Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/4000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Highlights

Well, I seem to have come down with a cold, and so I spent almost all day sleeping. Up now at midnight with just enough energy to stare blankly at the screen, so I'll just post a few pictures from yesterday to brighten my day (er, my night) before heading back to bed.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Welcome
small, private, high-end restaurant
Kyoto, Japan

The entrance way to the small restaurant next to our place has a tree that we can see the top of from our livingroom window, and each year at about this time, it turns all kinds of fiery reds and oranges.

We just see the top, but it's still pretty...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
View from our Living Room

So, yesterday, between taking pictures of Kyoto City neutering trees and riding through a fall-foliage tunnel, I spent a few minutes to go see the tree up close.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/250 sec, f/9, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Backlighting is the Key

When I got down there, I was surprised to find that the leaves that I thought were so fiery red were actually fairly drab, until you got the sun behind them and got a lot of light shining through. They transmit red, but don't reflect it as much. Backlighting is a great way to get the excitement from fall colors, whether it's via the sun or from high-intensity floodlights.

It's on my list of things to do this season to try using a small handheld flash (in my case, a Nikon SB-800 Speedlight) to backlight. Especially if I can use settings that allow the flash to dominate the ambient light, I suspect some really interesting results. We'll see whether the cold I've come down with will let me...

Anyway, yesterday, I had the sun almost directly behind the leaves, and I didn't have the lens hood with me, so the result was occasional flare, like the greenish hexagon in the upper-left of the shot above, or the big sweeping circle in the first shot.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/4000 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sorta' Abstractish

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/250 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Another View of the Entrance
but I think I like the first one, better

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 160 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/10, ISO 800 — full exif
View from my Office Window
that I took last year

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/10 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Eizan Train Line's “Fall Foliage Tunnel” Evening Lightup
Kyoto, Japan

The Eizan Train Line (eizan dentetsu, or eiden for short) is a little train line that runs from north-east Kyoto up into the mountains to the village of Kurama, just past Kibune. I've posted about Kibune many times, most recently a week ago when I visited with Thomas, although the area is known more for its summertime dining over the river and, er, noodle fishing. Anyway, despite having gone up that way many times, I'd never taken the train, until today.

Fumie's been under the weather for the last week or two, but felt good enough today that we all went on a ride through Eizan's “Fall Foliage Tunnel”, a section of the track through a mountain forest of colorful trees that's lit up by rows of floodlights during the evening.

Japanese love their lightup events — fall colors, cherry blossoms, and no particular reason – and I love them too, because they're really pretty. The train's “tunnel” lightup is part of a larger “Kibune Lightup”, which runs in the evenings from the 13th to the 30th this month. I've never seen it, but it looks extremely photogenic.

Anyway, we took a taxi the one mile to the start of the train line, and took a train that left at 5pm, a few minutes after the 4:49pm sunset...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec handheld, f/4.5, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ready to Depart
we just need a driver

Twenty minutes later it was pretty dark, especially in the mountains under the trees. As we approached the “tunnel”, the driver slowed down and turned off all the lights in the train.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — ¹/13 sec handheld, f/4, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Momiji Tunnel”
( “fall-foliage tunnel” )

It was very nice, but it would have been nicer had people who had been sitting for the whole trip not come rushing up trying to take a picture in front of me, some using their flash (which turns the window into a mirror). Sigh.

But it was nice for the minute or so that it lasted. A bit later, we got off at the end of the line, Kurama, one stop past all the lightup stuff at Kibune. Kurama has a big shrine and apparently can hold its own fall-color wise during the day, but at night it was more or less deserted. Luckily, we found a small restaurant that was still open, and had dinner.

Heading back, we happened to catch one of the special “kirara” trains that has a few sideways-facing seats, although we opted for regular seats. The train wasn't that full from the mostly-deserted Kurama, but it filled right up at the next station, Kibune.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Loading Up at Kibune

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 36 mm — ¹/60 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Short Pause at Ninose Station

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/40 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Flying Through the Tunnel
at 12 kph (7mph)

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
All Done

It was really nice, and now I'm itching to go up and explore that Kibune lightup....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 38 mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500 — full exif
Neutered Gingko Tree
with its fully-clothed friends towering in the background

It's that time of year again in Kyoto where the trees turn beautiful colors, and the City of Kyoto races to erase them from the face of the earth.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500 — full exif
Walking Along A Barren Wasteland of Trees
stripped clean by the City of Kyoto the previous day

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 65 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500 — full exif
Tale of Two Sides of the Street
neutered on this side, lush greens and yellows on the other

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/11, ISO 560 — full exif
Prior to Neutering
but their day will come, likely tomorrow

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500 — full exif
Naked

Several miles of street in this area are lined with Ginkgo trees, and each year the city strips them naked like this, working down one side of each street, then up the other. I've heard that this is done because stripping the trees like this is easier than cleaning up the leaves. I dunno. Seems strange.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 135 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500 — full exif
Long-Abused Veteran
retaining, for the moment, one last shred of dignity

All but the first shot above are from yesterday. The sun was out a bit more today, so I brought the camera when I picked Anthony up from school.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 70 mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/8, ISO 500 — full exif
Caught in the Act
yeah you, buddy

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 29 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/8, ISO 500 — full exif
Too Lazy
to spend the extra 10 seconds to cross at the crosswalk

The guy crossing the street without apparent regard for his life wanted a sprig of yellow leaves, and when he got it, returned to the car he had parked illegally near where I was standing.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 28 mm — ¹/1600 sec, f/8, ISO 500 — full exif
Equal Number of Gingko on Either Side of the Street
but it certainly doesn't look like it

When the light turned red I stepped out into the street a bit for the shot above, but stepping the other way to the sidewalk and looking the same direction, you see what a wonderful effect the trees – the trees with their leaves – have...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 170 mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/8, ISO 500 — full exif
Tunnel of Nature
amidst the concrete jungle

Ever year at about this time, crews work their way down one side and then up the other, putting the bulk of each tree into a garbage truck.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 42 mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/8, ISO 500 — full exif
Tree Hearse
and attendants

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 170 mm — ¹/1600 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500 — full exif
Yesterday's Handiwork

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 32 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/13, ISO 500 — full exif
Tomorrow's Victims
(the trees, not the Kyoto University students and the police officer)

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 50 mm — ¹/2500 sec, f/4.8, ISO 500 — full exif
Wall of Yellow

The road leading to this slight curve is straight for a mile or three, and you can see the wall of yellow straight the whole time.... at least until the crews get there.

(This last snapshot doesn't have much going for it except the ability to illustrate the scene, but in an attempt to put lipstick on a pig, I used the virtual version of a gradient filter (mentioned in a comment yesterday) to “paint” some lower exposure and lower contrast onto the clouds so that the sky retains some detail. Without it, it's a massive blog of white. I tried to have a light touch, but it still looks sorta' fakish...

D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 + 1.7×TC @ 340 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/4.8, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
YASOK
Yet Another Sunset Over Kyoto

Well, after the once-in-a-lifetime Sunset last week, I've been hoping to cheat death and see a second one, and to do so from a better vantage point. I've taken to sprinting up to the Shogunzuka overlook if a nice sunset looks to be brewing. I've done it three times now, the first having been the day after, and the most recent today.

I arrived just in time to watch a fiery orange/red – seen above – disappear from over the mountains to the west.

Of course, as I've been complaining a lot about of late, the image doesn't really capture what one saw. In this case, it's such a strong zoom that it makes it feel like the whole sky was on fire like the other day, but it wasn't. It was still pretty, but my camera or (more likely) my skill just aren't up to the task of capturing that wide a range of brightnesses, from the brilliant brightness of the edge of the clouds to the relatively dim mountain facing me. I could see the mountains just fine while taking the pictures, but my camera couldn't.

Anyway, the red-orange of my sunset was gone in a minute, but looking south-west toward Osaka 30 miles away, in the far distance past Osaka, I could see mildly orange clouds with exquisite detail. They must have been absolutely huge to be as big as they were from my vantage point, and would have certainly made for a great sunset to be under them.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/4.5, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Later, Looking South-West
Osaka skyscrapers are left of center;
Bright orange of my sunset had been just off the right side of the frame

D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 + 1.7×TC @ 230 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/4.8, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Closer Look at the Dynamic Clouds
over, behind, and in front of the Osaka skyline, seen from 30 miles away

Back to the first picture above, let me show four other pictures taken at pretty much the same time. This time, I put the camera into bracketing mode, so that it'd take not only the shot that it thought was properly exposed, but two shots at varying underexposure, and two shots at varying overexposure. When taken with the camera in “burst mode”, the five-shot sequence takes about one second to complete. Here they are.... mouseover the buttons below to see the various shots.

D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 + 1.7×TC @ 340 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/4.8, ISO 500

–2 EV   –   –1 EV  ·  Normal Exposure  ·  +1 EV  ·  +2 EV

mouseover button to see that image

D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 + 1.7×TC @ 340 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/4.8, ISO 800

D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 + 1.7×TC @ 340 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/4.8, ISO 1600

D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 + 1.7×TC @ 340 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/4.8, ISO 3200

D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 + 1.7×TC @ 340 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/4.8, ISO 5600

I cropped them all every so slightly to compensate for my slight movement during the capture sequence (all were handheld... I haven't used a tripod since the spring, although today's shots would certainly have benefited from one), but other than that and resizing for this post, they are as I loaded them into Lightroom.

It's actually a pretty bad example of a high-dynamic-range scene, but I have some better ones on my Why I Don't Do HDR post. This would be a situation where HDR could yield some great results.... if only the display medium could make use of them. Oh well.

Anyway, the first photo on this post is the -2 EV shot, cropped a bit to try to bring out the towers, with some “Recovery” in Lightroom to turn the yellow glowing fringe of the horizon-hhugging cloud edge white (to “de-clip” things a bit; the white result is still wrong, but less distracting than yellow). The application of a bit of Recovery also has the beneficial effect of bringing out some detail in the upper clouds.

While I was up there, a taxi-van filled with half a dozen school girls came up, and they posed while the driver took a picture... with... each... girl's... camera...

D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 + 1.7×TC @ 200 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/4.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Say “Cheese”.... “Cheese”.....“Cheese”....
and so on

I was more interested in the sunset, but made a quick snapshot of the line of girls...

D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 + 1.7×TC @ 230 mm — ¹/60 sec, f/4.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Posing

I wonder how their pictures came out. The ones with flash might actually come out okay, but I suspect that the ones without flash will result in just a bunch of silhouettes like this.

I quite like the post I published on Saturday evening (How I Spent My Saturday in Kyoto), and was sort of disappointed not to get any comments on it.

I did get some comments on the followup, More From the Eikando Temple Foliage Lightup, including one that mentioned that the link to the Saturday post was broken. The links worked fine for me, and “Dmitry” didn't include any contact info with the comment for me to follow up with, so I just deleted the comment as spurious.

18+ hours later, I received a followup comment from Dmitry about the broken link, but this time with an email address, so at least I could reply. As I was preparing a “the links work fine for me” response, I thought to check one more thing..... and found that they were broken when I checked with a command-line HTML validater. Oops!

Thirty minutes of head-scratching later (at 1:30 in the morning) I finally figured out that the post was marked “private” in my blog software, but since I'm logged in as the blog owner, I get to see the post anyway. No one else can. Doh! I toggled that switch to “public” and now everyone should be able to see it:

I started a new reply to Dmitry and gushed my thanks for his persistence in reporting the problem to me. Thanks Dmitry, whoever you are!