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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Unfazed by the Transit

Last week during the transit of Venus, I took the opportunity to check out the astronomical observatory I've seen for years on a nearby mountain. I've always wanted to visit... I was deeply into astronomy as a teenager, going so far as to start to grind a mirror for an 8" reflector telescope I intended to build, when it all got left behind after seeing a computer for the first time.

Anyway, I still have interest, so I decided to take a hike up there to check the place out. On the way I snapped a few photos...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 110mm — ¹/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Restaurant Entrance

The last time I posted something from this entrance (here), it seems that I captioned it identically, so I guess I don't have much imagination other than that this is... well... the entrance to a restaurant.

The path gets steep even while still in the city streets, so the middle of the streets have steps for pedestrians, while the non-middle areas are left drivable....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos
Steps in the Middle of the Street

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 170mm — ¹/2500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nice View of the Main Gate
of the Heian Shrine

I took the trail up to Shogunzuka (where I often go to try to get a nice sunset, as I did the other day). It's mostly quite mild hiking (like this), but early on is very steep for a short while...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Steep Switchbacks

Still, it's nothing like the Mt. Hiei hike that I tried the other day. The most intense three minutes of this hike, if extended to a few hours, would be that hike.

Once you get up the initial steep area, it's pretty mild...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120mm — ¹/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nature Field Trip

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Be Careful at Night

I came up through the Shogunzuka area at the top of the mountain, with its sweeping view of Kyoto, then took the road partially down the other side. Eventually one comes to a small side road....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Observatory Is That Way

... and then immediately finds something that definitely doesn't look like an observatory:

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 82mm — ¹/500 sec, f/10, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Impressive

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Just About The Most Polite Way
one can say “KEEP OUT”

I'm not 100% sure what this place is, but it's not a typical old Kyoto temple. I've heard enough to be wary of the folks involved, so I did not venture in. But if they (whoever they are) intended a gorgeous face projecting power and wealth, they achieved their goal.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/500 sec, f/14, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Building On The Other Side
of the street

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 135mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Simple Veranda

Not much further along the road and we're at the decidedly less-spectacular entrance to the observatory.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 86mm — ¹/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Observatory Entrance
With a somewhat less polite “KEEP OUT” in the background

Walking further along the road, eventually I get my first close-up glimpse of a building I've seen many times from afar...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 160mm — ¹/4000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Thar She Blows

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 110mm — ¹/2500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Informal Observation
in the waiting area

They had by-reservation-only tour groups going through, but seeing as I didn't need a place on the shuttle bus and I was already there, they kindly allowed me to participate.

The little telescope seen above gave a remarkably good view of the sun, and even more remarkable was what I was able to get when I shoved my iPhone up to the eyepiece:

iPhone 4S at an effective 35mm — ¹/120 sec, f/2.4, ISO 80 — map & image data — nearby photos
Taken with my iPhone
peering into the eyepiece of the small telescope in the photo above

Everyone was pretty shocked at how well it worked, and I was soon pressed into “take one using my cell phone” service. It's quite difficult to get the alignment right by hand, and I couldn't do it for some, but it was nice to try to be of service.

On the tour, we saw various things around the observatory's many buildings, including the walk-in (literally) solar telescope....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Primary Mirror
of a complex walk-through solar telescope

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 78mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Secondary Mirror
being explained

Sunlight naturally hits the primary mirror, which reflects it up to the secondary mirror. Both mirrors can adjust their angle to match the movement of the earth, so the light coming off the secondary mirror is always beamed straight into the main telescope housing...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Inside the Solar Telescope

The light hits a couple of other mirrors within the telescope, the details of which I didn't quite get, but it's eventually beamed across a hall to a small collector which feeds it into another room where they can hook up instruments and cameras and such. For the tour, they had a piece of paper placed in front of the collector as a projection screen, so we could see the nicely formed image.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Projection of the Sun
was really really really bright

It was really really really bright. I had to reduce the exposure by many stops just to keep the projection from blowing out.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Drive Wheel
on the primary mirror of the solar telescope
( I was thinking to use this for one of “What am I?” quizzes )

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Confusing
photo through the first mirror to the second mirror
with a fuzzy third and subsequent mirrors (and my head) reflected in the background

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120mm — ¹/3200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Telescopes Everywhere

The observatory has two domed buildings, the smaller of which we went in. It housed a pair of refracting telescopes (the straight look-through kind a pirate sea captain might have, but much bigger), with a bunch of complex-looking controls within reach...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 720 — map & image data — nearby photos
Complex

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/500 sec, f/4, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Electrical Transfer
for the rotating dome

This shows the answer to the Oh-So-Obvious “What am I?” Quiz the other day. The bright orange color was in stark contrast to the rest of the 81-year-old building.

One of the members of the tour was 13 years old when the building was finished. It was my pleasure to be able to assist her down the narrow steep banister-less stairs when we exited the observatory. At 94, she was still spry enough, mentally and physically, to want to come on the tour. At less than half her age, I can only wonder how I'll be if I make it that far.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Well-Oiled
the smallest gear was the size of an apple

iPhone 4S at an effective 35mm — ¹/40 sec, f/2.4, ISO 64 — map & image data — nearby photos
Parting Shot
in the waiting area

My main camera (Nikon D700) battery ran out at about this time, a first for me in many years of shooting to run out of battery (except when doing many long exposures, which drain the battery very quickly).

Lacking the ability to take photos on the way home, I made a nonstop hike home; it took about 40 minutes.

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200 Joules of Heartstopping (and restarting) Power
Philips Heartstart XL Defibrillator

My last two days have been an almost scene-for-scene repeat of the atrial fibrillation episode I had a year ago, written about in “A Good Day, Courtesy of Suntory and a Cute Cardiologist”, except that this time was much worse in the sense that the cardiologist was not cute.

It started yesterday morning, so last night I went to the hospital to pre-check the procedures, and this morning was there when they opened at 8:00, and by 11:30 I had had my electrocardiogram and by noon they were pumping Propofol into me:

Propofol
the magic sleeping milk

This time felt much different than last time... it came on much more slowly, and merely as a feeling of being tired and slightly drunk. I remember some conversation, and that I took a photo of the docs with my iPhone. And then I remember talking to a doc about whether I'm still feeling groggy. No memory at all of the 20 minutes in between.

I do have a vague feeling that the main doc preferred to have his face blocked out if I put the picture up on my blog, but it's so tentative a feeling that it might have just been a dream, but best not to take chances with other people's trust...

Docs Looking at a Groggy Me

Rest assured that he's a fine looking man, but the cute female cardiologist last year left a strong impression that's hard to beat. 🙂

Letting The Groggy Melt Away

To celebrate the lack of death, Fumie and I went to Togiya (とぎや or 十祇家) for dinner and plum wine. I'm partial to the Prucia mentioned at the top of their plum-wine list.

(Update: I was partial enough to eventually bring home a bottle, which besides being tasty is gorgeous)

Our favorite food is the tako karaage (basically, the octopus version of chicken nuggets), but everything there is tasty. The chef/owner has experience with Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and French cooking, so combines them all in odd but tasty ways.

Fruit Salad

It's hard enough to take good photos of food with pro equipment in a studio setting, so please excuse this afterthought iPhone shot. The salad was interesting because it mixed semi-frozen fruit bits like mango and orange, along with avocado and lettuce.

I took other photos, but they're just not worth sharing. I'll have to go back with better equipment some day. I'll need better excuses for why they didn't come out well, but they'll be better at least than this. And it'll be a good excuse for another glass of Prucia plum wine.

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/500 sec, f/11, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
What It Looked Like

I wandered up to Kyoto's Shogunzuka overlook (将軍塚) the other day where I can sometimes find nice sunsets (like this, and as in this amazing photo).

The cloud formations held great potential, but sadly, it manifest itself only in my imagination (and then in Lightroom)...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 102mm — ¹/1600 sec, f/11, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
What I Wish It Looked Like
(brought to you by some aggressive settings in Lightroom)

The place was empty except for one other photographer, who was similarly disappointed.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/500 sec, f/11, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
The Other Photographer

Nikon D3S + 80-200mm f/2.8 @ 80mm — ¹/250 sec, f/3.5, ISO 1600 — image data
Waiting For Something Nice
photo of me by the other photographer

She was a professional photographer, there on her free time in hopes of a nice sunset. At least we could chat while we waited to see whether anything developed. It turns out that she uses Lightroom, the first time I've run into someone on the street in Japan who uses it. (Adobe does a horrible... just horrible job of marketing Lightroom in this country.)

She didn't know what “plugins” were, so I pointed to the Japanese-language description at Adobe, something I'm pleased to find that they actually have now, and noted that five of the plugins highlighted on the page were mine (from among the 30+ I have on my Lightroom Goodies page).

I wondered for a bit why I didn't have a Japanese version of my own page, but then I realized that I can't even come close to keeping the English versions up to date, so that ended that internal conversation.

After a while the mosquitoes started getting aggressive and she took her leave, but I stuck around in hopes of the dynamic view you can sometimes get 30-45 minutes after sunset. I paid dearly in mosquito bites as I was eaten alive, even though I covered myself head-to-toe in bug spray.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/40 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Date

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/40 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Forty Minutes After Sunset
A touch of color, but not worth the mosquito bites

Not sure it was worth it, but if it is amazing, you won't get the shot if you're not there, so that's how it goes with most trips. I should report like this about the occasional non-wonderful sunset, lest I give the impression that Kyoto's has an amazing sunset every day. Most days are just normal blah, which is what makes the amazing ones amazing.

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 135mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Layer Upon Layer
mountains of northwest Kyoto, Japan

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This is sort of a followup to January's “Informal GPS Logger Test: iPhone 4s GPS is Shockingly Good” post about GPS and GLONASS loggers. We took a drive today in the mountains, and I took the opportunity for another informal test of location-logging technologies

Twisty

• Garmin eTrex 20 GPS + GLONASS dedicated logger.

• Dual® XGPS150 GPS-only bluetooth logger, recorded on an iPad with the Guru Maps app.

• Apple iPhone 4s (GPS + GLONASS) recorded via the GeoTagr app, which for some reason the company sent me for free out of the blue the other day (probably hoping for a mention just like this), so I thought I'd give it a try. It worked nicely, and the DropBox tracklog export was convenient.

• Google Latitude on my iPhone, via Google's Latitude app. The app has the same data available to it as the GeoTagr app (which is keeping the satellite antennas active), but Latitude works quite differently and ignores/loses almost all location information.

The general results were that the Garmin and Dual dedicated units were good, the iPhone dedicated app was okay, and Google Latitude was pathetic.

I recently added native Google Latitude support to my geoencoding-support plugin for Adobe Lightroom, so have been trying it in various conditions lately. Frankly, it's horrible... really really bad as a logger, and even worse than that when you might be out of cell-phone range... but I suppose it's better than nothing if it's all you've got.

During the drive, the Garmin unit recorded 18,338 data points (one per second).

The Dual® unit with the iPad app recorded 7,568 points, about one every 2½ seconds.

The GeoTagr app recorded 2,494 points, about one every 7⅓ seconds.

Google Latitude recorded 39 points, about one every eight minutes.

Lopped Off
but what's several kilometers among friends?

Google Latitude apparently doesn't use the GPS+GLONASS signal even when it's already there. It apparently doesn't try to keep too many data points in the first place, and just throws them away if it can't immediately contact Google servers. (Amid these complaints I should point out that I fully realize and appreciate that it's a cost-free service I'm also free not to use.)

Google Latitude is not really designed for this, and it shows, so it's best left as an emergency backup. Even in the city with excellent GPS and cell reception, it was pretty bad...

Zorro

The blip in the green iPhone track above is from when we were stopped at a traffic light. The iPhone seemed to really prefer moving, and tended to wander all over when actually stationary...

Convenience-Store Stop

We stopped for a longer time for a late lunch at the wonderful mountain cafe “Yama no Ie Hasegawa” (山の家はせがわ), presented here a year and a half ago. While we relaxed, the loggers were apparently running all over the place...

Lunch

Convincing Drift

The green iPhone track seems to pretty well match a set of roads, but the red (Dual) and orange (Garmin) tracks are correct.

Going and Coming
The green iPhone blips are likely pauses due to traffic

The real pleasure of the trip (from a mapping/location standpoint) was using the offline maps on my iPad with real-time tracking via the Dual® bluetooth unit that I was alerted to in a comment left on an earlier post. It was a pleasure to interact instantly on the huge iPad screen, even deep in the mountains far away from any Internet connectivity. (I just wish that Dual® had a name that wasn't a common English word, so that I could refer to it without having to add the “®” to make it clear I'm referring to a name. :-))

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Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Things are Looking Up
What am I?

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Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 3200 — map & image data — nearby photos
What, Exactly, am I ?
Intimately related to the image above

I don't normally have two photos on one of my “What am I?” quizzes, but then, I don't normally have two quizzes going at once. This one is even more obvious than the currently-outstanding “An Oh-So-Obvious “What am I?” Quiz” from a few days ago, at least if, like that one, you look at the image metadata, but these two snaps are perhaps good for a few moments of perplexity.

I also don't normally put industrial grunge for a desktop background, but I'm giving it a try with that top image, for a different vibe.

Anyway, what are these images of? As always, I'll keep comments hidden until I reveal the answer in a subsequent post.