{"id":1657,"date":"2010-11-09T19:11:41","date_gmt":"2010-11-09T10:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2010-11-09\/1657"},"modified":"2010-11-27T23:33:23","modified_gmt":"2010-11-27T14:33:23","slug":"first-taste-of-fall-colors-at-shigas-amazing-kongourinji-temple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2010-11-09\/1657","title":{"rendered":"First Taste of Fall Colors at Shiga’s Amazing Kongourinji Temple"},"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\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nCherry Blossoms in November<\/span>\nat the Kongourinji Temple, Shiga Prefecture, Japan\n<\/div>\n\n

I'm guessing the sparse white puffs in the foreground are cherry\nblossoms, the jyuugatsuzakura<\/i> (\u5341\u6708\u685c, “October Cherry Blossoms”) I first<\/span>\nran into at the Himukai\nShrine<\/a> a year<\/span> ago. I'd not seen<\/span> them since.<\/p>\n\n

Today I accepted an invitation from Kyoto friend St\u00e9phane Barbery<\/a> to\naccompany him on a visit<\/span> to the Kongourinji Temple<\/a>\n (\u91d1\u525b\u8f2a\u5bfa)<\/span> in Shiga\nPrefecture, an hour's drive away on the far side of Lake Biwa. As I mentioned<\/span> yesterday<\/a>, I wanted<\/span> to continue to give the pain in my arms a rest<\/span> from computer work,\nso I joined<\/span> him and ended up having a deeply<\/span> emotional experience at this\ntemple. I'll write another time about why this particular temple can be so\nevocative, but while the 619 photos I took<\/span> are loading in Lightroom, I thought<\/span> I'd share a few<\/span> from the very front of the batch.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPaying My Way<\/span>\nSt\u00e9phane kindly pre-pays for me\n<\/div>\n\n

Even though the fall foliage season has come and gone for much of the\nNorthern Hemisphere, it's always much later in Japan; for us, the colors\nhave just started to turn. A few trees<\/span> are fully engulfed, as we saw in\nthe background of the first picture, but the shot above reflects the\ncurrent status better: most maple still haven't even started to turn,\npunctuated by fiery sections of those that have.<\/p>\n\n

We were quite the early birds at the temple; it was very uncrowded, to\nthe point of being deserted. St\u00e9phane had been here before and so went\nahead at his own pace, and for much of the time I was<\/span> completely alone. (In\nfuture posts when you see how spectacular this place was, even this early\nin the season, you'll be amazed it could be so empty.) It was very\npeaceful.<\/p>\n\n

The weather was much better today than yesterday<\/a>, but the\nsun was still mostly absent. When it did pop out from behind the clouds,\nthere was much rejoicing and shutter snapping. Here's an early burst of\nlight...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSplashed in Sunshine<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

... and moments later, the sun was gone, leaving everything with a vastly<\/span> different feel...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 560 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSplashed in Shade<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

It was unfortunate that the sun was so shy today, but it was still an amazing place to visit, and to photograph.<\/p>\n\n

Like yesterday, I brought<\/span> only three lenses, all primes: Nikkor 24mm\nf<\/span>\/1.4, Nikkor 50mm f<\/span>\/1.4, and\na Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f<\/span>\/2.5<\/a>. Judging from the image data, I changed<\/span> lenses\n65 times. I hate the<\/span> bother of changing lenses, but c'est la vie<\/i>. My camera<\/span> bag was a\nThink Thank Speed Racer<\/i><\/a>\nand I just<\/span> kept the lenses sitting in it without front or rear caps, so I could<\/span> change lenses in a quick<\/span> jiffy.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOverwhelming<\/span>\nwhere does one even start to focus?\n( clicking through to the large version reveals the fiery leaves at right are in focus )<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

You won't see it in this short post, but this place blows away anything Kyoto has, including even the stunning\nEikando Temple (seen in many previous posts, including\n“Holy Cow, the Gardens at Kyoto's Eikando Temple are Gorgeous!<\/a>”,\n“Teeming Throngs Enjoying the Colors at Kyoto's Eikando Temple<\/a>”,\n“More From Yesterday's Trip to the Eikando Temple<\/a>”,\nand “More From the Eikando Temple Foliage Lightup<\/a>”). Like the many\ndynamic views at Eikando, here at Kongourinji one finds numerous scenes with many visual layers. <\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPath<\/span>\none of many\n( in a week or so, this will be a stunning<\/span> tunnel of color )\n
Vertical Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\n1050×<\/span>1680<\/a>  ·  1200×<\/span>1920<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>2560<\/a><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 @ 50 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 360 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nScene of the Autumn Cherry Blossoms<\/span>\nthe tree is really sparse, save a few<\/span> blossoms here and there\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nStart of a Very<\/span> Long Path<\/span>\n300 meters of sorrow and anguish await\n
Vertical Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\n1050×<\/span>1680<\/a>  ·  1200×<\/span>1920<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>2560<\/a><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Prior to this visit I'd never even heard of Kongourinji, and had asked\nSt\u00e9phane not to tell me what it was like, so at this point I didn't<\/span> know\nwhat to expect. Still, I would<\/span> have been plenty happy even if what I'd seen\nso far was all there was, because even these ancillary areas were\ngorgeous.<\/p>\n\n

But it turns out that the large temple complex has two main areas of\nbeauty, and I had<\/span> yet to reach either. I'll post more once my photos have\nloaded and I have<\/span> a chance<\/span> to actually look at the rest of them.<\/p>\n\n

To be continued<\/i>.... <\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I'm guessing the sparse white puffs in the foreground are cherry blossoms, the jyuugatsuzakura (\u5341\u6708\u685c, \"October Cherry Blossoms\") I first ran into at the Himukai Shrine a year ago. I'd not seen them since.<\/p>

Today I accepted an invitation from Kyoto friend St\u00e9phane Barbery to accompany him on a visit to the Kongourinji Temple (\u91d1\u525b\u8f2a\u5bfa) in Shiga Prefecture, an hour's drive away on the far side of Lake Biwa. As I mentioned yesterday, I wanted to continue to give the pain in my arms a rest from computer work, so I joined him and ended up having a deeply emotional [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1,2,6,25],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657"}],"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=1657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}