Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/50 sec, f/6.3, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Palatial Path
a path at a palace, the Sento Imperial Palace in Kyoto Japan
Nov 2013
仙洞御所（京都市）去年の秋
Continuing the story about a day with friends in Kyoto last November that started with a morning visit to the Shugakuin Imperial Villa, after lunch we made our way to the Sento Imperial Palace, a small palace tucked away in a corner of the huge park that also houses the main Imperial Palace in Kyoto.
It was my first trip to this particular palace.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Plain Entrance
to the grounds of the Sento Imperial Palace (仙洞御所)
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/50 sec, f/9, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Staging Area
just inside the entrance
I include this photo mostly as an example of why one needs to be careful about using a polarizing filter with a wide-angle lens. I'd brought the filter along because it has such a dramatic impact on fall foliage, but here it's having an impact on parts of the sky. But the sky is at best polarized only in certain directions, and the wide-angle lens is covering both polarized and unpolarized parts of the sky, so the effect is an area of deeper blue with washed-out areas on either side. Ugh.
When the tour started, its first stop was the big building in the background, which is one wing of the actual palace. While the guide talked about the building, I shot the garden to the right...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/50 sec, f/9, ISO 2800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looks Okay
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/100 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Off We Go
These palace tours run at a brisk pace and they don't like stragglers, so if you wnat photos, you have to grab them when you can. Adjusting camera settings and composition while walking, three seconds after the shot above I got something that I like a bit more...
Through the door in the wall seen in the two photos above, we came into an open area on the other side of the same building we'd started at. More talk. From the outside it was unremarkable by Kyoto standards...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/100 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Unremarkable
small part of a huge wooden structure rebuilt 150 years ago
We then moved on to the main attraction open to the public, the gardens. A short path brought us to this lake vista:
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/50 sec, f/4.5, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
First Look at the Lake
The presence of this lake absolutely floored me.
As I noted earlier, this entire palace and garden is tucked into a corner of the huge central-Kyoto park known as the Kyoto Imperial Palace Park, named so not for the subject of today's post, but because it also houses the main imperial palace in Kyoto. The park is huge and I've written posts from it on many occasions (including cherry blossoms, plum blossoms, festivals, family outings, and fall colors), but I never knew this second palace and its garden was here. I've ridden right by on a bicycle a hundred times in the last decade, but I had no clue. I was floored.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/500 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Path Leads Around the Lake
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/500 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sun Came Out for a Moment
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/100 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Too. Much. Color.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/50 sec, f/7.1, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Bit Washed Out The Other Way
but I love the character of the bare tree at right
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/250 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ken-chan
I took a bunch of photos of my masseur friend Kentaro Kataoka during these palace visits because it was his first time for both palaces, and it's difficult for a Japanese to visit. Someone with a foreign passport can stop in on the day and likely get a spot, but a Japanese must make a reservation months in advance for tours that fill up very quickly. But a group of up to three foreigners can bring one Japanese national along with them (ostensibly as a translator), so this opportunity allowed him to take the tour.
We eventually come to a small bridge over a narrow pinch in the lake...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/50 sec, f/14, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Not Too Bad
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/50 sec, f/14, ISO 5000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heading Across
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/50 sec, f/14, ISO 180 — map & image data — nearby photos
The Rest of the Lake
Just as I crossed the bridge, the sun dipped behind a cloud, but still, the mossy area on the other side was unearthly in its beauty (much more so than I have the skill to capture in a photo)...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/50 sec, f/14, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Unbelievably Scrumptious
I was marveling dumbstruck at this amazing beauty when nature laughed and said “you ain't seen nuthin' yet”, and moved the cloud:
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/80 sec, f/4.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Singing Angels
would stop in their tracks at this view
It was perhaps the most beautiful scene of nature that I've ever witnessed firsthand.
Because I'm so passionate about photography, every bit of me wanted to capture that beauty in a photo, but I knew it was impossible. I don't have the skill. The multitude of folks with 10× my skill, put together, wouldn't have enough skill to capture this scene, especially with the pressure that a policeman tour-guide was likely to come along any second to yell at you for dawdling, forever putting and end to your attempts.
(I do have to say that the police/guides here were much nicer than at the other palaces I've been to in Kyoto, the aforementioned Shugakuin palace, and the Katsura Palace, which I realize now that I've yet to post about. Anyway, on today's trip they were much more forgiving of slow photographers, so I appreciated every extra second in this mossy colorful dream.)
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/4, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lazy Hillside
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Inviting
as a bed for a nap
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 125 — map & image data — nearby photos
Entrance Path
to the Saginomori Shrine (鷺森神社), Kyoto Japan
Continuing the story of my last post, “Revisiting Kyoto’s Fall Colors: Shugakuin Imperial Villa Last November”, on a day with friends last November in Kyoto, Japan filled with photographic delights, the story had ended with our finishing a visit to the Shugakuin Imperial Villa. We had some time before lunch, so we paid a quick visit to the Saginomori Shrine (鷺森神社).
A small wall has “wish plaques”, where people write their wishes. Presumably, the shrine will burn them later in a ceremony (like this small ceremony, or this very large one).
People often wish for happiness or for health, but the girl who wrote the one whose text was visible to me had more specific ideas:
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nothing Too Special
the one in the upper right ask only “to hit it big in the lottery”
For lunch, we treated ourselves to French, at La Verveine for a $20 meal that in France would cost, we were told (by a Frenchman) 5× the price.
This appetizer was much better than my quick photo of it would indicate.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Getting Started
at La Verveine
I couldn't do the photography justice, so I put the camera away until the after-dinner coffee.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Kataoka-Sensei
and his cute little cup
With the visit to the Imperial Villa and such a fantastic lunch, we'd had a great day so far, but the best still awaited...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/4.5, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Simple Footbridge
At the Shugakuin Imperial Villa in Kyoto Japan, last November
去年の秋の修学院離宮
I guess this is a continuation of a post three months ago looking back to last November's trip to the Shugakuin Imperial Villa in Kyoto. We're still two months away from fall foliage season in Kyoto, but it's just around the corner for much of the Northern Hemisphere, so I guess this is a getting-in-the-mood-for-Autumn kind of post.
We'd left of on that previous post having headed up a hill to a nice view. The same view with an 85mm at f/1.6 sort of has a slightly-unreal look, as if it's a close up of a model...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/8000 sec, f/1.6, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Photo Ops for All
As described in my first post about this location, the tour moves at a brisk pace and they don't like folks to stray ahead or behind. So it's difficult to get most shots without luck and planning. Here's one such shot:
The only way to get that shot is to be the first one down the hill after they tell you to get moving, or the last one. I was the first... folks came streaming down moments later...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/160 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ken-chan
I'd made the trip with Damien, Paul, and Kentaro Kataoka (my masseur friend, most recently mentioned on my blog here).
(Coincidentally, I had dinner with Ken-chan and Damien last night at Via Transito, an Italian restaurant run by a friend. Was Tasty. When Paul comes in again November, the four of us will have to do it again and document the meal with photos 🙂 .
Anyway, the lake doesn't look so great in the shot above, so here's a shot of the same covered bridge, but from the other direction, and with perhaps better lighting...
The next stop on the tour was another little hut/house where the Emperor might have tea or something...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/50 sec, f/7.1, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Room for Reflection
Kyuusuitei (窮邃亭) at the Shugakuin Imperial Villa (修学院離宮)
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 125 — map & image data — nearby photos
Typical Scene
while moving on the tour
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/10, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ken Again
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/10, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lake and that Tea House
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heading Back
the red hat is unmistakable
Our tour of this imperial villa was done, but another awaited, as did lunch.
This won't mean a thing if you don't know this game, but if you do, I hope your jaw is suitably on the floor at that score.
When I still had the cold that I recently got over, I would sometimes pass the time playing the simple game “2048”. I played on my phone, but anyone can play for free at the creator's website. It's fun and addictive.
During this sick time a game would last a few minutes, and I could get a score of about 2,000. Anthony and I had a running competition, and at first he could do better than me. But as my cold subsided, I got better, and with luck, could get a score of 5,000 and once even 7,000.
Then a few days ago I got one hint of strategy online, and boom, my scores started going up. This hint got me paying attention to the gameplay in a different way, and from there I came up with some important rules of thumb that really caused my scores to explode. 12,000 then 29,700, then 33,000.
Unfortunately, the games started lasting longer and longer, and when I'm not sick I just don't have the time to waste on games. If I could limit myself to filling lost time (like in the bathroom or while stretching at the gym) I do it, but I don't have that kind of willpower, because it's quite fun.
Today's last game was sweet. Things were just humming along perfectly like a machine. Here's a screenshot I took at one really nice moment... this means nothing if you don't know the game, but if you do, you can imagine what the next few moves will yield...
Moments Before My First “4096” Tile
Typical Scene Later On
nice and orderly
Things started to unravel when I allowed myself to get into a situation where I had no choice but to move down, along the lines of this mockup I made in Photoshop:
Bad Situation
( mockup made in Photoshop )
So I had to move down, and of course a “2” tile pops up right where the “4096” tile was, and that started things falling apart.
By the way, if you're a programmer, this long thread at Stack Overflow, on computer algorithms to play the game, is fun reading. One guy's program could score 377,792(!)
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 at an effective 202mm — 1/1000 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Metaphor For Me
a dead sunflower and pretty flowers,
representing the cold I just got over, and the getting over of the cold
I'm finally over the nagging cold I had for the last two weeks. It had relented a bit early on enough for me to write the posts on the gargoyle workshop, then returned and stuck with me until I finally went to the doctor the other day. He gave me antibiotics, and I started feeling much felt better the next day.
やっと風邪が治った、二週間ぶり元気です。手当たり次第に２００８年の写真色々を見せます。
I couldn't concentrate on much while I had the cold, but to try to eke out some productivity, I picked a year (2008) and started going through my photo archive with and eye to delete cruft — stuff I no longer need, or never needed but had been too lazy to go through and get rid of. I got through about 90% of the 14,299 photos that I still have for the year, and identified a third as low-hanging-fruit that I can delete.
Wanting to post something now that I'm finally feeling better, here are a few pretty-ish shots from 2008. They're all taken with a Nikon D200, which was my first dSLR.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 at an effective 25mm — 1/400 sec, f/5, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Garden Lake
Heian Shrine, Kyoto Japan
平安神宮
From the same trip that produced “Snowy Gardens of the Heian Shrine”.
And a tree in the local park, during cherry-blossom peak:
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 at an effective 240mm — 1/180 sec, f/4, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Weeping Cherry at Full Bloom
From the same day as Cherry-Blossom “Snow”.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 at an effective 300mm — 1/500 sec, f/3.5, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Kids Playing
I don't know who the kids are, but I like the feeling of action the shot captures. From this day.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 at an effective 127mm — 1/3000 sec, f/2.2, ISO 160 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Pretty Sunset is a Pretty Sunset
from the day that started here
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR at an effective 27mm — 1/160 sec, f/4.5, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wisteria Vertigo
from this outing
Nothing super great, and without the story that I normally like to write, but sometimes you just want to see colors.
Though here's a little story: after selecting the photos for today's post, and while starting to write it up, I went back to my archive see what other blog posts I'd written from the same outings these photos came from. It turns out that I'd already published a photo very similar to the one that leads this post, with the same metaphor of the dead flower representing my having a cold. Six and a half years ago, it was the lead photo on “Venting About My (sort of) Cursed Vacation”.
If nothing else, I'm consistent.