icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Extremely Vivid
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/2500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Almost
got the butterfly in focus
In our second drive through the rural mountains of Uji City (Kyoto Prefecture, Japan) that I most recently wrote about the other day in “Pleasant Little Village in Uji, Part 2”, after leaving that village we wound our way north for half an hour (for what turned out to be only a mile and a half as the crow flies!) and had to stop when we came across some extremely vivid flowers at the end of someone's driveway.
I didn't realize it until I went to check the photo times between the village and these flowers, to see how long it took between, that the first photo on this post was actually the last photo I took back in the village... it just happened to be of the same kind of flower. Just as pretty in both places.
While we were hovering about the flowers with our cameras, I noticed an elderly lady doing chores by the house looking at us with a strong “what on earth?” look. I suspect she hadn't seen many tall white guys at the end of her driveway. I called out in a cheery voice that we appreciated that her flowers were so photogenic, and she came down and we chatted for a while. It turns out that someone from Scandinavia had lived nearby about 17 years ago; she gave his name and asked whether I knew him. 🙂 (I didn't)
It turns out that the next place over was a cafe, so we stopped in for lunch...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Inviting Sign
“Artist Sundries Shop · Stone-Kiln Pizza · Coffee · Lunch”
But sadly, being in the middle of nowhere, the cafe is open only on the weekend. They did have ice cream, so we availed ourselves of that...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Service With a Smile
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
we dubbed her
“Ice-Cream Girl”
The cafe is also the home and workshop of a lady who does various kinds of art, such as stained-glass windows and metal sculptures, and some outbuildings are other workshops for her and her students, one of which is ice-cream girl.
(We were intrigued enough to head back the next weekend to try the pizza, and had some Italian Fruit Pizza. It had various fruits, including bananas. It sounds disgusting, but was amazing to the point that I actually concentrated on it instead of the camera, so I have no photographic record.... a deficiency I intend to remedy.)
Like I said, it was the middle of nowhere, but there was a house across the way...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Across the Way
Inside the white triangle on the gable of the main building is the character for “water”. I'll have to ask what that might mean when I go back for more pizza.
Closer in toward the road, there was what appeared to be ruins of some sort, so yet another thing to ask about...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Remnants of Something
One of the shrubs in front of the cafe was positively glowing with spring green...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Touch Ethereal
icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2500 — full exif
Charge!
photo by Anthony
As I mentioned three months ago in “Anthony Lego World #27”, 8½-year-old Anthony likes to build complex scenes in LEGO™ (of which he has a lot). Recently he made a big Clone Wars battle scene. He took a bunch of pictures of it, as did I, then we went through and picked the ones he wanted to show. The captions are also his, for the most part.
Before the detail shots, here are a few I took to show the overall scene, with two opposing sides (clones vs. droids) separated by a bridged river and embankment...
Now come the rest of Anthony's shots. I think he did a great job, especially considering that he was using a full-frame Nikon D700 with vertical grip and 24-70 zoom... a huge combination!
Again, the captions are Anthony's...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 — full exif
Droid Scum
photo by Anthony
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 — full exif
Watchtower
photo by Anthony
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 720 — full exif
Getting Ready to Fly
with jetpacks, apparently
photo by Anthony
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1400 — full exif
Jedi Charging
photo by Anthony
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 — full exif
Cool Clone Getting Stormtrooper
who is attacking from behind
photo by Anthony
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 56mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2200 — full exif
Center of the Battle
photo by Anthony
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 56mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2000 — full exif
Bad Side
Clones on the Attack
photo by Anthony
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 3600 — full exif
Give This Clone a Hand!
The arm is gone and he's falling
( the subtitle is Anthony's... I added the title )
photo by Anthony
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1400 — full exif
Sergeant Leading Group
photo by Anthony
And now a few of mine with the Voigtländer 125mm (but still Anthony's captions)...
icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Bountiful Onion Harvest
In “Pleasant Little Village in Uji” last month, I showed photos from the edge of a small remote village in Uji City (Kyoto Prefecture, Japan) of maybe a dozen houses scattered about. Today's photos are from the other edge of the village...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Country Lane
bordered with firewood
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/6400 sec, f/2, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Roadside Weeds
Considering the similar shots in “Exquisite Beauty Growing Like a Weed by the Side of the Road” and “Scenes From Rural Japan: Mountain Village in Uji City” (both from a trip the week prior to the one that produced today's photos), I'm probably overdoing these a bit, but I like them and it's my blog, so here we are.
I came back later with the Voigtländer 125mm to visit the group of purple flowers...
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
One of the most interesting places for me was a house that almost looked like it was abandoned, but it still showed some signs of use, so it's probably owned by someone who visits only every so often for farming and to look after the place...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/1600 sec, f/6.3, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Old House
At the right you can see a red mailbox, but it's not the house's mailbox, but a public box for the village for sending letters out....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Public Mail Box
(The Japanese post office does not pick up mail during home delivery, so to send a letter, you must visit the post office or drop it off in one of the many public mail boxes sprinkled about.)
I'm at a loss to explain why there's a urinal immediately under it.
The part of the house facing the mailbox was a covered area with the main entrance and a bunch of other stuff, such as the bench with onions seen in the first photo. Among other items in that general vicinity....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mailbox
this one is for the house itself
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Piled Chaff
not far from the onions
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 720 — map & image data — nearby photos
Old Washing Machine
This'll bring back memories (at least if you lived in Japan long enough ago). I wonder whether they still make this kind. The larger compartment on the left is where the clothes would be washed, and when done, you'd move the whole sopping mess to the smaller compartment on the right (a small centrifuge) to get most of the water out before hanging to dry. It was more convenient than washing on a rock at a river, but only by a slim margin.
The side of the house was also interesting...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Side of the House
facing the road
I believe that the wooden shutter in the center of the photo opens up, to turn into a sun shade for a little window from which one can sell things (likely produce). I'd also guess that it predates vehicular traffic; the road ends 15 yards further down, which itself is off of another road that dead ends. But 100 years ago, a footpath to Otsu City may well have gone through this area.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Edge of the Wall
mud, twine, and bamboo
I can't imagine how a mud wall can stand up to the elements decade after decade after decade, but they do. Mostly.
More details of this kind of construction (though likely much more modern) can be seen in “Old House of Bamboo and Mud” from several years ago.
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/800 sec, f/4, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Dirt Wall
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Taking a Breather
Katsunori Shimada and Paul Barr take a break from the action
Strolling around a bit more, I came across a tree whose leaves thought it was fall... they were brilliantly orange-red...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/3200 sec, f/2, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Prepared for Winter
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/5000 sec, f/2, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Katsunori Shimada
and a roadside flower
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1600 sec, f/4, ISO 720 — map & image data — nearby photos
Caution Mirror
on the edge of a road-side storage building
Curvy roads often have large circular fisheye mirrors to help see traffic around a bend — you can see the back of one near the car in the “Taking a Breather” photo above, and in this old post as well — but sometimes people put little ones near their own driveway to help them pull out. It's difficult to imagine that this remote dead-end area could have enough traffic to justify the need, but apparently it did because the bent thing above used to be the backing for a private road-side mirror. I wonder what caused it to get bent like that. Maybe a delivery truck backed into it?
icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.
Photo by Mark Sirota
Internet acquaintance and Lightroom guru Mark Sirota recently posted a few of the most amazing fireworks shots I've ever seen, with a smooth richness that's just unearthly. The one shown above is his favorite, but I've got to say that mine would be the first or second in the slideshow.
Just wow.
icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — 1/125 sec, f/13, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Surrounded by Giants
Yesterday I posted a few pictures in Part 1 on a particularly photogenic ravine first seen in last week's “Scenes From Mountain Roads in Northern Kyoto”.
This post is a bunch more, mostly without comment.
First, again, here is the view from the road...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/320 sec, f/14, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
I climbed up into that for the rest of the pictures.
The trees aren't actually all that tall... maybe 25-30m (~7 or 8 stories tall), but they're plenty tall enough to awe.
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lush
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
These Fractal Plants
account for most of the green lushness
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 cropped — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Some Ferns as Well
this was a throw-away light-measuring shot, but I like how sharp the fern happened to come in
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tall
This next one isn't much in the thumbnail version, but it's quite something else when viewed full screen...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm cropped — 1/160 sec, f/5, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Begs to be Big
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Trunk
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/4, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Bed
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — 1/60 sec, f/13, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Overexposed
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — 1/125 sec, f/13, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Better Exposure; Less Compelling
but still not too bad
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — 1/125 sec, f/13, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looking Back
to the road
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looking Sideways
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 cropped — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looking Down!
Japan's most venomous snake
While heading back down, I came within a pace and a half of stepping on this guy, scaring myself half to death when I saw him below me. From his coiled reaction a moment later, I seem to have had a similar effect on him.
I didn't know what kind of snake he was, but I gave him a wide berth, and he slithered off. He was about two feet long.
It turns out that he's a dreaded mamushi pit viper (マムシ), which I didn't know to expect in the mountains. (I do now.) It has the most potent venom of any snake in Japan, but while its bite can be fatal, it's not as deadly as the Amami/Okinawa habu (ハブ) because these mamushi tend to be physically smaller, so their bite is delivers a correspondingly smaller amount of venom.
But being bit by one would not be fun. The most common results are “MOF” (multiple organ failure) and necrosis of the area/limb bitten, which can lead to amputation (if, at least, you recover from the first problem). Most cases require a month of hospitalization, but those young and strong can require less, and, as I said, some are fatal.
Fumie's great grandmother lost a leg to an Amami habu not long after WWII, causing great family hardship during a time when things were already pretty hard to begin with, so I've learned to be wary when we go down there, but I didn't expect these mamushi in the mountains up here. They normally live in grasslands near a river, I thought. (My first introduction to them was a warning sign I came across four years ago.) But now I'm getting paranoid... yesterday I was with Anthony and Gen playing in this fun river area when I remembered mamushi and it suddenly wasn't so fun anymore.