{"id":1819,"date":"2011-07-14T23:56:30","date_gmt":"2011-07-14T14:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2011-07-14\/1819"},"modified":"2011-07-19T01:00:31","modified_gmt":"2011-07-18T16:00:31","slug":"a-thin-slice-of-big-crowds-at-kyotos-gion-matsuri-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2011-07-14\/1819","title":{"rendered":"A Thin Slice of Big Crowds at Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri Festival"},"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 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 2000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nYouth<\/span>\nGion Matsuri Festival, Kyoto Japan\n<\/div>\n\n

This is the season for the Gion Matsuri festival<\/a>,\nand tonight was the first of three evenings when a lot<\/span> of streets around\nShijo Karasuma are closed off for pedestrian traffic. The streets<\/span> fill with\nfolks (and photographers) enjoying a festive<\/span> atmosphere..<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 720 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFirst Photo I Took<\/span> This Evening<\/span>\nShijo\/Karasuma intersection, not long after being closed to traffic\n<\/div>\n\n

I was shocked to see the photo above when I came<\/span> home and checked out my\npictures, because it makes it look much<\/i> more crowded than it\nactually was. I hear that<\/span> tomorrow and the next evening will be so crowded\nthat it'll be difficult to move, but this evening was nothing but pleasant.<\/p>\n\n

People come out for the mood and drink, and to check out the many\nmassive wooden yamaboko<\/i>\nfloats<\/a> that were assembled in the streets over the last few days, and\ntake part in a big<\/span> procession on Sunday. There are 32 of them scattered around,\nfour of which can be seen (sort of) in the next photo.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 900 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nScrum Of Photographers<\/span>\nbeside the kankoboko<\/i> float (\u51fd\u8c37\u927e)<\/span>\nin the distance are tsukihako<\/i>, kakkyouyama<\/i>, and shijoukasaboko<\/i>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>3200 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTsukihako<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

However, I came out<\/span> not to look at the floats, but to try to capture a\nspecific<\/span> kind of photo made possible by my 300mm f\/2<\/a>. I brought<\/span> it,\na monopod,<\/span> and a small<\/span> stool to stand on to get me above the crowd, pretty\nmuch left the aperture at f\/2, and just played with the plane of\nfocus.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 220 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLooking East Down Shijo Street<\/span>\nfrom Karasuma, toward the Yasaka Shrine at the foot of the mountain\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 560 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLooking West<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAnnouncement<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 1400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nCute<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 1600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nEvery Which Way<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 1600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPlaylist Adjustment<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 1800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLots of Yukata<\/span>\n(light kimono)\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 2000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTrying to Recall<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 2000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTrying To Get Higher<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 2000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTrying To Get Attention<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I feel a bit bad for these girls... they were hamming it up for the\ncamera as they approached, and asked if I'd take their picture. I told them<\/span>\nthat I already<\/span> had, and gave them my card so that they could contact me for\ncopies, but now I realize<\/span> that one of the group never clearly appears, so I\nwish<\/span> I would<\/span> have had them pose.<\/p>\n\n

This next group of restaurant coworkers approached and asked that I take<\/span>\ntheir photo, so I told<\/span> them to step back (way back<\/i>) and took a few<\/span>\nshots. I wanted<\/span> something more, so I pantomimed<\/span> a jump,<\/span> and they\nobliged....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 2200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The idea for the jump came earlier with the guy in the first photo. I saw him<\/span> jump out of the corner of my eye — either for another camera,\nor because he thought I was<\/span> focusing on him — so when I actually<\/span> did\nmake eye contact a bit<\/span> later, I pantomimed<\/span> that he repeat his jump, and the\nphoto that leads this post resulted. They smiled and started to walk away,\nbut I motioned<\/span> them over to look at the shot, and they really liked it.<\/p>\n\n

Throughout the evening, lots of people would approach to chat, or just\nsmiled as they walked by. The lens really<\/span> attracts attention in a pleasant<\/span>\nway, just as I experience<\/span> the first time I used<\/span> it<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nCamaraderie<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 1400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nWave<\/span>\na slight rise in Shijo Street makes the crowd look like a wave<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 2500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nThe Shot I Was<\/span> Trying To Get<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

This is the closest shot I got to what I had<\/span> been imagining, where the\nonly thing in focus is a single<\/span> couple. I do wish<\/span> it were landscape instead\nof portrait, but the lady's smile makes it for me. I saw her<\/span> smile bloom in\nthe corner of the viewfinder, and I quickly<\/span> recomposed to grab this shot.\nMoments later they were lost in the crowd.<\/p>\n\n

I had to leave early because my assistant had homework before bed, so I\npacked<\/span> away the big lens to a backpack,<\/span> and threw on a 50mm<\/span> f\/1.4 for the\nwalk back. Here's a shot<\/span> showing how crowded it really was, and with the\nevening-dusk color left uncorrected...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I might try the same thing tomorrow, when it's supposed to be much more crowded.<\/p>\n\n

Despite having lived walking distance from this event for the last seven\nyears, today was the first time I'd attended in more than 20 years. I've\nnever seen the big float procession, which is supposed to be amazing, but\nit's either unbearably hot or raining, so I may<\/span> forgo it again this year as\nwell.<\/p>\n\n

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

This is the season for the Gion Matsuri festival, and tonight was the first of three evenings when a lot of streets around Shijo Karasuma are closed off for pedestrian traffic. The streets fill with folks (and photographers) enjoying a festive atmosphere..<\/p>

I was shocked to see the photo above when I came home and checked out my pictures, because it makes it look much more crowded than it actually was. I hear that tomorrow and the next evening will be so crowded that it'll be difficult to move, but this evening was nothing but pleasant.<\/p>

People come out for [...]","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\/1819"}],"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=1819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1819\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}