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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1250 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nice Smile
My recent coverage of the traditional Japanese Archery event described last week in “Total Discipline: Anatomy of a Japanese Archer’s Shot” has so far covered mostly the guys (such as with the previous post, “More Badass Japanese Archery”), but there were about as many gals as guys.
Most of the time I was at the event was while the guys were shooting, so when I was out and about in the greater temple area, the women were in preparation mode. They were plentiful and very, very colorful.
The guy's wardrobe was pretty standard across the 1,000 who participated, and was elegant in is simplicity. For me, that matched well with the art/discipline of Japanese archery and Japanese cultural history. The ladies, on the other hand, were decked out in a sometimes over-the-top way that I expect most would not see again in their lifetime, except perhaps on their wedding day.
Unlike what's worn on the coming-of-age holiday, the outfits seen today are not kimono, but instead are a kind of hakama specific to archery. Men's traditional formal wear is usually hakama, and they can sometimes be quite colorful (especially for children, as seen here), but are more often fairly subdued in color but rich in detail. You can see a bit of what goes into it on this post.
The level of gaudiness didn't rise to that seen each year on the Coming-of-Age national holiday (a holiday to celebrate those that have become legal adults — reached 20 years old — in the past year), but at times it was still pretty heavy.
As I wrote in the “total discipline” post, this event was primarily a rite-of-passage occasion for those same young adults who had turned 20 in the previous year, but only if they had earned the right by advancing to a high enough rank in the art/sport/discipline of Japanese archery.
As I roved around with my lens, it tended to be drawn toward the more reserved (less gaudy) looks among the crowd, but this post is a smattering of all kinds of shots, including some that I just like the vibe of.
I would have missed most of these because after being driven out by the ridiculous crowd at the shooting range, I would have gone home but stuck around because Kyoto friend Nicolas Joannin (he from my “Rained out at the Fushimi Castle” post) had messaged me that he was on his way.
When he arrived, I waited outside the staging area while he checked out the shooting area...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Staging Area
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Keeping In Touch
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Too Slow
I was too slow to keep up with the lady walking by
but I somehow like the result anyway
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hamming It Up
for Nicolas, who had by this time returned
Nicolas had retreated from the scrum at the shooting range and joined me in the staging area, and had been taking a photo of the girl practicing her motions when she noticed him and added a big smile. You can see the shot he got here, along with his others from the day. He got some very nice results. (He also got a picture of me.)
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Post-Performance Call
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1250 sec, f/2, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Helping Hands
I can't say that some of the heavier makeup and accessories were always my cup of tea, especially when so many are gathered at once, but it was certainly photogenic, and I enjoyed the experience.
Next, we'll see these same ladies switch to serious mode, shooting a lethal weapon on the firing range. And when I say “lethal”, I'm not kidding. I saw one of these arrows pierce all the way through 3" of hard bamboo at 60 meters.
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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 + 1.4X TC @ 420mm — 1/2500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Serious Badass Look
During the Japanese-Archery event last week that I've been posting about, after the 2,000+ young adults did their thing, a few dozen instructors also got to shoot. I don't know how they were chosen to participate... perhaps it's only the instructors of the kids who hit the target?
Anyway, as last week's “Total Discipline: Anatomy of a Japanese Archer's Shot” describes, the goal is not simply to hit the target, but in mental and physical perfection with each step, akin to how the whole tea-ceremony thing not really being about having something to drink.
So, while on the shooting platform, some of the archers got into an intense mode, and the guy in today's post was even more intense than the instructor seen earlier in “Traditional Archery Like a Boss”. I noticed his intensity immediately, and tracked him with the camera more than the others.
(I was shooting the 300mm f/2 with a 1.4x TC with a monopod while standing on a chair among a bustling crowd, so these aren't all that sharp, but they're better than I expected.)
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 + 1.4X TC @ 420mm — 1/2500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
First Look
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 + 1.4X TC @ 420mm — 1/2500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 + 1.4X TC @ 420mm — 1/2500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Preparing the Second Arrow
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 + 1.4X TC @ 420mm — 1/2500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Stance
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 + 1.4X TC @ 420mm — 1/2500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2800 — map & image data — nearby photos
More Intensity
Usually you see no reaction whatsoever to their shot, so unless you watch the arrow's flight you have no idea as a spectator whether they hit the target, but I know he did because he came back later for the playoffs to determine the overall winner. (It's not the main point of Japanese archery as a discipline, but there is a “sport” aspect to it, so they do determine and announce winners.)
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Playoff Arrow
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Final Round
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 2800 — map & image data — nearby photos
All Done
slipping their arms back into the sleeves of their hakama
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Accepting the Return of His Arrow
to signify his third-place finish
I didn't quite follow how the playoffs went, but I believe the “Final Round” was actually to determine second place — I was never able to figure out who won first place — and the three seen above were the runners up My guy was 3rd, while the like-a-boss guy at right was second.
As I said, I was immediately drawn to the guy's intense presence, and he seemed to be the epitomy of a certain kind of traditional Japanese samurai masculinity. It was very cool to see.
But beyond that, something seemed oddly familiar about him that I couldn't place until I got home and looked at the pictures, and it hit me that he's the Japanese reincarnation of Geoff Ralston, a VP at Yahoo! from back in the day. It's probably been a decade since I talked to Geoff, but this intense archer really reminded me of him. (Geoff could be intense as well, in a good way; I sometimes had friction with Yahoo! management, but I recall Geoff being top notch all around.)
Any other Yahoo! alumni see the resemblance, or is it just me?
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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Impromptu Photo Op
“say, that gives me an idea...”
Continuing with the rite-of-passage Japanese-archery event I've been posting about (第62回 三十三間堂大的全国大会) , after being driven out by the oppressive crowds at the shooting range, I spent some time with the more-manageable crowds in the greater temple compound.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Textures
wood and stone
I took the three shots above before having ventured into the scrum at the shooting range, but after coming out I broke out the Nikkor 300mm f/2 lens for some experimentation. (With its all-manual 7kg ultra-thin depth-of-field, any use on my part is “experimentation”.)
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1250 sec, f/2, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pause
eastern edge of the Sanjusangendo Temple, Kyoto Japan
The entire eastern side of the temple property is a 500-foot-long covered-and-columned walkway in brilliant vermilion, so it offered great photogenic opportunities, though there was some challenge in having to zoom with my feet with the heavy lens and all my stuff.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1250 sec, f/2, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Spoiler
lady with fuzzy boots ruins the artsy out-of-focus vibe I was going for
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1250 sec, f/2, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mercifully Stationary
Considering the rich depth of the scene (and the thin depth of the lens), these kind of shots were the obvious low-hanging fruit to try, but it's hard enough for me to focus this lens on a stationary subject, so it was all the more demanding when someone walked directly toward the camera.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Helping me Practice
I didn't really feel comfortable with the focus (and wondered whether I needed to test the accuracy of my focus screen), so spent some time really concentrating on trying to hit focus without worrying about composition so much....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1250 sec, f/2, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Not Too Bad
focusing on the eye
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Missed Call
I was going for the eye of the yellow peep, but got the blue hamburger thing
They were part of a group getting ready to pose for a photo...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Group Photo at 300mm
maybe a bit wider focal length would have made things easier
Somehow they noticed me, and some posed just for me...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Smile Just For Me
They seemed quite interested in having me take their picture, so the photographer in me wanted to do it right; despite having 20kg worth of gear, I quickly zoomed with my feet (moved) so that I could frame the opportunity just right, concentrating on that which was most important....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/4000 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Updated Framing
from my detached, purely aesthetic point of view
Some of the guys, being guys (like this, and this), hammed it up for me...
The guy in the center is the same as in “Not Too Bad” above.
There were 2,132 twenty-year-olds in their formal archery hakama, along with ample family, friends, and spectators, so there was more than enough to keep me occupied.
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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Right This Way
path leading to the archery viewing area
annual archery rite of passage at the Sanjusangendo Temple
Kyoto Japan
In my post yesterday about Japanese archery, I concentrated on the short moment each of the 2,000+ archers got during Sunday's day-long event (第62回 三十三間堂大的全国大会) at the Sanjusangendo Temple. Except in the world of calm and concentration that they brought with them for that moment on the shooting platform, the event was an absolute madhouse, with way too many people packed into way too small an area, funneled through an even thinner bottleneck entrance path connecting the archery area with the main temple grounds.
It was absolutely ridiculous, and at one point early on I felt so bad for friends and family of the archers, who had essentially no chance to see their loved one, that I left so as to ease the crowd by one.
The event was scheduled to start at 9am and run until about 3 or 4 in the afternoon, with about 1,100 men (ranked archers who had turned 20 years old during the past year) going first, switching to similarly ranked/aged women somewhere around noon.
I arrived before 10am and wandered around a bit before I found the path to the main-event archery area.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
First View
leading to the shooting and viewing areas
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 190mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lots'a Bows
Eventually I made my way through the solid mass of humanity to where I could actually catch a glimpse of an archer in action, a glimpse possible only because I'm quite a bit taller than average...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos
First View
of an archer in action, possible only because I'm much taller than average
In the naïveté of a first-time attendee, I moved further down range in hopes of finding a thinner crowd, but to no avail...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
From Mid Range
again enjoying the “benefits” of height, slim as they were
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Targets and Indicators
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Half of a Batch
archers came in waves of 12 men each
When a group of a dozen archers was given the platform, each progressed through his two arrows as I described yesterday, independently (and likely not even aware) of the others, though long and related training left a loosely-shared rhythm to the group.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/320 sec, f/6.3, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
About a third or so of the guys choose to slip their left arm out of their formal hakama costume for the shoot, though I don't know whether it's for less distraction or simply to look baddass. In any case, it certainly had that latter effect, but sadly it was not a custom shared by the ladies when they followed later in the day. 😉
One of the three archers at the blue position above seems to have scored a full bull's-eye:
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/320 sec, f/6.3, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Someone Hit the Mark
Eventually I gave up trying to find position downrange and headed back toward the exit, but along the way I paused directly adjacent to the shooting platform (where, if you could actually see the archers, you could look down the row of archers for an interesting view. I had incredible luck to happen upon a spot next to a tree just as a couple decided to extract themselves, and combining a raised bump in the tree root, tippy toes, and my height, I could sometimes get a semi-clear shot...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 190mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
In Sync
The tree itself was plastered with “Don't Climb!” signs, which is good because if it weren't I'm sure the crowd would have destroyed it...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/320 sec, f/6.3, ISO 2000 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Don't Climb the Tree!”
Anyway, with a position that held some promise even though I was fairly far in the back, I started playing with different techniques, since I was almost perfectly in line with them, I had few options beyond the closest archer at the end of the row. Still, I tried various things...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Selective Focus
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 125mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 105mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 105mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
I like that last one, but this experience was wholly unsatisfying as both a photographer and as a spectator, and I was growing fairly disgusted especially when I could hear friends and parents comment to themselves that they couldn't even see whether their loved one was up yet.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 105mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 105mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Staredown
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
View of the Targets
Again a spot opened up slightly and I could get onto the rise of the tree root at the base of the trunk, and with comical stretching I could get tighter shots...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
It was at this point that I got the sequence in yesterday's post.
I wanted to stay until the women started shooting, but by this point I was ready to give up. I had brought my 300mm f/2 and a stool to stand on, with the hope of capturing something unique, but with the crowd there was no way I could bring out a lens that big, and even if I could, I'd feel to selfish doing so.
I stuck around for another wave or two before leaving...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 150mm — 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 190mm — 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 190mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 190mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Disappointed, I left the archery area and made my slow way through the bottleneck toward the relatively open of the wider temple grounds.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Common Sight
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 175mm — 1/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ladies Starting to Assemble
It turns out that it gets substantially less crowded later in the day, but I'll leave that for another post.
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This post is of interest only to Lightroom plugin developers.
Round about Lightroom 3.2, Adobe added support for intercepting “lightroom://” URLs, but have not documented it yet, so I'll do so here. It's particularly useful as part of an OAuth-authentication procedure.
What
You can have your plugin automatically respond to certain “lightroom://” URLs if they are formatted correctly, and if you add appropriate support to your plugin.
URL Form
After registering the appropriate handler in you plugin, as described below, the handler will be invoked when your system browser receives a URL of the form:
The “your.plugin.id” is the LrToolkitIdentifier in Info.lua. For example, the id for my Flickr plugin is “info.regex.lightroom.export.flickr2”, so it can be set to handle URLs such as:
lightroom://info.regex.lightroom.export.flickr2?this=blah&that=blah
lightroom://info.regex.lightroom.export.flickr2#foobar
etc.
How
Create a .lua file that returns a table along the lines:
return {
URLHandler = function(url)
-- The url string sometimes actually have a double quote as
-- the first and last byte, so strip just in case.
url = url:gsub('^"(.*)"$', "%1")
-- Work with url here....
.
.
.
end }
Wrapping the function in a one-element table seems like an odd level of indirection, but that's how it works.
You then add a reference to that file in your Info.lua, as “URLHandler”. If the file is named “MyUrlHandler.lua”, for example, the reference in Info.lua would look like:
return {
LrToolkitIdentifier = "info.regex.lightroom.export.flickr2",
LrPluginName = "jf Flickr",
LrPluginInfoUrl = "https://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/flickr",
LrSdkVersion = 3.4,
LrSdkMinimumVersion = 3.4,
.
.
.
.
URLHandler = "MyUrlHandler.lua",
}
Within the URLHandler function, you can access parts of the URL (e.g. in an OAuth situation, the token) and stuff into global variables, and perhaps shut down a dialog that had been open by calling LrDialogs.stopModalWithResult(...).
That last bit seems to be unfortunately necessary... I've found that the handler is not properly invoked in some rare OS/browser combinations, so I feel that to cover all my bases, the plugin must open a dialog to tell the user to paste in their token; if the handler ends up working, the plugin can immediately shut down that dialog so the user is not bothered with it. Usually, that's exactly what happens, and it happens so quickly that the user never even sees the dialog.
I don't think Adobe's plugins do this, so maybe the problem has been on my end, but I thought I'd mention it because this is what my plugins do.