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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32mm — ¹/60 sec, f/5, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Who Needs a T-Shirt?
when you have a waterfall
photo by Yoshimi Tabata

I wrote in yesterday's post about great T-Shirts for Kyoto's hot summer, but took advantage of an even better situation today when I made a visit to the Kuuya-taki Waterfall (空也滝) in western Kyoto. It was my third visit, and I've posted about it at length before, such as “Finally Reaching the Kuuya-taki Waterfall in Western Kyoto” last month.

Anthony and I went with some friends from France, Anne and Yoshi, and 10-year-old Nao. I have much I want to post, but lacking energy this evening I'll put just a few shots.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heading Up

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 102mm — ¹/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Through The First Gate

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 125mm — ¹/250 sec, f/3.2, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Checking It Out

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 82mm — ¹/200 sec, f/3.2, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Really Tall

There was much less water than when I visited last (which had been the day after we got smacked by a typhoon). Compare this shot from then with this one from today:

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/10 sec, f/2.8, ISO 125 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Relative Trickle

It's just as well because last time it was really painful to be under the water... it felt like sledge hammers falling non stop on your head. This time it was just fun.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 58mm — ¹/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Climbing To The Top
photo by Yoshimi Tabata

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 66mm — ¹/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Made It!
photo by Anthony Friedl

No, I didn't really climb the waterfall to the top, though the part I did climb was really easy, so perhaps someone with guts could have done it. Rather, I took a path that had a chain to help on the steep ascent, so it was really quite easy. Returning down by the same path was only slightly more worrisome... it's always easier to go up than down.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Starting The Return Trip
photo by Anthony Friedl

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wider View
photo by Anthony Friedl

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 720 — map & image data — nearby photos
Chain Makes it Easy
photo by Anthony Friedl

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32mm — ¹/60 sec, f/5, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
King of the World
this kid is native-fluent in English, French, German, and Japanese,
and has no idea that it's special
photo by Yoshimi Tabata

The light in the waterfall valley was really rich on this mostly-cloudy day...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 34mm — ¹/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Splash of Sun

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Canopy

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 130mm — ¹/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 720 — map & image data — nearby photos
Standouts

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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Twisty
more of the vines mentioned on “Beyond The Staircase Ruins”

In a project with the boys that would have certainly met with my own mom's approval, Yoshi turned a haphazard stream into a series of pretty steps...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 150mm — ¹/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1800 — map & image data — nearby photos

After the lucky success of the lens flare in last week's “This Evening’s Sunset in Kyoto” I tried it on purpose here, but it fell flat...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/30 sec, f/6.3, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Snooooze

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 10000 — map & image data — nearby photos
One of the Many Statues
surrounding the falls

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 10000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heading Home
perhaps checking out Nicolas' Bug

京都市の空也滝で良いレンスを無くしませんでしたか？今日、拾った。あなたのものだったら、詳しい情報と一緒に連絡して下さい。

While we were there, I found a pretty nice lens tucked in a weather-protected spot (tucked so well that perhaps that's why the owner walked off without it). I've put notes in English and Japanese on Facebook and Google Plus about it, but I may as well mention it here as well... if it's your lens, contact me with the particulars.

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Olympus E-P2 + Leica 25/F1.4 at an effective 50mm — ¹/100 sec, f/3.5, ISO 160 — map & image data — nearby photos
Me Sporting a Uniqlo “Dry T”
the other evening at a roof-top beer/BBQ garden
photo by Nicolas Joannin

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago in “Going Max Cliché While Learning About Off-Camera Flash”, I've recently gotten into fairly good shape, having lost more weight than I knew I needed to. It feels great, but means all my clothes have become extra frumpy. They were frumpy to begin with, and only got worse as I lost weight.

私は背が高いので、日本では服の買い物はあんまり出来ませんけれども、ユニクロの「ドライカラーＶネックＴ」は最近の僕にぴったり。濡れたらすぐ乾くて気持ち良い、京都の暑い夏のおすすめです。

At 192cm (~6'4”) I can't easily buy clothes in Japan — even short-sleeve shirts generally don't fit quite right — but I found a T-shirt that I really like, and it's become my new summer uniform.

It's the Uniqlo V-Neck Dry Color T, a simple T-shirt in a variety of colors made from a thin fabric that drys very quickly, so even if you get sweaty (as you will do in Kyoto's relentless summer heat and humidity), it doesn't feel particularly uncomfortable, and when you return to the shade or indoors, you find yourself dry (and unexpectedly fresh) in no time.

A real bargain at an after-tax price of just ¥500 (US $6.40).

In an ongoing effort to try to feel more comfortable in front of the camera and in sharing those results, I'll share some shots of me in these shirts. I've got them in a bazillion colors, but it seems that I happen to have shots of me in only white and gray, from various recent outings with Nicolas Joannin.

Olympus E-P2 + LUMIX G VARIO 14-45/F3.5-5.6 at an effective 28mm — ¹/1600 sec, f/3.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos At the Kajuji Temple (勧修寺)
photo by Nicolas Joannin

I think the outing that produced “Kyoto’s Kajuji Temple In Summer: Alive” was the first time I wore one in the hot sun, and it worked great.

Olympus E-P2 + LUMIX G VARIO 45-200/F4-5.6 at an effective 90mm — ¹/2500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
photo by Nicolas Joannin

Olympus E-P2 + LUMIX G VARIO 45-200/F4-5.6 at an effective 122mm — ¹/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
( I like this shot for showing how the Kajuji Temple lets you get into the thick of things )
photo by Nicolas Joannin

From last week's most delicious outing to a rooftop beer garden and all-you-can-eat BBQ (I've been three times this summer... I blog about it here)...

Olympus E-P2 + Leica 25/F1.4 at an effective 50mm — ¹/100 sec, f/3.5, ISO 160 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mixed Bag
at least the shirt is not bad
photo by Nicolas Joannin

Olympus E-P2 + Leica 25/F1.4 at an effective 50mm — ¹/25 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
In Animated Discussion
photo by Nicolas Joannin

One evening recently I took Nicolas and his wife up to Shogunzuka where I often go in hopes of a nice sunset (most recently seen in “Anatomy of a Nice Kyoto Sunset”).

Olympus E-P2 — ¹/60 sec, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Trying to Gauge the Sky
photo by Nicolas Joannin

Olympus E-P2 — ¹/60 sec, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Chatting
photo by Nicolas Joannin

Olympus E-P2 — ¹/30 sec, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Waiting
photo by Nicolas Joannin

Wait I did, and with no reward for it. As I mentioned in “This Evening’s Sunset in Kyoto” and most every time I write about sunsets, I often head up there only to leave empty handed. But this particular evening was particularly unphotogenic.... much worse even than in “Bland Sunset Over Kyoto: They Can’t All Be Amazing”....

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 110mm — ¹/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 160 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/400 sec, f/14, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Unceremonious
ending of the day

Anyway, back to the shirts... if you're in Japan or The States or wherever Uniqlo sells, and it's often hot and muggy, their “Dry” line is highly recommended.

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Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 3200 — image data
Clumped

Geez, where has the time gone!? Time seems to evaporate when researching stuff, and for the last several days I've had my head buried in setting up a big data-backup system at home and in the cloud (something I'm sure I'll post about soon).

Anyway, it's been a week since I posted the Bendy-Line “What am I?” Quiz where many people answered “paper”, and yes, it's paper, but there's a more expressive (dare I say “richer”?) answer....

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/4, ISO 6400 — image data
Ragged

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1600 — image data
Sharp

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1600 — image data
Dreamy

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1000 — image data
Wads
each wad of one hundred 10,000-yen bills is worth about US $13,000

Earlier this year I was given access to a huge pile of cash — ¥7,000,000 (about US $91,000) — though sadly that access was only photographic and not of the spendy kind. Still, I enjoy photographic opportunities wherever I can get them, and this one was definitely new and unlikely to be repeated.

７００万円現金。 私の写真ですが、残念ながら、私のお金ではない.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1250 — image data
Brick of Cash
7,000,000 Japanese yen, about US $91,000

The stack has 700 ten-thousand-yen (~$130) banknotes, each which of which carries the portrait of Yukichi Fukuzawa (福澤 諭吉), who played an important role both in the founding of modern Japan, and in forging early US-Japan relations, among very much else. A fitting selection for the honor of gracing the highest-denomination Japanese banknote.

And just for fun, for those materialistic moments, a couple of desktop backgrounds...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1100 — image data

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Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 720 — image data

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The other day I posted “This Evening's Sunset in Kyoto”, a photo that I really like of yet another not-too-bad Kyoto sunset, taken from the Shogunzuka overlook (将軍塚) that I often visit in hopes of a nice sunset.

As the proximity-search “nearby photos” link under that photo (and those below) shows, I post lots of shots taken from up there, most recently “A Typhoon Makes for a Good Sunset (But It’s Me That Makes It Great)” a month and a half ago, and a week before that, “Bland Sunset Over Kyoto: They Can’t All Be Amazing”.

I've been up a dozen times since then, with little or nothing much to show for it until the day before yesterday's sunset, which was certainly nice, but sadly it wasn't on par with the greatest sunset I'd ever seen, but nice is still nice, so I'm happy.

Usually I have hope but little expectation, but yesterday's late-afternoon sky was encouraging...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looks Extremely Promising
to the trained eye

The important points here in my theory is that the cloud cover is high, and breaks up toward the western horizon. For a burning sky you want solid cloud cover to be lit from below, which can happen just at/after sunset if the far western horizon is clear. An hour before sunset looked promising, so I drove up, and half an hour before sunset I took the shot above, and it still looked promising.

The guy with the powerful binoculars is a fixture up there, and apparently quite the conversationalist. As people come and go, he's always engaging folks in conversation in such a way that few people leave quickly... without exception they genuinely seem to enjoy his conversation and the things he points out with his binoculars. I've seen him dozens of times, and made my greetings when we're the only two there, but even when we're the only two there, he's never spoken a word to me. Odd.

Anyway, back to the unfolding sunset...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 86mm cropped — ¹/1600 sec, f/4.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Proverbial Silver Lining
23 minutes before sunset

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 90mm — ¹/400 sec, f/11, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sun Appears a Bit

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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/400 sec, f/9, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Final Rays

Here again, in its place in the chronology, is the photo from the nice-sunset post the other day...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos

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A friend told me yesterday that he didn't care for this photo, and I instinctively felt that it's likely for exactly the same can't-put-your-finger-on-it reason that I really like it. It's got a certain too-good-to-be-true travel-brochure look that in this case appeals to me, but I can understand some folks being somehow turned off by it.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/2500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nite Nite Mr. Sun

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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 175mm — ¹/400 sec, f/10, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Behind the Mountains
still seven minutes before sunset

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/250 sec, f/10, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Storms Brewing to the West

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/400 sec, f/10, ISO 5000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Starting To Get Good
at nominal sunset

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/400 sec, f/7.1, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Five Minutes After Sunset

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Gathered Crowd

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 105mm — ¹/400 sec, f/4.5, ISO 2000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Slowly Turning Pink
before turning gray then black

The next day's sunset (yesterday's) was also nice, made all the more so because I experienced it from a roof-top beer garden with friends (and my camera, of course), so perhaps we'll see it here as well if any of the photos came out...

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So the Curiosity Rover just landed successfully on Mars.

In the type of scene that Norman Rockwell would have painted, Anthony and I watched live.... “live”, except that it took 14 minutes for data to travel across space at the speed of light from Mars to the United States, then another second or so to make the trip halfway around the Earth to our house in Kyoto.

My laptop with the live video stream was on the dining-room table while Anthony huddled nearby and I watched from across the sink as I stood in my underwear doing the dishes in the kitchen.

We had watched NASA's “Seven Minutes of Terror” animation that described the incredibly complex method used to land the large car-sized rover safely and without raising a huge dustball, so we knew the basic milestones, and could cheer with Mission Command each time a milestone success was announced. “We are under powered flight” got me choked up a bit, as the probability that it would work even if it got that far seemed pretty small. The whole contraption was under powered flight for only a short time as it got to within a five-story building's height above the surface, then in a “skycrane” maneuver, the powered craft lowered the car-like rover gently to the surface before the rover cut loose and the powered craft blasted itself clear.

When I first heard about this planed landing method, I mentioned it to someone who replied “That has too many moving parts to ever work”. That's was a reasonable observation, I thought, until I happened to have watched the 1998 HBO miniseries “From the Earth to the Moon” with Anthony while he was in the hospital last month, and realized the amazing complexity of the “lunar-orbit rendezvous” method used by the Apollo missions 30+ years ago, which actually did work.

It's all rocket science to me... but Author Clark's third law certainly holds true: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Minutes after landing, the rover sent back a tiny thumbnail image:

It's not much — one can apparently see the edge of a wheel, showing that the rover is right-side-up — but a million things had to work perfectly over the last eight months for it to have been sent and received successfully, so in that sense it's truly amazing.

(Forty minutes later, Anthony has already made his first LEGO mimic of the lander.)

Here's a larger version of that first image that came in later:

today's xkdc comic