Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/250 sec, f/4, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Getting On Past Prime Time
The main cherry blossoms were clearly past their peak this morning, quickly helped along by a soaking rain that arrived mid-morning and lasted all day. The wind and rain combined to create a carpet of blossoms anywhere a tree was near.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250 — full exif
Black Asphalt Path
That pretty much sealed the end of Kyoto's cherry-blossom season this year, just a tad earlier than last year. No more full bloom in Kyoto, no more joie de vivre, no more evening cherry-blossom lightup. Of course, I have plenty of photos from the weekend and from this morning before the rain, so I have stock for later posts, and next year's cherry-blossom previews.
(Also, there are a few late-blooming varieties yet to come.)
The rain did make for a fun stroll with Mommy (and, apparently, focus issues for me)...
I'm sure it's the same worldwide: kids love rain puddles.
My cold continues, so I didn't take any pictures today, but I did feel good enough at times to get out for a bit here and there. Like yesterday, there were a lot of people, but the atmosphere seemed to be all the better for it. It reminded me strongly of the joie de vivre one feels in the classic Chicago tune Saturday In The Park. I think the sight of cherry blossoms has a magical, medicinal effect, both on the human body and the human psyche. Like yesterday, it was perfectly wonderful.
Lacking energy for a well-presented well-linked post, here are a few random pics from yesterday's outing showing people enjoying the day. They'll probably give a sense of even larger crowds than there actually were, especially when I use a long focal length to compress distances (as I like to do, such as seen earlier here and here), but like I said, the crowds weren't so bad as to be oppressive. It was just a lovely Saturday in the park.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/1250 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
I Love This Girl's Smile
( I bet he does too )
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/800 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Blossom-Viewing Boat
as seen from where the couple above was standing
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — 1/320 sec, f/9, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
The Park Anthony Rides His Bike In
what a change from just a week ago
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Blossom-Viewing Can Be Exhausting
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/1000 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Target-Rich Environment
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/1000 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Say Cheese
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/750 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Picnic For All
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/1500 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sorta Interesting
in an odd way
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 135 mm — 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Blossom-Viewing Boat Approaches
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/2000 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Memories
The man looks pensive, with mixed emotions, as if he's remembering a cherry-blossom picnic with his mom when he was 5. It's one of my favorite photos.
I worked hard for it, too. I was camped at the other side of the bridge looking across the road to the crowd on the other side, and after a while I realized that the man was just standing there as the crowd flowed around him, like a rock in a river. So, I aimed my big zoom at him and waited.... waited for there to be no one in front of me on the sidewalk, no cars on the road, no one in front of him on his sidewalk, and no one standing next to him.
I waited a long time.
Obligingly, he just stood there lost in thought, and eventually for a brief moment it was perfect, and this was the result.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — 1 sec, f/10, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Main Gate of the Heian Shrine, at Dusk
With Cherry Blossoms
As I mentioned earlier today, full bloom has finally hit Kyoto.
Having recently read photographer Rick Lee's blog post When is dusk dusky enough? about how actually shooting a “night” shot at dusk can make use of a bit of remaining skylight to balance the harsh artificial lights, it reminded me of the lessons from Strobist's classic How to Photograph Christmas Lights, and made me want to try it with the cherry-blossom lightup that's going on in my area during the evenings this week.
I brought my D200, tripod, remote shutter release, Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8, and Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 across the street to the edge of the canal and set up shop. I was there from about 6:30pm, 10 minutes after sunset when it was starting to get noticeably dark, and stayed for an hour. The first test shot I took appears above.
That was toward the north, where the sky was darker than toward the west, where the next shot aims...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 17 mm — 4 sec, f/10, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Not Too Realistic
( but that's okay, because it's not too pretty, either )
Different types of lighting make for a huge color-balance mess in this shot. All of the blossoms visible here are of the same white variety; the blossoms behind the couple are not lime green, the ones over the left side of the bank don't have a magenta tinge, and the ones along the far bank didn't really look like they were glowing at 5,000°F. (For what it's worth, that last set appear that way in this photo because they were lighted by something that was indeed glowing at 5,000°F, the filaments in the incandescent floodlamps set up for the event. Our eyes compensate for the orange light, but the camera doesn't.... but I digress.)
Lightroom 2.0 (beta) has the ability to selectively adjust areas with different develop settings (exposure, saturation, etc.), and this picture is a perfect example of why white balance should be included in that list. I've been lobbying for it, but to no avail (so far?). I prepared these with Lightroom 1.3.
(UPDATE: oops, it turns out that the lime-green blossoms were from a different variety of tree whose blossoms were indeed white, but, unlike all the other trees in the scene, already had their green leaves. There's certainly some odd color due to the streetlight just out of frame, but the green is not entirely due to color-balance issues as I originally thought.)
By the way, kudos to the couple for standing still for me for the four-second exposure. I think she was trying to teach him how to use his point-n-shoot.
Here's a shot that I've color-corrected to match what I remember actually seeing, while it was still fairly bright at 6:35pm....
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — 4 sec, f/10, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sorta Pretty, but Lacks Oomph
( it was still not quite dark enough )
Five minutes later, I made this 30-second exposure of the bridge (from the Snowy Bridge in Kyoto post) toward the east. The later time and the darker direction make for a bit more “oomph”, but it's still not there yet....
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 30 sec, f/10, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pulse of the Crowd
( the photographer on the left apparently didn't move for the whole 30 seconds! )
Finally, at 6:47pm, I think the lighting made for some nice “oomph”...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 3 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Now That's What I'm Talking About
I think the green willow (featured in this post last week), and the sky, really make this shot.
I'm just starting to get the hang of this, I think. You can compare these results with the progression of earlier night long-exposure posts...
The gentleman in the shot below set up shop beside me, and we chatted for a while. I offered suggestions on exposure, and he got some results that he was happy with, but I think he arrived a few minutes too late. There was a very short sweet spot when the light was just right... perhaps for just 10 minutes.
My cold seems to be coming back with a vengeance, so perhaps I should lay low for a while, but if I can, I'll try to go out tomorrow evening as well.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/200 sec, f/11, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
My Eyes Don't Know Where to Focus
Cherry Blossoms · Kyoto, Japan
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/350 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Full Bloom
This is the same area whose blossoms were featured in last week's It Has Begun and this week's Sakura from my Kitchen Window. Digging around in my blog archives a bit, from 2006 I find Long Night Exposures and Cherry Blossoms and Cherry Blossom Finale, and even a few from 2005 before I moved here: Indeed, the Blooms have Bloomed in Kyoto and Poetry for the Season and More Cherry-Blossom Pics.
It's a pretty area, but photos would look much nicer without the cinderblock wall in the background (a wall one doesn't really notice until you look through the viewfinder).
I'm so busy these days that I can barely see straight, but it's a positively lovely day, so I had to head out for a bit in the early afternoon. Most trees are at the peak of their blossoms, combined with being a weekend and having wonderful weather, and you know it's crowded. But it was an exceedingly pleasant atmosphere, with the crowds creating more of a quite festive mood than anything resembling a madhouse. For the most part, it was everything that cherry blossom season in the city should be. Despite my ongoing cold, I was completely content.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 170 mm — 1/320 sec, f/4, ISO 125 — map & image data — nearby photos
First Picture I Took Today
(Actually, it was the sixth, but came only 18 seconds after the first, so that's close enough)
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/500 sec, f/4, ISO 125 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sakura Chimping
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/1500 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Gate and Sakura
There are tons of cherry blossoms in view of the main gate of the Heian Shrine, so it's often a central theme in people's sakura photographs. I'm a sucker for the cliché, so I've done it myself plenty of times, such as in last year's Sakura and the Main Gate of the Heian Shrine (With Desktop Background) and Enjoying the Cherry Blossoms, and probably a hundred other times. (Heck, I've even done it with a can of coffee.)
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/2500 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lotsa' White
After a few minutes in this area, I wandered around a bit between here and the shrine, filling my camera's memory card along the way. There was fluffy white in abundance, but just to add some color, I'll include this shot from a tree in the park where Anthony likes to ride his bike....
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/1250 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Less White, Still Fluffy
I've posted a number of pinkish blossoms in the last month:
· Kyoto Plum-Blossom Preview
· Late to the Party: Plum Blossoms at the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine
· Kitano Tenmangu Shrine Part II
· Pink Sakura, Green Fuzzies, some Brass, and a Motorcycle Cop
but I've got to say that the shade/intensity of pink in the photo
above is by far my favorite. This particular tree was nowhere near full
bloom yet, so I'll have to be sure to revisit it later in the week.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/1250 sec, f/4.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Rock Climbing at the Beach
Despite having a cold during our vacation last week to Amami (a southern Japanese island in the East China Sea), I somehow found the energy to take a few pictures. 🙂
I'm busy now with other things lately (have you done your taxes yet?) so I haven't had time to go through our photos from the trip, so here are a few from the beginning, of Anthony playing on the beach in front of the hotel.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/5000 sec, f/3.5, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1/250 sec, f/10, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
There was a bright overcast with only the occasional bit of sun peaking through, so there wasn't much color in the water.
Our hotel was located near the north-east portion of the long, oddly shaped island (there's a map on my intro to Amami post), so we could see parts of it extending down to the south...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 35 mm — 1/500 sec, f/9, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/320 sec, f/9, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sea Sponges Are For Kicking
Well, I don't know whether it's a sea sponge or some kind of plant, but either way, Anthony found it eminently kickable.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 44 mm — 1/100 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wet, Squishy, and Smelly
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/1000 sec, f/3.2, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
I Like “Wet, Squishy, and Smelly”
(and Daddy likes how a thin depth of field can isolate the subject in a photo)
Ah, but those rocks in the background were just waiting to be climbed...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 44 mm — 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1/750 sec, f/4.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
The seashell necklace was a gift from the hotel, given to Anthony at our welcome dinner the previous night.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1/800 sec, f/4.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
View of the Hotel From the Rocks
Our hotel was the Bashayama-mura Resort, which was wonderfully low key and not at all like the high-end glitz that I imagine something like Club Med would be.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1/250 sec, f/7.1, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
At the far right you can barely make out the ropes of a couple of swings hanging from a spooky-type tree near the hotel. This was perhaps Anthony's favorite attraction of the entire trip.