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 @ 66 mm — 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
22-month-old Zoe Tamaki Braverman
She's Got the “Pouty-Cute” Thing Down Pat
After our visit yesterday to Kyoto's Konzou Temple, Anthony and I headed all the way across Kyoto, around some small mountains, and into Otsu City to play in the park with his friend Gen. They have a great park across from their place that we've visited many times.
Gen's little sister, Tamaki-chan, has a very important quality that every child should have: she likes me. Even though her Daddy had to wake her up from a long nap and she was a bit pouty, her puzzling like of me allowed her to put up with me and my camera.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
She reminds me of my grandma (my mom's mom) in that she looks good in any kind of hat/headgear you might put on her, just the opposite of me.
She's normally full of smiles around me, but this time she was a bit groggy having overslept her nap. (Her daddy Zak tells me that's she's recently learned “NO!”, but she's always an angel with me.)
Even groggy, a trip down the slide with her dad brings a smile...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
It would have been more fun, but her chair was a bit too wide for the slide, so the trip was a bit slow.
There was a beautiful field of violets near the entrance to the park, and Zak graciously let me have his second-born child for a while...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 66 mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hey, You're Not My Real Daddy
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Yawn, this “Being Beautiful” Stuff is Boring
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 @ 24 mm — 1/125 sec, f/14, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mezzanine Level from Above
Konzou Temple
in the mountains of western Kyoto, Japan
Fueled by an unheard-of 14 hours of sleep last night (I went to bed at 7pm! Got up at 9am!! First time anything like this in.... hmmm, how old is Anthony?), I escaped the crush of tourists enjoying the cherry blossoms in my area and took Anthony on a trip across Kyoto and into the mountains to visit the Konzou Temple (金蔵寺), a temple I first visited somewhat by chance during my bamboo-filled Western-Kyoto Mountain Drive that I posted about two months ago.
I didn't mention the temple by name in that post because I thought I'd follow up with a post all about it with some of the many pictures I got that day, but, like most of what I want to post about, I never got around to it.
Anyway, I'd been wanting to visit while there were cherry blossoms, so I took the opportunity to do so today. Anthony doesn't care about temples and mountains and pretty things, but I needed to clear him out of the house for a while to give Fumie a chance to work on preparations for his upcoming year in first grade.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/320 sec, f/5, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Entrance Gate
Anthony deposits the requested 200 yen (about US$2)
This temple is built on the side of a mountain, and so there are steps.... lots of steps. You can see some in the background of the picture above, and in the picture below as we start to climb them...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/640 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Waiting for Daddy
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/320 sec, f/10, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nearing the Top
the top of this set of steps, that is; there are many more in our future
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — 1/320 sec, f/9, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tranquil
There was almost no one there, so we essentially had the whole place to ourself. (When I first visited two months ago, I didn't see another soul the whole time, so in comparison, today's few people was a crowd.)
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 40 mm — 1/320 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Small Water Feature
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/800 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Curiosity
I think that path leads to the a bathroom, and what used to be the caretaker's residence. If anyone lives there now, it's not apparent. But the place is generally very well cared for, so perhaps they're just good at being invisible.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 34 mm — 1/320 sec, f/4.5, ISO 3200 — map & image data — nearby photos
More Curiosity
The litter/palanquin above was apparently used by some kid who would grow up to be a famous shogun – Tsunayoshi Tokugawa – and/or his mom, or something, while he lived here at the temple during his childhood. (The temple dates to 1639, according to a web page I found, and the kid was born in 1646, according to the Wikipedia link.)
The wooden plaque in the lower left of the photo above explains it, but I couldn't understand much of it. There were no signs prohibiting entrance to the display area (normally, there would be in a case like this, if entrance was prohibited), so I let Anthony go in after taking his shoes off, and bade him not to touch anything.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 42 mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 720 — map & image data — nearby photos
Simple Sensibilities
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 60 mm — 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mountain Stairs and Sakura
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pink-n-Green
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/125 sec, f/7.1, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
What's in There?
This was the largest building on the site, up a flight of steps from the level with the cherry blossoms and old shogun's litter (which I called the “mezzanine level” in the caption to the first photo). That level also had a few large buildings, so it's hard to guess which is the “main” building, especially since I don't really know what “main building” means in the context of a Buddhist temple.
I do know that the big black pot to Anthony's right is for incense. You can see Fumie lighting some with Anthony at a similar (but larger) urn in this 2007 photo from the Nanzen Temple near our place.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 40 mm — 1/800 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lion Guardian
I liked the stark shadows the midday sun made on this stone lion, and exaggerated them in post processing. It sort of falls flat, I think, but my thinking something falls flat has shown itself to be a good indication that others will like it (and vice-versa), so I'm including it in today's post.
The lion was part of a pair guarding the entrance to a small but elaborate cemetery temple for some famous (yet dead) guy. I think I recall from my previous visit that it's for an emperor, but it may well be the aforementioned shogun. I'll have to check my earlier photos for a name. Here's a bit of a wider view, this time with shadows artificially reduced in post processing...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32 mm — 1/800 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Now that I look at the big characters in the lower-right of the photo above, I have to wonder whether it's not a reference to the grave of the shogun, who was noted as the “dog shogun” due to his laws protecting animals. The character at left means “grave”, but I don't know one at right, although one component of it is the character for “dog”. (Anyone who knows what it means is probably laughing hysterically at my silly guessing.)
Speaking of silly guessing and Japanese, I made such a silly mistake last week that I actually made a waitress laugh at me. Normally, they would never break out of their customer-service never-do-anything-to-make-the-customer-feel-bad mode, but this was just too silly. I was at a family restaurant with two very similar pictures on the menu, one marked with 「ロースステーキ」 (loinsteak) and the other 「一口ステーキ」. In my silliness, I misread 「一口」 as 「ーロ」 and wondered whether it was a typo, or something, because 「ーロ」 would make absolutely no sense whatsoever in that situation.
Silly me! It wasn't 「ーロ」, but rather 「一口」, which was really quite obvious from the context, and I felt wholly stupid. 「一口ステーキ」 is, of course, cubed steak. I'm still blushing.
Anyway, back to our visit to the Konzou Temple. Being on a mountain, it sometimes offers amazing views...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 62 mm — 1/125 sec, f/18, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Checking Out the View
I posted a similar photo, sans Anthony, in my previous post, although today was only marginally less hazy than then. (It was much warmer today, though. Rather than freezing my fingers off during the hour-long ride there, today was short-sleeve weather.)
Heading back down, the “mezzanine level” again called out to be photographed, as a lone lady with red backpack enjoyed the quiet vista from the shade...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 44 mm — 1/400 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Someone Enjoying “Me” Time
that's about to be interrupted by a genki 6-year-old
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 34 mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony Enjoying Some “Juice Time”
with a Gatorade-like sports drink, something he never gets at home
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 28 mm — 1/1000 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony's Creative Efforts
his camera tilt was very specifically done for (some unknown) effect....
photo by Anthony Friedl
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 28 mm — 1/320 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Deer Carved in Stone
photo by Anthony Friedl
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — 1/125 sec, f/8, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Baseball Practice in the Parking Lot
My bribe to get Anthony to go with me was that we'd play catch at the temple. We played a bit when we first arrived at the otherwise-empty parking lot, then headed on up in search of another place to play. (In some of the photos, you can see him with an orange bag; that's his mitt and ball.)
We never did find a better place, so returned to play some more in the still-empty parking lot. I got him the glove and ball for Christmas, but we haven't had much chance to use them until the recent warmer weather. (We tried a bit, for example, during our recent trip to Awaji Island).
Today's second session in the temple parking lot witnessed the first time he actually caught the ball with the glove. After catching it once, he really started to get the hang of it, and ended up catching it almost a dozen times in the short time we played.
All in all a good day, and we hadn't even had lunch yet.
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 @ 24 mm — 1/400 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Enjoying the Sakura on a Sunny Morning
Kyoto, Japan
Having a kid in elementary school means a new set of hours for the parents, and as part of that I found myself wandering around outside after returning from school. (Parents accompany first graders to school for the first few days; there are no school busses, so the vast majority of kids take the subway or bus, all by themselves, so the parents go for the first few days to ensure they're settled.)
I got off the bus one stop early to walk around the grounds of the municipal museum of art, which is pretty this time of year. (Clicking on the “nearby photos” link under the picture above yields lots of cherry-blossom pictures from previous years.)
As s I've mentioned before, the blossoms are sort of off this year, some having come earlier and some later....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 56 mm — 1/1000 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
This Tree Is Well Past its Prime
once the leaves show up, the writing's on the wall
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 44 mm — 1/1250 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
The Tree Next To It is
At the Peak of Full Bloom
Looking into the sun back toward these same trees made for a hazy picture, but sort of nice nevertheless...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/1000 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Certainly, nicer than the gloomy scene from last week shot in this same location.
Over toward the cherry trees near my place, which were at their peak last week, they're now winding down...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/500 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Winding Down
The ground is littered with blossom petals, which the wind whips around sometimes in snow-like flurries.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
It's a pretty time in Kyoto.
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 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Family Portrait
on the day Anthony starts first grade
Photo by Fumie's Mom
Anthony officially started first grade today. Today was just the entrance ceremony; tomorrow, he starts class.
Before heading off, we asked Fumie's mom to take a picture of us in front of the cherry blossoms next to our building.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Eager to Get Going
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — 1/1600 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Bit Bright
looking directly into the sun
Photo by Satori-chan's Daddy
The sign welcomes us to the elementary-school entrance ceremony. This was at the front gate of the school, which was a common spot to take pictures. The layout of things placed the sun directly into your eyes, so the results were pretty bad all around.
Once inside, the Anthony switched to his inside shoes (and we switched to slippers that we'd brought), and a “big kid” (a sixth-grader) lead Anthony off to show him his classroom....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 66 mm — 1/320 sec, f/5, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sixth-Grade Helper
leading Anthony off to show him his classroom
The parents waited in the auditorium...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Parents Waiting For Kids To Enter
By the way, the symbol for the school (the three triangles) was adopted in 1893, 68 years before a similar symbol was adopted by the United States to mark civil defense fallout shelters, and I'm sure that the similarity is unintentional.
Anyway, I didn't take any pictures during the ceremony and speeches and such, but afterwords everyone lined up for classroom pictures. The 90 kids of this year's first-grade class are divided into three classrooms, so I could snap a shot while the kids and parents of one of the other classrooms were setting up for a class picture....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 58 mm — 1/160 sec, f/4.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Preparing for a Class Picture
That's a Nikon D700 at left, and a Canon SLR with an attached vertical grip at right
After the ceremony and photos, the kids returned to their classroom where the teacher explained some things, eventually being joined by the parents trying to squeeze into the doorway to see their kid sitting at a school desk for the first time.
The kids got books, notebooks, badges, this, that, and the other... tons of stuff that was probably information overload. After it was over and Anthony was getting ready to go, he was checking out a name tag...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Checking Stuff Out
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony's Shoe Spot
H1-18
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 40 mm — 1/2500 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Post-Ceremony Play
they're still just six years old, of course
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 62 mm — 1/2000 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Minor Adjustments
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 60 mm — 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Cherry Blossoms and Starting School
go hand-in-hand in Japanese culture
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 36 mm — 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mommy and Daddy
Photo by Anthony
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm — 1/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
New First Grader
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 36 mm — 1/3200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Like Out of a Catalog
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Like Reality
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/800 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heading Home
not too old to still want to hold Mommy's hand
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/1600 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
View From Anthony's Return Bus Stop
currently flowing a river of cherry-blossom petals
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/500 sec, f/9, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Finally Home
well, just about
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 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/400 sec, f/6.3, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
sorta' pretty, but
Something Strange
The photo above is a repeat of the first photo in yesterday's post. They're some cherry blossoms that were overhanging our car in the parking lot of a restaurant on Awaji Island. The image has some strange artifacts that I'm at a loss to explain, so thought I'd ask whether anyone understands their source.
Here are two full-resolution crops – one from near the center, and another from left of center – that show some odd haloes around some items, but not around others...
Clicking on any of these images brings up the full-resoltion 4,256 × 2,832 pixel image.
These kind of effects are often the result of heavy-handed post processing.... adding too much fill light, or tweaking the luminosity or saturation of the background, for example, but none of that went on here. The image and crops here are just as loaded in Lightroom without any post-processing whatsoever.
(Actually, while wondering whether the effects were influenced by the camera-calibration setting, I tried several. None seemed to have any impact the strange effect, but I preferred the “Camera Vivid” calibration for this one, so did leave it at that setting for these examples.)
I also checked the full-resolution jpeg embedded within the raw file, as well as a simple conversion of the raw data with dcraw, and found no differences, so it's certain that the effects were created in camera.
Camera shake could cause artifacts like this, but in that case I would expect the odd effect to be uniform across the image. Subject shake could account for localized effects, but in the branch crop, for example, it's much more pronounced on one side of the branch than the other, which rules out that the branch was shaking really really fast (the shutter speed is 1/400th of a second).
I also wondered for a bit whether it might be some kind of hiccup with the lens' VR mechanism, but like camera shake, I'd think that would affect all areas of the frame equally.
I'm at a total loss to explain this, and find myself at the point of wondering whether there's such a thing as translucent bark. Any ideas?