As I mentioned yesterday, I went to Osaka to visit some friends. We met at Osaka Castle Park (a lovely place that I'll write about another time) and enjoyed the afternoon together.
I had my camera with me, of course, and took the opportunity to try my hand at some impromptu family portraits.....
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/640 sec, f/1.4, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Yoko and Kevin
and Kana (10) and Nao (8)
I've known Kevin for the better part of 20 years, and he attended my wedding 10 years ago. We don't get to meet very often because he lives up toward Tokyo, so I was happy that a business trip brought him down my way.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mari and Alex
and Naomi (6) and Emi (2)
I apparently met Alex once at an outing in Tokyo about 15 years ago, but to my shame I didn't remember. (Did I visit Tokyo 15 years ago? Must... regenerate... brain... cells.)
So, it was my distinct pleasure to re-meet him and his family. It turns out that he lives in Kobe (within a couple hours by train), so hopefully we'll be able to get together again soon.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200mm — 1/180 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nao
Almost Nine Years Old
There was just something about Nao that the camera loved. I don't know how to explain it because I don't really understand it myself, except to say that he had amazing “presence.” Maybe it's what they call the “it facter”? The picture above was just a random snapshot I made with my walk-around 18-200mm lens while he was playing, yet his gaze just commands the image. (The others shown here were taken with a pro-level 85mm f/1.4 lens.)
Back to the family portraits, I also tried some full-length versions....
Not too bad, I think. I'll have to try some similar shots with Fumie and Anthony for our Christmas cards....
Returning this evening from a most pleasant day visiting friends in Osaka, I noticed this couple sit behind me on the train.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 32mm — 1/60 sec, f/4, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Gosurori” Couple on a Train
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 18mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.5, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 90mm — 1/45 sec, f/5.3, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Their style would be called ゴスロリ (gosurori — “Gothic Lolita”).
I asked whether they dressed like this on a daily basis, to which she responded that yes shd did, although today was just a bit extra special (perhaps referring to her fabric crown, but I can't be sure). I asked why today was special, to which they conferred a bit on how to express it, finally saying that they were going to a “tea party.”
They were polite and well spoken, and I enjoyed a short chat with them. We soon arrived at Hankyuu Kawaramachi Station, so I thanked them for letting me take their picture, and bade them farewell and to enjoy their party.
I only wish that I could have attended myself.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 + 1.7× TC @ 340mm — 1/40 sec, f/4.8, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Another Taste of Autumn
Kyoto, Japan
After yesterday's first taste of autumn while being stuck with nothing better than a point-n-shoot, I thought I'd head back to the same area today with some better equipment. I brought my Nikon D200, Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 VR zoom, a Nikon TC-17EII 1.7× teleconverter (my first outing with it), and my monopod. And Anthony.
What I neglected to bring was enough time, light, or skill.
I got there just before the last direct rays of light disappeared, and without the dynamic clouds of yesterday, there were no visual fireworks in the sky, so the whole point of being there sort of vanished.
The lack of light meant that I'd need longer shutter speeds to photograph whatever remained, especially if I were playing with the teleconverter, which turns a 200mm f/2.8 lens into a 340mm f/4.5 lens: I'd need longer shutter times to handle the reduced light, and also to offset the increased effect of vibration and shake that a longer focal length results in.
So, I'd need to be able to hold the camera very steady to get anything usable. I took a lot of pictures, but the aforementioned lack of skill resulted in most being throw-away.
The shot above is at 340mm, at only 1/40th of a second, and although it's not super sharp, even with the VR and the monopod, I'm still proud of myself. It ranks up there with the “Thatched Wall, Edge On” shot from my Giouji Temple Part 2: Gate and Walls post.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120mm — 1/60 sec, f/4.8, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ice on Fire
One of the only shots I got before everything was engulfed in shadow was of these trees, which had somewhat taken on the appearance of being on fire, both due to the shape of their growth, and due to the redness from the imminently-setting sun.
They were in shadow moments later, but there was still sun higher up...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120mm — 1/350 sec, f/4.8, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Aircraft Control Tower
Okay, that's really a chimney on the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, but it looked like a control tower or ultra-modern lighthouse in this shot. I didn't see it that way at the time, though, having taken the shot merely because I liked the colors and contrast on the hexagonal column.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/20 sec, f/4.5, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Quintessential Anthony
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 + 1.7× TC @ 220mm — 1/5 sec, f/4.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Westin Miyako
Having mentioned the Westin Miyako in my previous post, I thought I'd show the closer view that a big zoom (or a short stroll) can provide. It's not that interesting a building or picture, but I like the warmth of the incandescent light filling the windows.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1.8 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Huh?
It was quite dark when we headed back at 5:30pm, and on the way home we passed the area where we'd played with the remote-control car yesterday. There, we found two kids on bikes, taking turns driving down the steps of the back entrance to the museum. They both had flashing tri-color LEDs on their wheels, and one had a very bright flashing LED headlight.
I knew that it would make for an interesting long exposure (where “long” in this case means “about one second” – the shot about is 1.8 seconds) which absolutely requires a tripod.
I didn't have a tripod, of course, which is why the picture above is all out of focus. However, since the focus of the picture is not, well, the focus, it seems to work well enough to show the effect of the moving lights.
When I got home and looked at the results, it took me quite a while before I could explain the decidedly odd paths of the wheel lights in this next shot:
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Double Huh??
Leaving the kids and their bikes, looking across the Kyoto Biwako canal to Nioumon St., I thought the warm lights on this building looked inviting...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/15 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Inviting
Canon IXY Digital 700— 1/100 sec, f/4.9 — map & image data — nearby photos
Autumn Hits Kyoto
( processed with some freaky over-sharpening in Adobe Lightroom )
Anthony and I went out today to try the remote control car he got from Grandma and Grandpa for his birthday last week, our schedule or the weather conspiring to prevent us until today.
We headed to the rear of the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art (in the same area as the “Hanami and Lunch” picture on this post) and gave it a try. I happened to have my point-n-shoot with me, so snapped a couple of pictures...
I'd not charged the battery in the week after opening it, so about the time he was getting used it, silly me, the battery wore down. Doh!
Still, it was nice out, and the setting sun was lighting up the trees like a torch, so we stayed around a while for him to play and me to take some pictures (albeit with a dinky point-n-shoot).
It seems that Autumn starts later in Kyoto than the rest of the world, which is why a month ago I used some pictures from last year to put up a Kyoto Fall Color Preview (Part I · Part II · Part III).
People seem to enjoy the season: by far my most popular post these days is last year's “Color of Kyoto” desktop background. On top of that, the individual picture on that page is – according to my server logs – the background image on about 50 different people's social-networking site (MySpace, Friendster, etc.)
Yet so far this year Kyoto has only the most early hints of what's to come. Many trees have a touch of change, but only a scattered few have really gotten colored in earnest. We happened to be near a few of those just as the final rays of a setting sun were sandblasting them with crimson, so they were absolutely livid with color.
But unfortunately, as I said, I had only my point-n-shoot. I tried, but I couldn't capture the scene.
Canon IXY Digital 700 — 1/60 sec, f/4.9 — map & image data — nearby photos
First Casualties of the Season
Considering how “un-fall” it is still in most of the city, I was surprised that this particular tree was already surrounded by a thin carpet of fallen leaves.
The building you can sort of see in the center of the picture above is the Westin Kyoto Miyako, generally considered to be the best hotel in Kyoto, where heads of state used to stay until two years ago when the Kyoto State Guest House was built. Anyway, the mountain (hill) to the right is behind it, with very easy walking paths up to nice vistas, from where I took the Heian Shrine from Afar pictures, looking toward where Anthony and I were today.
Turning around to look in the same direction as that shot, but from much closer, Anthony watches the big kids play baseball.
Canon IXY Digital 700 — 1/200 sec, f/7.1 — map & image data — nearby photos
Watching Big Kids Play Baseball
The lighting in that shot seems a bit odd because the baseball grounds were still being bathed by the ultra-crimson last light of a setting sun, while Anthony and I were in the shadow of the museum.
It was one of those late afternoons where the clouds were brilliantly colored and captivatingly dynamic, and for half an hour they kept drawing my gaze, seemingly to completely changing character from moment to moment so as to always be newly interesting.
I tried to foster an appreciation for this beauty in Anthony, but he was more interested in making a pile of leaves.
Canon IXY Digital 700 — 1/160 sec, f/3.5 — map & image data — nearby photos
Why Enjoy Beauty when you can Kick Leaves?
We eventually headed home, but headed up to the top (fifth) floor to find that we just missed the sunset. He wasn't too interested in it anyway, so we went home. I swapped my point-n-shoot for my real camera, only to return and find that the fireworks were over....
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 17mm — 1/100 sec, f/8, ISO 320 — full exif
Just Missed It
Oh Well, I Guess You Had To Be There
In my previous post on our trip to Miyajima near Hiroshima, Japan, I showed the main gate of the Itsukushima Shrine (厳島神社、宮島) at low tide. This time I have a few pictures of the shrine itself at low tide.
The shrine is mostly over piers above water (high tide) or mud (low tide), and I should start of by noting that it's much more picturesque when over water (as in the shot at the start of my first post from the trip). To me, today's pictures are more “interesting” than “pretty,” and are probably neither to anyone else, but it's my blog so here they are.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 56mm — 1/250 sec, f/4.8, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Shrine Without Peer
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 24mm — 1/160 sec, f/4.5, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Side Building
Various materials are used for the piers, including wood, stone, and iron...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 95mm — 1/180 sec, f/5.3, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Old Iron, New Wood
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 135mm — 1/60 sec, f/5.6, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Old Stone, New Wood
The “new wood” might be due to damage from a major typhoon several years ago.
Some of the buildings in the temple complex are devoid of color, while others are brilliantly orange. The covered walkway in the shot below is brilliant even in the dull overcast.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 18mm — 1/250 sec, f/4.5, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Walkway Over Nothing
(at least until the tide comes in)
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 18mm — 1/320 sec, f/4.5, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Isolated
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 28mm — 1/320 sec, f/4.5, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Rear Area of the Shrine Complex at Low Tide
The circular puddle in the center of the shot above has the rather ambitious name “reflecting pond,” through which the little stream that I mentioned on my previous post flows.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 18mm — 1/320 sec, f/7.1, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Rear Area of the Shrine Complex at Mid Tide
It doesn't look that much better in the final shot. Clear skies (rather than overcast) and deeper water would have given the water a prettier blue, rather than the muddy look we see here. Oh well, maybe on my next trip...