Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Flying with Grace

Yesterday's drive in the mountains left us wanting more, so today we took off in the opposite direction for another drive. It was a very hazy, overcast day, but relatively warm and much less crowded where we ended up.

We ended up in the same little rice-farming village in Shiga prefecture with tiered rice paddies that we visited last year (where Anthony and a friend playing among the rice paddies and in another post, I documented the rice harvest). I had remembered a small park where we'd stopped last time, and so stopped again this time.

Fumie and Anthony hit the swings...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Two Ships Passing in the Night
( the photo doesn't show it, but they were traveling in opposite directions at a pretty fast clip. )

Of course, I took the opportunity to stick the camera in Anthony's way...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos

I tend to do this.... I've done it before: here · here · here · here.

Fumie took the opportunity to teach Anthony how to jump off a swing. Here's his first tentative attempt...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
First Ever Jump off a Moving Swing

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Didn't Get Far
but he did it, and was proud of himself

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 34 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mommy Demonstrating Pro Technique

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 62 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sticks the Landing!
on his second-ever jump

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Synchronized Jumping

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 58 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Serious Air
we now have a stick to mark his best result

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mommy Going for the Gold

You can see in the shot above the white stick in front of Anthony showing his best to that point. In the next shot, he bettered that mark by more than a foot...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
New World Record

We also knocked around a wadded up piece of newspaper (which we found easier to control than the little birdie that came with the paddles)...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 35 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

And there was much climbing of (and jumping from) rocks..

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/3.5, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos

A fun day.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/9, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Middle of Nowhere

Fumie's dad is stationed in Malaysia for work, but since he's in town for his 60th birthday, he thought it'd be nice to try to see some fall colors. (They apparently don't have seasons in Malaysia.)

I've posted a few fall-color previews (Part 1 · Part 2 · Part 3) with photos from previous years because it's still way too early in the season this year, but as I mentioned the other day, there are a few hints of color starting to appear, so we all headed out for a drive in the mountains today.

After about three hours (half of which was twisty narrow mountain roads), we stopped at a small cafe that was, for all intents and purposes, in the middle of nowhere. (Even though we'd been driving for hours, we were actually still within the City of Kyoto, which covers great swaths of uninhabited mountains.)

I didn't take any pictures except a few in the parking lot. In the shot below, Anthony plays with my iPhone while Fumie's mom looks on. You can see a hint of the colors in the reflection....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 66 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos

Yet, there were still summer flowers. I don't quite understand the timing, but in the shot below, the same stalk has buds, flowers, and old wilted remains...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/6.3, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos
Confused About the Season

I hear talk that this year's colors are going to be great. We'll see. Until then, I have plenty from previous years in my Fall-Colors post category and on my “Autumn” photostream.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/4, ISO 1400 — full exif
Apple-Pie Shaped Fish

That caption might not make sense at first, but read on...

Yesterday was Fumie's dad's 60th birthday, which is a major life event in Japanese culture, and so this evening we had a party for him. Among the vast quantity of food was a fish called a tai (鯛), which is served at auspicious events due to the somewhat corny reason that its name is the final sound of omedetai, “auspicious”. (It probably felt much less corny ages ago when the tradition began, because back then, a gift of food was a true gift indeed.)

Anyway, on Fumie and my 10th wedding anniversary earlier this year, her mom got us an apple pie shaped like one of these fish as a tasty joke. And hence the caption above.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/5, ISO 2500 — full exif
Yikes!
( tastes much better than it looks )

To leave on a less, er, toothy note, here's a closeup of the detail on the wrapper of a pair of chopsticks...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/5, ISO 1250 — full exif
Chopstick Wrapper
( that's a lady in kimono, if you couldn't tell )