{"id":1785,"date":"2011-05-28T14:33:38","date_gmt":"2011-05-28T05:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2011-05-28\/1785"},"modified":"2012-11-09T09:42:20","modified_gmt":"2012-11-09T00:42:20","slug":"views-near-the-top-of-wakayamas-mt-oishi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2011-05-28\/1785","title":{"rendered":"Views Near the Top of Wakayama’s Mt. Oishigamine"},"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 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>8000 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPicnic at the Top of the World<\/span>\na family enjoys a quiet outing with a view<\/span>\nOishikougen, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan\n<\/div>\n\n

Well, it's not quite Mt. Everest, and not even as high as the mountain we visited in\nEhime Prefecture<\/a> last month, but the view made it feel like it was.\nPierre Nadeau, the Japanese swordsmith<\/a> I\nvisited<\/span> earlier this month, stopped off to show us this view on the way to\nlunch.<\/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>\nSo, Uh, Where's the Food?<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

My imperfect Japanese can sometimes make for comical situations. I heard<\/span> that we were going for lunch and that I should<\/span> follow in my car. It was quite<\/span> a long<\/span> drive, but I wasn't<\/span> surprised because someone had said we were\ngoing to “Oishiikougen<\/i>”, which I understood<\/span> as, literally, “Tasty\nPlateau”. The mental<\/span> image that popped into my mind was a cleared<\/span>-out area\nin the mountains with a number<\/span> of restaurants and cafes joining together\nto make a “destination”, sort of like a food<\/span> mall in the middle of a\npicturesque<\/span> nowhere.<\/p>\n\n

I was correct about the “picturesque nowhere” part. It turns<\/span> out that it's not the “Oishiikougen<\/i>”\n(\u7f8e\u5473\u3057\u3044\u9ad8\u539f)<\/span>\nthat I thought<\/span> I heard,<\/span> but rather, “Oishikougen<\/i>” (\u751f\u77f3\u9ad8\u539f),<\/span>\na pleasant<\/span> park near the top of the locally-highest Mt Oishigamine\n (\u751f\u77f3\u30b1\u5cf0),<\/span> a very<\/span> picturesque nowhere indeed, but also\na nowhere<\/span> decidedly devoid of a mall<\/span>-like dining experience.<\/p>\n\n

I was, of course, the only one to have made this misunderstanding.<\/p>\n\n

I had my little 300mm\nf\/2<\/a> in the car, having picked it up<\/a> two days\nprior. It seemed<\/span> to be a nice<\/span> area to give it a try,<\/span> so I did.<\/span>...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>8000 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nQuality Time<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>8000 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFlying an R\/C Plane<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Here's the wider scene that ties the two pictures above together...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>2000 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I tried to get a shot of the plane they were flying (and flying well,\nconsidering that the formidable wind gusts were unpredictable), but manual\nfocus at 300mm at f\/2 is not my strong suit (especially, as I understood<\/span>\nlater, the lens was misconfigured such that proper focus was not even\npossible!)...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>8000 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFuzzy<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

What I should have done (besides understanding how to configure the lens\nproperly) was to focus on the man, then wait and snap the shot when the\nplane was in the plain of focus. The plane<\/span> was darting around quickly, but\nafter a while<\/span> I bet<\/span> I would<\/span> have gotten lucky. I tried<\/span> this a week<\/span> later\nwith some birds (in “Big Lens at the River: Focusing on Disappointment<\/a>”) to\nbetter success than the photo above.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>4000 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 220 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nGathering<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The outcropping of rocks had a sheer dropoff on one side, so it was a\nnatural<\/span> place to sit and relax, all the more with Zak's shakuhachi. (Zak is\none of the best shakuhachi players in the world, though such refined arts\nare mostly lost on my Neanderthal senses.)<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>5000 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nGood Times<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>8000 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOthers Enjoying the Park<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>8000 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nThe Summit<\/span>\nI suppose it's up there\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>6400 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBiiiiiig Stretch<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>8000 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHeading Off<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>4000 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHeading Back to the Car<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>4000 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 900 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHeading Deeper into the Mountains<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, it's not quite Mt. Everest, and not even as high as the mountain we visited in Ehime Prefecture last month, but the view made it feel like it was. Pierre Nadeau, the Japanese swordsmith I visited earlier this month, stopped off to show us this view on the way to lunch.<\/p>

My imperfect Japanese can sometimes make for comical situations. I heard that we were going for lunch and that I should follow in my car. It was quite a long drive, but I wasn't surprised because someone had said we were going to \"Oishiikougen\", which I understood as, [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2,26],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1785"}],"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=1785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1785\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}