{"id":1381,"date":"2009-11-30T22:14:42","date_gmt":"2009-11-30T13:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2009-11-30\/1381"},"modified":"2009-12-05T21:29:18","modified_gmt":"2009-12-05T12:29:18","slug":"mysterious-cut-stones-in-the-mountains-of-kyoto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2009-11-30\/1381","title":{"rendered":"Mysterious Cut Stones in the Mountains of Kyoto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\nNOTE<\/b>: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 62 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 2800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFinely Carved Junk<\/span>\nor so it seems\n<\/div>\n\n

In yesterday's “Fall Colors in Nature, as Nature Intended<\/a>” I wrote<\/span> about an\narea of (what I think<\/span> is) natural-growth deciduous trees in a long<\/span> ravine\nalong the mountain road between Kyoto and Otsu. In using<\/span> the phrase “as\nnature intended”, I meant<\/span> to contrast the exquisite (but planned)\nlandscaping of large\ntemples like Eikando<\/a>. I did not<\/span>, however, mean to imply that nature\nintended such a gorgeous<\/span> display of color to be marred by ugly visual\npollution like guardrails, telephone poles, and junk.<\/p>\n\n

But, like most areas of nature in Japan that are accessible to people,\njunk was aplenty, roughly in proportion to the natural beauty. (At first\nthis “beauty equals garbage” tautology broke my heart, and then as I got<\/span>\ninto photography, it created exceptional composition challenges..... but\nsadly, I'm now jaded<\/span> to it and it's just one negative aspect of the\nplace. Sigh.)<\/p>\n\n

Anyway, I mentioned<\/span> in yesterday's post that there were a bunch<\/span> of cut\nstones apparently discarded by the side of the road, seemingly having been\nthere for many years.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 2800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPiled Up Behind the Guardrail<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 2200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMakes for a Solid<\/span> Barrier<\/span>\nthe river is at left, way down below\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 1250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 900 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n( I wonder whether this'll make a nice<\/span> desktop-background image? )\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 1250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 26 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 4000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 1600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nEdgy<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Some of these have a vaguely HDR<\/a>ish feel because I felt<\/span>\ncompelled to use Lightroom's “fill light” to bring up the darkness of the\nstones in the shade. The photo<\/span> immediately above, though, had an edgy feel\nto begin with, which I then<\/span> further encouraged with Lightroom's positive\nclarity (to get the opposite of the soft-glow effect that negative clarity<\/a>\nbrings).<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nStone that Rolled Down Into the River<\/span>\nalongside the requisite random river trash\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 26 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 1100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nColor Check<\/span>\nwith the handy WhiBal<\/a> I keep<\/span> in my bag\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 44 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 560 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSigned and Numbered<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The stones were in many shapes and conditions, but I could<\/span> find writing\non only two. I can't<\/span> read what's on the one above, though it certainly\nseems like writing. Whatever it is looks like it ends with “130”, but I'm\nnot sure.<\/p>\n\n

And on another, after pushing back some accumulated decaying leaves, I found.<\/span>..<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 48 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 3600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n(For the) Village Safety<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I'd left my scooter at a less narrow arrow just up the road a bit,<\/span> and\nafter returning to it and passing back this way, I noticed<\/span> that someone\nelse had stopped to take pictures of the leaves. I stopped<\/span> and asked\nwhether he knew the story behind the stones; he did not, but suspected that\nthey had been dumped there nefariously in the dead of night some long time\nago. His curiosity<\/span> piqued, he said he'd ask the local police, and let me\nknow what he finds out. Cool.<\/p>\n\n

Later in my short but fruitful exploration of the area, I found<\/span> some\nthings that might offer ideas about this pile's origins.... we'll see.<\/p>\n\n

UPDATE:<\/b> it turns out that these are owned by the nearby Nishimiura Stone Lanterns<\/a>\ncompany. They use it as sort of an overflow warehouse. I guess<\/span> big stones\ndon't really mind if they fall into the river... at least so long as\nthey're not left for more than a few<\/span> hundred years.<\/p>\n\n

Continued here...<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In yesterday's \"Fall Colors in Nature, as Nature Intended\" I wrote about an area of (what I think is) natural-growth deciduous trees in a long ravine along the mountain road between Kyoto and Otsu. In using the phrase \"as nature intended\", I meant to contrast the exquisite (but planned) landscaping of large temples like Eikando. I did not, however, mean to imply that nature intended such a gorgeous display of color to be marred by ugly visual pollution like guardrails, telephone poles, and junk.<\/p>

But, like most areas of nature in Japan that are accessible to people, junk was aplenty, [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1,2,23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}