowds that seemed to be amenable to a shot...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 105mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
The trouble was finding an angle to omit stuff from the backgrounds like people, toilets, orange traffic cones, trash cans, etc. I think there was exactly one such angle, and I found it in the shot above.
Moving inside the temple to its famous observation deck...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 180mm — 1/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
selfie sticks were in great abundance, but not a great annoyance
Once those two ladies moved on, Gigi posed there for a bit. It was crowded with people, but every once in a while there would be a few seconds in the clear...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 98mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos
of whatever I'd just said
Across the way is another pagoda, which has apparently received a coat of paint sometime recently...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 135mm — 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
清水寺の泰産寺
This photo of the same pagoda taken in 2008 shows quite a different look.
Here's a picture of Gigi and Eric with the temple sticking out of their head (but, you'll notice, no one else in the background)...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 98mm — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
The short moment that no one was near them seemed fleeting enough that I didn't want to chance the time to reposition myself to put the pagoda off to the side.
What the railing they're standing at normally looked like...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
entrance to a sub-shrine, and path to a mountain-hike exit
Toward the rear of the temple grounds is a sub shrine that garnered a lot of visitors, with many folks stopping to take photos in front of the stairs seen at left in the picture above.
My eyes, however, immediately gravitated to the essentially-ignored path to the right (it leads to a hiking trail exit). The stonework on the path might make a nice background, I thought.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 110mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
so I can check out the angles
After actually giving it a try, I abandoned the idea of using the ground as the background, but instead took advantage of the stone and moss just to the side...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 82mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 150mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1800 — map & image data — nearby photos
We eventually moved on to where one can get the quintessential view of the temple (like this, also seen here and here). In doing so, we were hapily greeted by this unknown couple...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 95mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
(Their friend, taking a photo of them with an iPad, was next to me.)
It was threatening rain all day, but none materialized while we were out.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/320 sec, f/9, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
A girl asked Eric to snap a photo of her with her phone — not an uncommon request to a passer by — but she got more than she bargained for. Eric was in portraiture mode, she got the whole “tilt your head this way...” posing direction. She was surprised, but enjoyed it.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 78mm — 1/320 sec, f/9, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 80mm — 1/320 sec, f/9, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Near the popular place where you get water with a cup on the end of a lone pole, I noticed another spot that might make a good oasis-among-the-crowds spot. There's a looooong staircase that ends there... here's a photo of it from 2008:
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 at an effective 25mm — 1/45 sec, f/4.5, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
this photo is from 2008
In this photo from 2008, the railing on the right is metal. But during the visit yesterday, the railing on the right had been replaced by one made of stone, to match the railing on the left. Combined with the rocky/mossy background, I thought the location had promise...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 102mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 3200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 110mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
After leaving the temple, we made the short stroll over to Camellia Tea Ceremony to take a peek. I'm not sure how Eric and Gigi came to know about it, but the owner has been an acquaintance since long before she opened this tea-ceremony business, so I wanted to say “hi”. Unfortunately she wasn't there at the time, but her staff was kind enough to show us around.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 75mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
I remembered another nice oasis-among-the-crowds spot in this area from this blog post two years ago, and though the light was fading as a brooding evening started to take hold, they gave it a try with a few shots...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 80mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
As I waited, a couple of ladies taking a rest nearby smiled for my lens...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Finally on the way back to my scooter, this young kid caught my eye, and I his (hers?) as his (her?) dad carried him (her?) like a sack of potatoes....
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 75mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
You’re blessed to live in such a beautiful country! I loved my day in Narita waiting overnight for a layover and exploring the town and temple there. The manicured gardens and quaint city was a great contrast to the two previous weeks I spend in the megaopolises in China. Your ‘Laughing’ photo is great – I love the DOF along the railing that draws you into the photo.