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 @ 70 mm — 1/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Caretakers' Residence
the private Hakuryuuen Garden, Kyoto Japan
with a front-focus effect I'm partial to, discussed a bit at the end of this post
Having felt cooped up in the house for the last week, we took an impromptu drive into the mountains north of Kyoto yesterday, stopping by a bakery on the way to pick up a snack. Not long after entering the mountains, we stopped off the road to eat at a location that happened to be near the Hakuryuuen Garden, which I posted about in some detail a couple of months ago.
As before, it was closed off with a fence across the entrance, right at the road shoulder....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 60 mm — 1/80 sec, f/3.5, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Closed
with some kind of pavilion up there in center frame
But if you took care when buses passed, you could walk up to the fence and take pictures...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 40 mm — 1/80 sec, f/6.3, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
View from the Left End of the Fence
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm — 1/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
From the Middle of the Fence
trying to get artsy fartsy with the bare tree in the foreground, but it doesn't really work
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/80 sec, f/9, ISO 2000 — map & image data — nearby photos
From the Right Edge of the Fence
steps leading up to a pavilion
It was overcast with little spritzes of rain, yet my D700 wanted to overexpose everything. I had to use up to -2EV exposure compensation to pull it in line. I don't get it.
I chatted with one of the caretakers, who confirmed apologetically that it's never open to the public. As I described in the post two months ago with words and a photo, the Eizan Train line's “Fall Foliage Tunnel” lightup goes right past the southern edge of the garden. It's quite pretty. I saw the train go by as I was taking these photos.
I also saw a jogger go by just as I was first getting out of the car to walk across a bridge to the road in front of the garden...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 35 mm — 1/80 sec, f/6.3, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Vehicles Must Sound Horn
( but, thankfully, drivers rarely do )
About this post's lead photo, with the in-focus elements being only some overhanging leaves in the foreground, and with the background out of focus and left to your imagination to make complete, it's an effect that I'm increasingly drawn to, but doesn't quite work here as well as I hoped.
I'd put it to best effect in July with my Sanzen Temple “Serenity” Desktop Background, which I still very much like, and I used it as well two weeks in the first photo of Starting to See Splashes of Fall Colors in Kyoto, but in today's photo, the scene behind the in-focus foreground turns out to be too busy to allow the leaves to stand out as clearly and sharply as I hoped. I tried to salvage it a bit in Lightroom by applying to the in-focus leaves a touch of local corrections (sharpening and positive clarity).
Going the other direction, I used just a bit of negative clarity on most of the final photo to give a slightly softer overall feeling.... a much more subtle version of the over-the-top effect used in (for example) the first photo of Cherry Blossoms in the Rain at the Heian Shrine, Part 2, the “Positively Glowing” photo from a cherry-blossom preview earlier this year.
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.
Since this blog is essentially my family diary, I'll take license to continue some posts from Anthony's birthday party a couple of weeks ago. After having cake, it was time for presents...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 45 mm — 1/250 sec, f/5, ISO 6400 — full exif
Present from Fumie's Folks
that Anthony had picked out some time earlier
Anthony doesn't get to watch much TV, but when he does, it's often super-hero shows. When I was a kid there was batman and superman, and things were simple. In Japan these days there are all kinds of super heroes, all looking essentially identical to me, but the details are important stuff in the life of a first-grade boy.
His toy this time was something called a Double Driver, a belt with modules that allows the wearer to transform into all kinds of super-power manifestations.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32 mm — 1/250 sec, f/5, ISO 6400 — full exif
Explaining a Module
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 26 mm — 1/80 sec, f/5, ISO 6400 — full exif
Deciphering Instructions
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/160 sec, f/5, ISO 6400 — full exif
Strapped On and Ready to Go
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — 1/250 sec, f/5, ISO 5600 — full exif
Being Transformed!
( imagine all kinds of armor and helmet stuff magically appearing )
The lighter-sized modules stick into the two edges of the “W”-shaped belt, then the whole thing adjusts to “locking position”, accompanied by cool lights and cool sounds simulating a complex full-body suit unfolding out of seemingly nowhere. I guess
Fumie recognized the general idea as being the same as a toy Anthony had enlisted my help in making some months ago, and pulled it out...
Then it was time for a present from my folks....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.2, ISO 1800 — full exif
Actually Noticing the Card
a really cool 3-D thing still displayed on the kitchen counter
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 45 mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.2, ISO 3200 — full exif
Wrangling the Balloons
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32 mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.2, ISO 3200 — full exif
Present from Mommy and Daddy
We generally let him pick one toy for his birthday present. Turning four he chose a large trash truck, at five a train set, and last year a helicopter. This year he gave a long list of things he wanted, and I worked with him to narrow them down. In the end, he got the main item he'd decided on, but apparently didn't remember what it was...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 58 mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.2, ISO 5600 — full exif
Total Astonishment
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.2, ISO 2000 — full exif
Better Than Expected!
a LEGO™ Star Wars™ Republic Attack Shuttle™
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.2, ISO 2800 — full exif
Check Out These Features!
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 66 mm — 1/50 sec, f/9, ISO 6400 — full exif
Some Assembly Required
This was all a couple of weeks ago, and he's written a thank-you letter to Grandma and Grandpa that I need to get around to mailing (and not forget like last year!!). A box of presents from his Aunt Natalie and Uncle Alan is to be the subject of a later post...
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.
FYI, I've updated the page for Jeffrey's Photoshop Calendar-Template-Building Script with zips of monthly PSDs for 2010, which should prove useful for those who can't run the script for some reason (e.g. old version of Photoshop?).
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.
On the first night of our trip to Tokyo Disneyland Anthony rode a roller coaster for the first time (and second time and third time....) and loved it, and riding again the next day was high on his agenda.
This time he went by himself...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Waiting in Line
apprehensive at riding by himself for the first time.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heading Up
front car all to himself
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — 1/2000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Cool as a Cucumber
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Approaching the Main Hairpin Curve
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 150 mm — 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 120 mm — 1/640 sec, f/5.3, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hitting the Main Curve
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 120 mm — 1/1000 sec, f/5.3, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Still Cool
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 120 mm — 1/800 sec, f/5.3, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Just Visible
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 120 mm — 1/320 sec, f/5.3, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
About Done
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 120 mm — 1/320 sec, f/5.3, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Yup, Daddy Was Watching
so much so that he didn't even notice the two girls behind you until checking the photos at home,
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.
What a wasted day. I spent hours and hours trying to get some Windows programs running on my new Mac, using both VMWare Fusion and Parallels, and failed miserably. I'm not in a good mood.
Anthony's classes were canceled for the week because half the kids in his class came down with the flu, so he's home all day and was running a slight fever himself, so I wanted to let him relax all day. He wanted to do the flying game we have (RealFlight R/C Flight Simulator) and I tried it on Fusion and it almost worked, but didn't.
I then tried his JumpStart learning game and got the background music and a blank screen.
Fusion's website is pathetic, with no overall search.... you apparently have to know that there are various places where information might be found (help, forums, etc.) and search each individually. I wanted to post to the forum to ask about my issues, but require a business address and phone number before they'll let you. Sigh.
So I tried Parallels, and got the first few screens of the JumpStart thing to work, then got the blank screen.
What a frustrating day.
I've had a mixed bag with my Apple Time Machine as well. I installed it last week as my main home-network router, and the configuration was an absolute breeze... just wonderful, except the small hitch that Fumie's Mac Mini could not get an IP if I connected it directly to the Time Machine. Yet, oddly, if I connected it to a switch that I connected directly to the Time Machine, it worked just fine. Very, very odd. The only thing I can think of is that there's something about the physical connectors that's stopping a full connection when made directly, but that's not really very credible.
So, I decided to give Apple a call about it today, and talked with a lady in Tokyo with excellent English. We tried the standard things (full reset, etc.) and it didn't work, so without any fuss and bother she decided to send a new one out. Once it arrives (and hopefully works) and I get my machines fully backed up on the new one, I'll then send the old one back. The ease with which the support call proceeded is about the only bright point in the day.
Grumble.