{"id":1733,"date":"2011-04-02T23:24:40","date_gmt":"2011-04-02T14:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2011-04-02\/1733"},"modified":"2011-04-02T23:24:40","modified_gmt":"2011-04-02T14:24:40","slug":"more-blossoms-in-kyoto-more-quakes-out-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2011-04-02\/1733","title":{"rendered":"More Blossoms in Kyoto, More Quakes out East"},"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 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAll-Natural Dreamy<\/span>\nCherry Blossoms in Kyoto\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\nStandard: 1024×<\/span>768<\/a>  ·  1440×<\/span>1080<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>1200<\/a><\/small>     <\/span>\nWidescreen:  1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1599<\/a><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Today was a laid back Saturday for me. Anthony was on a trip<\/span> with his\ngrandparents and Fumie was working on ballet, so I stayed<\/span> home to try\nto make a dent<\/span> in the unending backlog of stuff I'm behind on. But with the<\/span>\nblossoms starting to come out in force and the temperature approaching\n20°C (66°F), I couldn't<\/span> resist to step outside a bit<\/span> with the\ncamera. The mood outside<\/span> was wonderfully relaxed, an uncrowded, low-key\nversion of the cherry-blossom joie de\nvivre<\/i><\/a> that I've written about before. It was really<\/span> nice. I expect<\/span> next weekend will be the crowded hectic (but still nice) version.<\/p>\n\n

The blossoms above are on the same branch as the first blossoms in the\narea that I reported<\/span> the\nother day<\/a> because that one branch has the added benefit of being low\nenough that I can<\/span> photograph it with something other than sky as the\nbackground. It didn't matter in this case because I was<\/span> fairly zoomed up\nwith my Cosina Voigtl\u00e4nder\n125mm f\/2.5<\/a> that I got<\/span>\nlast year<\/a>, so being that zoomed up left the background nothing but\nother blossoms. This is my first cherry-blossom season with the\nVoigtl\u00e4nder, so I'm excited to put it through its paces in the coming\nweeks.<\/p>\n\n

A macro can make things so creamy... the photo above is captioned “all\nnatural” because it looks as if I've given it the “funky joy<\/a>” treatment that\nI most<\/span> recently used at the head of the cherry-blossom preview<\/a>\nthree weeks ago. I'm partial<\/span> to that effect in measured doses, but other\nthan setting the white balance, the shot above is straight out of Lightroom\nwith all-default settings.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nComing Along Nicely<\/span>\nbut still a long way to go\n<\/div>\n\n

The blossoms are still in the early stages, with some trees still almost\nentirely blossomless. Those that have them still have a long<\/span> way to go\nbefore mankai<\/i>, full bloom. You can see<\/span> in the photo below how anemic\nthings look from a distance.<\/span>..<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nShirakawa River<\/span>\nfrom the Biwako Canal\n<\/div>\n\n

I like this close-focus version better...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n
Vertical Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\n1050×<\/span>1678<\/a>  ·  1200×<\/span>1918<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>2558<\/a><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

That close focus on foreground foliage is another effect that I seem<\/span> to\nbe partial to... it reminds me of one of my favorite shots, Serenity at the Sanzen-in\nTemple<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Over at the canal, I got this<\/span> sort of odd photo...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nStacked<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

That's a cherry-blossom-viewing boat passing under the bridge. They run\nduring this season every year (I've written about them before, such as here<\/a> and here<\/a>), but I\nwondered<\/span> whether I'd see them this year because this morning I saw<\/span> a news<\/span>\nreport about similar boats in Tokyo sitting idle because people felt it\nwould be inappropriate to enjoy them under the current circumstances. Kyoto\nis far enough away to not have those concerns; the boats I saw<\/span> today were\nfull.<\/p>\n\n

On top of the bridge were some Buddhist monks collecting donations for the earthquake....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I probably wouldn't have even thought to snap these shots except that lately\nI've seen similar shots on another Kyoto blog (here<\/a>\nand here<\/a>),\nso I thought<\/span> to give it a try.<\/span> And now that<\/span> I'm writing this, I realize<\/span> that today's group is the same as in the second post I linked<\/span> to; they're from\nthe Shogo'in Temple<\/a>. The temple<\/span> is just half a mile<\/span> from my place, but I'd never heard of it.\nI'll have to pay it a visit<\/span> soon.<\/p>\n\n

Back to the blossoms, they've still got a way<\/span> to go, but even so are sure pretty...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

And of course, when the blossoms come out, so do the cameras...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 560 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPhoto Op<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500 mm, cropped — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 1600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPhoto Op?<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I'm not sure what was going on with the guy photographing a doll<\/span> in\nfront of a backdrop<\/span> of blossoms, but most scenarios I can<\/span> conjure up would\nfall under the heading of either “heartbreaking” or “creepy”. But maybe<\/span> he's just an artisan\ntaking a snapshot<\/span> of his latest creation. Who knows...<\/p>\n\n\n

This final shot of a mess of blossoms had some punch to it, which I then<\/span> enhanced a tad<\/span> in Lightroom. It grabs<\/span> my attention,\nthough I'm still not sure whether in a good<\/span> way..<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 1100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPunchy<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

I hope the spring and cherry blossoms help bring some peace to the people up in the quake-ravaged northeast.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a><\/div>\n\n

There was another shindo-5<\/i> quake today, just like yesterday and\nthe day before. A “shindo 5<\/b>”<\/span> (damage-level<\/a>\nfive)<\/span> quake is one where people in the hardest hit area might feel\neither<\/p>\n\n

\n“Most people try to escape from a danger.<\/span> Some people find it difficult to move.<\/i>”\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

for a 5 minus<\/b> like today's, or<\/p>\n\n

\n“Many people are considerably frightened and find it difficult to move<\/i>”\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

for a 5 plus<\/b> like yesterday's.<\/p>\n\n

Unlike the magnitude measurement common in the West, which measures\nabsolute energy at the source of the quake (however far away and remote it might be), The Japanese\nshindo<\/i> scale<\/a> rankings are specific to each location, and are based upon\nground movement actually measured in three dimensions at the location by an\naccelerometer. There are thousands sprinkled across the country.<\/p>\n\n

For reference, the tremor my friend felt when he wrote\n“Big f#@*!ng earthquake. Currently under table<\/i><\/a>” was only a shindo 4<\/b> in his area,\nthough he was on the 9th floor in a building<\/span> on a man<\/span>-made island at the time, so I'm sure the effect was amplified. The same quake<\/span> was an impressive six minus<\/b><\/a> further up the coast, though none of this\nis anything compared to the magnitude 9 quake<\/a> that had struck out to sea half an hour before,\nwhich registered only as high as shindo 7<\/b> because the scale goes no higher.<\/p>\n\n

Anyway, shindo 5<\/b> and above quakes are fairly rare, and under\nnormal circumstances the occurrence of one would be the lead item on the\nnews, but the one today didn't even merit a mention<\/span><\/i> even though it\nhappened a few<\/span> minutes before the start of the 7pm news, probably because\nthere have been 25 of them in the last three weeks. Until a few<\/span> days ago it\nhad been settling down, but there were clusters of them in the week after\nthe big quake, as my one week of quake\naccelerometer data<\/i> video<\/a> shows.<\/p>\n\n

(Special just-to-be-clear note for my mom: none of these have been felt here in Kyoto.... all the problems are hundreds of miles away.)<\/p>\n\n

With ten-to-twenty thousand bodies still not accounted for, the cold\nweather has been a blessing<\/span> in one sense, but once they're recovered, I'm sure a<\/span> warm spring with cherry blossoms will be at least a slight<\/span> big of\nwelcome relief for the folks up there.<\/p>\n\n

At least I hope so. Not much else<\/span> I can<\/span> do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today was a laid back Saturday for me. Anthony was on a trip with his grandparents and Fumie was working on ballet, so I stayed home to try to make a dent in the unending backlog of stuff I'm behind on. But with the blossoms starting to come out in force and the temperature approaching 20°C (66°F), I couldn't resist to step outside a bit with the camera. The mood outside was wonderfully relaxed, an uncrowded, low-key version of the cherry-blossom joie de vivre that I've written about before. It was really nice. I expect next weekend will be the [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,8,1,2,6,25],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1733"}],"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=1733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1733\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}