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Here are a few final photos from the Ikebana show that I talked about the other day. As I wrote then, the works are just lined up on folding tables right in front of unappealing backdrops, so it's not a great situation for photography....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/100 sec, f/3.5, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Commodities on a Shelf
... under mixed lighting...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/640 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wider View
... in a crowd...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/500 sec, f/1.4, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Photo Op
Nevertheless, here are some shots showing a variety of ikebana works and details. Not all are my cup of tea, but I like many of them....
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
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Looking over photos from the Ikebana show I mentioned yesterday, I came across this shot with not a single thing in focus, but somehow I really like its mood. The closest edge is the least out of focus, but everything being out of focus makes the whole thing seem dreamy. I tend to be partial to the “sliver of focus” effect (as seen here, here, here, and here), but this takes it even further by having the “in focus” part not even in focus. It's almost like a painting.
This has only a little post processing, in Lightroom. I set the white
balance, adjusting the exposure and blacks, and tweaked the crop, but
otherwise it's “as loaded”. In particular, this doesn't use any
“negative clarity” in Lightroom, as described in “Funky Joy With
Adobe Lightroom” and used, for example, in the first photo here. All the creaminess
in this shot is directly from the Voigtländer 125mm's delicious bokeh and my
dumb luck inspired skill in
composition.
With the way the edge comes close to focus but doesn't quite get there, and how it grabs your attention and leads it back to the defocused areas.... somehow I think there's a deep lesson in composition here, but I'm not able to put my finger on exactly what it is. In any case, I really like the shot and will probably frame a print of it for my wall.
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Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1800 — map & image data — nearby photos
In one sense, photographing an ikebana display can be like shooting fish in a barrel or hunting game in a zoo... everything is sitting right before you just waiting for you to point and click, but on the other hand, having to choose what to photograph — how to frame it, from what angle... how to expose it, where to focus it, and how thin or thick to set the depth of field — raises things to a whole new artistic challenge. Offer the same floral arrangement in the same situation to 10 good photographers, and I'd guess you'd come up with 10 utterly different results, as each “sees” something different.
As I have for the last several years, I went to an annual ikebana show that some friends display their work in. I first posted about it four years ago here and here, and then again last year here and here. Those posts give a good idea for the feeling of the ikebana show (which, incidentally, is not a good place to see ikebana because each ikebana display is intended for a specific setting, and it's unlikely that any are intended for the mood of a bare folding table with a dozen others under mixed incandescent/fluorescent light in a large conference room).
Here are some random shots of detail from the kids' displays, followed by snapshots of the whole arrangements for reference...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
( this one creamified a bit with Lightroom's “negative clarity”, as described here )
And now, in the same order as they appear above, the full-arrangement snapshots...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1800 — map & image data — nearby photos
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As I mentioned the other day in “More From the Rice Harvest”, I made a quick trip back on Monday to the farming villages that I'd visited the week before to offer prints to the nice farmer lady I'd had the pleasure to chat with.
On the way there, I went through the tiny village with the wind-damaged rice crop seen here. All that rice had now been harvested...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/640 sec, f/8, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Harvested
farm from last week with the wind-whipped rice
I was shocked at how the color of the spider lilies had changed. Just a week earlier, they were deeply powerful red (as seen here), but now they were starting to look washed out...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/1600 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Spider Lily
with decidedly washed-out color
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/8000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Spider Lilies By The Side of the Road
with a farmer tidying up a harvested rice field in the background
Turning around from this point to look up the road a bit, I noticed a small side path that led to a cluster of perhaps three houses (it's a small village, with a total of about four houses). The building at the corner is for storage, and I'd driven by a number of times without even noticing it, and what a shame that is... just look at its foundation...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/5000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
On Reclaimed Land
storage building on what used to be a steep slope
These days this kind of foundation would be built with cinder block, or perhaps rusty iron legs fronted by corrugated metal. Ugh. As it is, it's just beautiful.
Stepping up the path a bit, the view continues much the same into the maze of paths serving what's up there: a few houses and their respective barns and storage buildings, and a small temple.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/2000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Side Street
a boring shot at first glance, but there's a lot of character to be found here
The wall provided a home for a big black/yellow/red spider...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/4, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Common Mountain Friend
Seems to be Joro Spider (ジョロウグモ, Nephila clavata)
These spiders, which can be several inches across, are everywhere in the mountains around here. We saw a bazillion of them last month at the Fushimi Inari Shrine, and any time I venture beyond the edge of the city. They're apparently harmless to humans, and good for gardens.
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/4, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Still Connected
Moving up the path a bit, another wall with character...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/640 sec, f/3.5, ISO 720 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wall #2
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/1000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
View From The Temple
the house in the far distance is that of the wind-whipped rice
I eventually continued on my way for the short distance over the pass into Nara Prefecture, to the village with the lady I was looking for. Most of the rice was now harvested, and for some reason the old dry stocks were formed into various decorative patterns...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Huge Rice “Hut”?
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/2500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Rice-Plant Trees?
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/4000 sec, f/2.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nice Country Scene
When I got to the cluster of a few dozen houses, I got off my scooter with the intent to show her photo around to find her, but lo and behold, she just happen to be walking by at that very moment, pushing a wheelbarrow on her way to her garden...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/3200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Commuting to Work
I didn't want to bother her much so left her with the photos and my thanks, but she invited me to stop by again sometime, and I'm sure I will.
Earlier in the day, on the way at the edge of the city before diving into the mountains, I came across a nice house with deep-grained wood siding that was at right angles to where the sun was at the moment, leaving the edges of the highest grain in bright sunlight, and the rest in shadow. I thought it might make an interesting desktop-background image....
Around the corner, the wall facing directly into the sun...
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Like many eagerly awaiting an iPhone 5 announcement, I was disappointed the other day when Apple announced the iPhone 4s. In thinking about the logical response to my disappointment, asking “would I have been happier had they named the new phone iPhone 5?” the answer is “no” because bumping up the number from 4 to 5 implies a revolution of some sort, and that's not present in the newly-announced phone.
“So what kind of new revolutionary features were you hoping for?” you might ask, and I think the answer is telling about why Apple is the success it is: I was looking forward not to some specific bell or whistle that I already knew I wanted, but to the features that I didn't even know I wanted, would probably not be interested in when first hearing about them, but like so many steps along the way since the iPod, after a year won't know how I could have lived without them. That's Apple's genius.
And though it may not be popular to say something unkind about Steve Jobs these days, while it's true he's a genius beyond modern compare, I have never been able to forget the story of how he shirked his responsibility as a man... as a decent human... in not taking responsibility for the first child he fathered. He impregnated his girl, then walked away with a “not my problem”. This was not a momentary lapse in judgment during a moment of panic.... he spent years actively being a jerk to mother of his child, and I think it's deeply telling about what kind of man he was.
In design and business he's an unmitigated genius, but not so much on the personal-ethics front. I can appreciate his good points, but the unadulterated praise saturating the web seems universal in trying to canonize him for sainthood. He was a man, and like all men, he had failings. (All women have failings as well, with the exception of my wife, mother, and mother-in-law, of course.)