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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Scene at 14mm
Looking Up a Steep Ravine
in the mountains north of Kumogahata, Kyoto City, Japan

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 19mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Scene at 19mm

In last week's “Scenes From Mountain Roads in Northern Kyoto” I showed a view from the road looking up a steep ravine (this pic) and a bit of detail of its carpet of ferns (this pic), and mentioned that I'd climbed up the steep ravine for more photos. This post is just a few, three shots taken from the same location halfway up the ravine, at different focal lengths...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Scene at 125mm

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The sense of elevation disappears at the longer focal length, but this is my favorite photo of the three.

Continued here...

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/3200 sec, f/2, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Stroll
a father and daughter cross the Zaobashi Bridge over the Aridagawa River
Wakayama Prefecture, Japan

On the way to Pierre Nadeau's sword smithy in May, we came across the photogenic Zaobashi Bridge (蔵王橋) in the rural mountains of Aridagawacho City, in Wakayama Prefecture.

It's a short (160m) bare suspension bridge made of steel... steel grid plates that form the surface of the bridge, bolted on top of simple steel I-beams suspended with steel cables to even bigger steel cables draped over two steel towers. It makes it quite easy to see how all the parts conspire against gravity. It's also photogenic. The people in the photo above were the only ones to stop by while we were there.

No one was around when we had first arrived, so I took the opportunity to get a straight-down shot with no one on it....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/3200 sec, f/2, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Slightly Stylized

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I was using my Nikkor 300mm f/2 that I had just picked up the previous day, so I still didn't know what I was doing with it. These are all handheld shots.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/3200 sec, f/2, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Zak Braverman
slightly out of focus

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/3200 sec, f/2, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Stéphane Barbery

The photo of Stéphane that appears on my “little lens” post was taken here.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/3200 sec, f/2, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/3200 sec, f/2, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos

You can see in the photos above that the bridge is also roped down to keep it from floating away (or, perhaps, to keep its relatively light bulk from swaying in the wind).

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/8000 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Zak Braverman
in slightly better focus

You can see that the floor plates are really just bolted to the I-beams, which are really just hanging there, so everything moves around as you walk on it. It's slightly unsettling at first when the whole thing ripples as you walk. Also, you can see through the floor plates (which are a grid of steel) straight down to the river below. You can see it for yourself at the end of this short video on YouTube.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/3200 sec, f/2, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos

In the background of a few of these shots you can see a bright tree... one of the trees on the far bank was positively glowing with spine's new growth, an effect highlighted even further when the sun would clip it from just above the mountain behind it. I totally didn't capture that feeling, but I gave it a shot...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/3200 sec, f/2, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos

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Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sikorsky Maple

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It was almost a month ago that I made the first drive through the rural mountain villages of Uji City (southern Kyoto Prefecture, Japan) with friends Katsunori Shimada and Paul Barr. We went again the next week, and on other photographic adventures since, but I still have photos I want to share from that first trip, so that's what this post is.

I'm a big fan of thin depth of field, but in this next case (taken with a 300mm f/2), I find having to scan around for something in focus leaves me a touch queasy. What do you think?

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/1250 sec, f/2, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Borderline

These next few are from the heavily tiered farm seen in “Heading Off To Fetch More Seedlings”, from the post “A Few More From Our First Rural Uji Trip”...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Fungus
the thin depth at 300mm f/2 works better here
( though it makes the huge log, placed here as a bench, look like a twig )

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Bicycle Parking

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Seemingly Unbalanced
but it's perfectly level

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
I Dunno
just playing around in Lightroom with a throw-away shot

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos
Rice Seedlings

Moving to the next hamlet closer to civilization, we find some planted seedlings in a field that hasn't been flooded yet...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/400 sec, f/11, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Rice Seedlings

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Quintessential Hamlet
old house · modern house · garden · rice paddy

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/400 sec, f/3.2, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Shuttered
this house under towering cedar was unoccupied and boarded up

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/1250 sec, f/2, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Crest

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pleasant Old House

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — ¹/640 sec, f/4, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Worrisomely Unsturdy

And finally, one more shot of the flowers seen in both “Exquisite Beauty Growing Like a Weed by the Side of the Road” and the followup “Scenes From Rural Japan: Mountain Village in Uji City”, this time with a wider depth of field at f/5.6 instead of the normal creamy-inducing f/2.5 that I normally use the Voigtländer 125mm at...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/1600 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Regal

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Continued here...

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Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 240mm — ¹/800 sec, f/6.3, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hunting for Warabi Shoots

After climbing into and back out of a small extinct volcano (as seen in last month's “Descending Into a Volcanic Crater”), we were walking down the mountain when we came across a guy obviously looking for something, so we asked what it was. It turns out that he was looking for warabi, a fern whose shoots are edible. So we thought we'd keep an eye out as we went down...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Warabi Shoot

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Detail

Anthony found one and ran it down to the guy...

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 170mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Here You Go

He went on his way, but we kept finding more...

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 65mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Found Another

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/4000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
On the Hunt

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Quite the Collection
this would cost about $2 in a market

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — ¹/800 sec, f/6.3, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Still Searching

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lots of Others Looking

We eventually found the guy again and added our collection to his, for which he was thankful.

Today while writing up this post, I couldn't remember what this plant was called, so I surfed through the various entries on the Wikipedia page for mountain vegetables (sansai) and found it as warabi (Pteridium aquilinum) only to read that it's carcinogenic. Doh! I've had them and they're tasty, but perhaps I'll not seek them out next time.

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Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — ¹/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Saturday In the Park
local hubbub at the Itami Sky Park next to Osaka (Itami) Airport

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 170mm — ¹/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ringside View

Prior to Kansai International opening as Osaka's international airport in 1994, the closer-to-town Osaka Airport filled that position, but now it's used mostly for domestic flights. It straddles the border between Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, but lies mostly in Hyogo, in its city of Itami, so it's often referred to as “Osaka (Itami)”.

Immediately next to it, running more than a kilometer long, is a thin strip of city park called the Itami Sky Park. We stopped by while visiting some friends last spring.

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 290mm — ¹/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos

We tried some badminton, but it was a windy day and without buildings or trees to inhibit it as it crossed the airport, at the park it was absolutely howling....

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 420mm — ¹/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hitting It Forward
made it go backwards

Luckily, there were lots of jungle-gym type things sprinkled across the length for kids of various ages...

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — ¹/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — ¹/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — ¹/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — ¹/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Occasional Passers-By

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — ¹/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
this particular one was
Meant for Younger Kids
but still fun

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — ¹/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Late-Afternoon Snack

Nikon D700 + Sigma 50-500mm OS @ 500mm cropped — ¹/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 2800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nom Nom Nom

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 420mm — ¹/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Something in Bloom

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — ¹/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heading Down

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 116mm — ¹/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Race

We barely saw one small part of it... there looks to be much left to explore. If you're in the area with kids, it's highly recommended.