Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/250 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Path to The Main Garden
at the Hokyo-in Temple (宝筐院)
Kyoto Japan

My first outing this season to partake of Kyoto's fall-foliage delights was on Friday, as I wrote about yesterday. The first stop was my first visit to the Hokyo-in Temple (宝筐院) in the Arashiyama area of western Kyoto.

The long path into the garden was quite photogenic, though it was difficult to get a shot that both avoided people in the photo and avoided annoying people while taking the photo, but within those constraints I did okay...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/50 sec, f/4.5, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos

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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/50 sec, f/9, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos

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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos

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Yet, despite all the work to avoid people in the shots, I tend to like ones with people better, like the one at the top of this post, or that same lady at the top of yesterday's post, or this lady stopping in the middle of the path...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/125 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Richer “3D” Feel
(I wish I'd made a wigglegram of this exact scene!)

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Once I made the plugin onto the path myself, I transversed it quickly so as to avoid being in others' shots, and came around the back side of the main temple building only to be blinded by the sun...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/250 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Blinding
“do not look into sun with remaining eye”

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Much of the day had harsh light like this, but the front of the main temple building was bathed in rich color-splashed shade, so it was wonderful...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Peeking Through

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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Corner Post
in the harsh direct sunlight

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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/80 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
From Behind the Corner Post
similar to this B&W photo yesterday

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/50 sec, f/3.5, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Front Shade
view from the corner post toward the front

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Now we move inside...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Simplicity

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Here's a wigglegram to make you feel as if you're there; wiggle your mouse over the image...

Animatable — slowly sweep mouse from side to side to view effect
写真の上をマウスで左右にゆっくり動かすといろいろな影響を見えます。

The fall color get all the attention, but the little details in the garden are still nice...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos

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Continued here...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/80 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Picturesque Path
at the Hokyo-in Temple (宝筐院)
Kyoto Japan

Fall-foliage season, long over with in most of the Northern Hemisphere, is just getting into full swing in Kyoto. Throwing common sense to the wind, I dared to venture to the Arashiyama area of Kyoto yesterday (Friday), where the density of tourists during this season threatens to form a singularity. Adding to the mass of folks, I went with Paul Barr and Damien Douxchamps.

We limited ourselves to a few temples on the northern fringes of Arashiyama, and so we avoided the most oppressive crowds.

The first stop was my first visit to the Hokyo-in Temple (宝筐院), which includes a picturesque path that naturally attracts the camera. The shot above recalls last week's “Why Does Photography with an iPad Look so Silly?”, though the lady wrapped in understated class also calls to mind the followup article, “iPad Photography: This Guy is Doing it Right”.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/50 sec, f/9, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Veranda
of the main temple building
at the Hokyo-in Temple (宝筐院)

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I'd planned to post two shots from each place we visited yesterday, but it seems that while playing around in Lightroom this shot of the same temple building also got included...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/50 sec, f/11, ISO 1800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Corner

We then moved next door to the much larger Seiryoji Temple (清涼時)...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/25 sec, f/16, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Covered Walkway
with rich wood ceiling beams
Seiryoji Temple (清涼時)

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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/250 sec, f/4.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Harsh Sunlight
makes for a challenge

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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/50 sec, f/5.6, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
The Chicken Watches

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We then moved over to Heiankyo, which seems to be a private residence/park-ish kind of place not normally open to the public except during rare special openings, one of which was going on yesterday.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 720 — map & image data — nearby photos
Winding-ish
grounds at Heiankyo (平安郷)

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Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tuft

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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tea Service
anyone who showed up got tea and sweet served by kimono-clad ladies

The next stop was the almost-impossible-to-find Enrian Temple (厭離庵) whose frontage on the street totals about four feet. A long narrow path connects the street to the temple grounds...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/50 sec, f/1.4, ISO 2800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Path To The
Enrian Temple (厭離庵)

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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Outlying Building

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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/50 sec, f/1.4, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Garden Photo Op

Finally we found our way to the Takiguchi-dera Temple (滝口寺), next to the Gioji Temple that has been on my blog so many times. I'd never actually taken the extra 10 steps up to the Takiguchi-dera Temple, so today we did...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/50 sec, f/3.2, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Narrow Path
Takiguchi-dera Temple (滝口寺)

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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/200 sec, f/2.2, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Slightly Jostled

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The Takiguchi-dera Temple, much less popular than Gioji just below it on the mountain, was a quiet respite from the crowds.

Damien and Paul then went to Gioji and elsewhere, but I was feeling a bit out of energy by this time so I called it a day. But it was a photogenic day, to say the least, so there's much more to post when time allows.

Continued here...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — ¹/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Entrance Foyer
bathed in late-afternoon sun
at the Seifuso Villa, Kyoto Japan
清風荘（京都市）の玄関

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I guess yesterday's A Simple “What am I?” Quiz wasn't as simple as I thought because there have been no correct answers yet. While I give it some more time, above we have a view of the entrance foyer from the same visit that produced the quiz photo.

I've so much to post from yesterday's visit, but I don't know when I'll find time, considering that we're now really starting to get into the fall foliage season in Kyoto. I spent a long photographic today in Arashiyama with Paul Barr and Damien Douxchamps, ending with the most-tasty chicken at Uroko. I've not even had a chance to look at yesterday's photos much, much less today's.

Living in such a photogenic place can be a problem at times, but it's a good problem to have. 🙂

Continued here...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
What (and Why) am I?
Seifuso Villa (清風荘), Kyoto Japan

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It's been a while (almost a year!) since my last “What am I?” Quiz... I'll have to do better.

Today's “What am I?” quiz is fairly simple (it's clearly wood), so today I add a “Why?”. Why is the What above what it is?

The photo is from an amazing day today at the Seifuso Villa (清風荘) near Kyoto University. The subject of the photo is something one sometimes sees to a small extent at temples; what I saw today was by far the best example of (whatever it is) I've ever seen.

(As usual, I'll hold all comments back in “blog moderation” for few days, until I make them all public and give the answer.)

Answered here...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
The Kintai Bridge (錦帯橋)
Iwakuni, Japan

The load photo on the other day's post (Why Does Photography with an iPad Look so Silly?) showed the picturesque Kintai Bridge in the background.

According to its Wikipedia page, it was first built 340 years ago, but was destroyed by a typhoon 60 years ago and rebuilt 50 years ago, and refurbished 10 years ago.

It's a few miles from my father-in-law's childhood home, so we stopped by during a visit last month.

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
More Arches
than McDonald's

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Fairly Steep

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/8, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Angle of Incidence

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/1250 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Apogee

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Locked

Some of the huge stones at the top of the piers were locked to other stones via small bowtie-shaped insets, four of which (of presumably six total) for one stone are visible in the shot above. (What's the right word for these things? Sort of similar to “lynchpin”, but that's clearly not the right one...)

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos

Near the north end of the bridge is an apparently-famous ice-cream shop with more than 100 flavors. According to the sign, there were 120 flavors the day we visited...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
むさし 100種類アイス

Some “flavors” are nothing more than various things sprinkled on vanilla, and perhaps many are just whipped in after you order, but there are a lot of strange results to choose from...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Menu
(very partial)

Some of the flavors visible...

Seems fine, but then...

... and then we come to what I ordered, 98, Wasabi (“Japanese horseradish”, the green paste you get with sushi).

It was good, but it took a while before I noticed anything besides the plain vanilla ice cream that was its base. I think they had mixed in some very mild wasabi bits or something. Eventually I started to notice the flavor, and it was quite pleasant. I like wasabi. Your mileage would be different if you didn't. 🙂