Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 6 sec, f/9, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Cold, Crowded, and Cliché
— six second exposure to get moving people to fade away —
Arashiyama Bamboo Forest Lightup, Kyoto Japan
京都・嵐山竹やぶ花灯路
I braved the cold and sleet (and crowds) last night to make my first visit to Kyoto's semi-annual Arashiyama Bamboo Forest Lightup. According to that link, the whole area was having a lightup event, including the famous Togetsukyo bridge seen in last week's “Intense Rainbow Over Arashiyama”, but I was able to avoid most of the crowds by scootering into the fringe of the event from the opposite direction from the train stations.
(Of course, once it started, the crowds came to me.)
The cold and sleet weren't the only thing to put me out of my comfort zone... I was also trying longer exposures with the tripod, something I haven't done in a while. I should use the tripod more.
It's been a while since I've posted one of my “What am I?” quizzes, so here's one. What is it?
As usual, I'll hold comments privately until I publish the answer. —Jeffrey
A few random pretty pictures from various outings last year. If you're interested in the context for the shot, or other pictures from the same area, see the “nearby photos” link under for photos and posts from the same location.
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/4, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wheat
at Sunrise Itoyama (サンライズ糸山), Imabari Japan
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/8, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Impact
heavyhanded post-processing of the Sennyuji Temple (泉涌寺)
Kyoto, Japan
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/320 sec, f/11, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Entrance
to someone's House in Kyoto
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Apricot
or maybe Plum, but I think I recall being told that it was apricot
Just outside the Soba Tea House Sawasho (そば茶寮澤正), Kyoto Japan
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Delicate
Just a pretty flower
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/160 sec, f/2, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mother & Daughter
were intrigued by my big lens
at Gion Matsuri Shinkousai (祇園祭、神幸祭), Kyoto Japan
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 175mm — 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Group Sunset
at the Shogunzuka overlook (将軍塚), Kyoto Japan
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 90mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Dusk over Kyoto
still at Shogunzuka (将軍塚)
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/4, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wall
at the Raigoin Temple (来迎院), Kyoto Japan
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Path
at the Kajyuuji Temple (勧修寺), Kyoto Japan
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Me
in a not-particularly-me getup
photo by Paul Barr
More portraiture practice, today for the first time with Paul Barr behind the camera. I did some very impromptu portraiture practice with Paul the other day, but today he tried it with me.
When Paul stopped by, I happened to be wearing a long-sleeve Uniqlo shirt that I'd picked up yesterday so that I had something longsleeve that actually fit. It's cold outside in Kyoto these days, but I didn't want to wear my normal bright yellow winter coat, so grabbed a black leather jacket, and when I realized just how pretentious the combination looked, also grabbed some reading glasses to complete the look.
The photo above is the first one Paul took. Seems okay to me.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/640 sec, f/5, ISO 12800 — map & image data — nearby photos
photo by Paul Barr
This being Paul's first try, he was even more fish-out-of-water with portraiture than I am, so even the short practice was helpful. At one point he even got so bold as to direct me (“look over there”), which, of course, is what a portraiture photographer should be doing. I like the result:
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 160mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 12800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pensive or Pretentious?
photo by Paul Barr
While looking at the results, I kept hearing Stéphane Barbery (from my first two portraiture practice sessions) saying “get closer”, so here's a crop of Paul's first shot of the day that might be a step in that direction:
Close Crop = Intimate/Strong
but does it work?
photo by Paul Barr
DMC-G1 + Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95 at an effective 50mm — 1/3200 sec, f/0.95, ISO 125 — map & image data
Creamy at f/0.95
A couple of years ago I borrowed a friend's little camera with a very fast lens, a Voigtländer Nokton 25mm, which sports a rare f/0.95 aperture. I took a few snaps of some weeds with it as tests, but I didn't care for the electric viewfinder (I like the real optical viewfinder I'm used to), so quickly returned it.
I couldn't load the photos into Lightroom at the time because it couldn't handle the sub-f/1 lens, but I submitted a bug report and somewhere along the way it was fixed, so I could eventually load the images with metadata intact.
Anyway, I happened across them in my Lightroom catalog today, and decided that I liked the mood of the weed above enough to post it.
And here's another tiny weed of some sort...
DMC-G1 + Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95 at an effective 50mm — 1/2500 sec, f/0.95, ISO 100 — map & image data
Burst