{"id":2460,"date":"2014-09-22T22:20:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T13:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2014-09-22\/2460"},"modified":"2014-09-22T22:20:00","modified_gmt":"2014-09-22T13:20:00","slug":"an-autumn-visit-to-the-sento-imperial-palace-in-kyoto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2014-09-22\/2460","title":{"rendered":"An Autumn Visit to the Sento Imperial Palace in Kyoto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPalatial Path<\/span>\na path at a palace, the Sento Imperial Palace in Kyoto Japan\nNov 2013\n\u4ed9\u6d1e\u5fa1\u6240\uff08\u4eac\u90fd\u5e02\uff09\u53bb\u5e74\u306e\u79cb\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a>  ·  2880×<\/span>1800<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Continuing the story about a day with friends in Kyoto last November that started with a morning<\/span> visit\nto the Shugakuin Imperial Villa<\/a>, after\nlunch<\/a> we made our way to the Sento Imperial Palace<\/a>,\na small<\/span> palace tucked away in a corner<\/span> of the huge park that also houses the main Imperial Palace in Kyoto.\n<\/p>\n\n

It was my first trip to this particular palace.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPlain Entrance<\/span>\nto the grounds of the Sento Imperial Palace (\u4ed9\u6d1e\u5fa1\u6240)<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/9, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nStaging Area<\/span>\njust inside the entrance\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I include this photo mostly as an example of why one needs to be careful\nabout using a polarizing\nfilter<\/a> with a wide<\/span>-angle lens. I'd brought<\/span> the filter along because\nit has\nsuch a dramatic<\/span> impact on fall foliage<\/a>,\nbut here it's having an impact on parts of the sky. But the sky<\/span> is at best polarized only in\ncertain directions, and the wide-angle lens is covering both polarized and unpolarized parts\nof the sky, so the effect is an area of deeper blue with washed-out areas on either side. Ugh.<\/p>\n\n

When the tour started, its first stop was the big building in the\nbackground, which is one wing of the actual palace. While the guide talked\nabout the building, I shot the<\/span> garden to the right...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/9, ISO 2800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLooks Okay<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOff We Go<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

These palace tours run at a brisk pace and they don't like stragglers, so if you wnat photos, you have to grab them\nwhen you can. Adjusting camera settings and composition while walking, three seconds after the shot above I got<\/span>\nsomething that I like<\/span> a bit<\/span> more...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Through the door in the wall seen in the two photos above, we came into an open area on the other side of the same\nbuilding we'd started at. More talk. From the outside it was unremarkable by Kyoto standards...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nUnremarkable<\/span>\nsmall part of a huge wooden structure rebuilt 150 years ago\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

We then moved on to the main attraction open to the public, the gardens. A short<\/span> path brought us to this lake vista:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFirst Look at the Lake<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The presence of this lake absolutely floored me.<\/p>\n\n

As I noted earlier, this entire palace and garden is tucked into a corner<\/span> of the huge central-Kyoto park\nknown as the Kyoto Imperial Palace Park, named so not for the subject of today's post, but because it also houses\nthe<\/i> main imperial palace in Kyoto. The park is<\/span> huge and I've written posts from it on many occasions\n(including cherry blossoms<\/a>,\nplum blossoms<\/a>,\nfestivals<\/a>,\nfamily outings<\/a>, and\nfall colors<\/a>), but I never<\/span> knew this second palace and its garden\nwas here. I've ridden right by on a bicycle<\/span> a hundred<\/span> times in the last decade, but I had<\/span> no clue. I was floored<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPath Leads Around the Lake<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSun Came Out for a Moment<\/span><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nToo. Much. Color.<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/7.1, ISO 220 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nA Bit<\/span> Washed Out The Other Way<\/span>\nbut I love the character of the bare tree at right\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nKen-chan<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I took a bunch of photos of my masseur friend Kentaro Kataoka<\/a> during these palace visits because it was his first time for both palaces, and\nit's difficult for a Japanese<\/span> to visit. Someone with a foreign<\/span> passport can\nstop in on the day and likely get a spot,<\/span> but a Japanese<\/span> must make a\nreservation<\/span> months in advance for tours that fill up very quickly. But a group<\/span>\nof up to three foreigners can bring one Japanese national along with them (ostensibly as a translator<\/span>),\nso this opportunity allowed him to take the tour.<\/p>\n\n

We eventually come to a small bridge over a narrow<\/span> pinch in the lake...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/14, ISO 1400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNot Too Bad<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/14, ISO 5000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHeading Across<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/14, ISO 180 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nThe Rest of the Lake<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Just as I crossed the bridge, the sun dipped behind a cloud,<\/span> but still,\nthe mossy area on the other side was unearthly in its beauty (much more so\nthan I have<\/span> the skill to capture in a photo<\/span>)...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/14, ISO 5600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nUnbelievably Scrumptious<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I was marveling dumbstruck at this amazing beauty when nature laughed and said “<\/span>you ain't seen nuthin' yet<\/i>”<\/span>,\nand moved the cloud:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSinging Angels<\/span>\nwould stop in their tracks at this view\n
Vertical Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\n1050×<\/span>1680<\/a>  ·  1200×<\/span>1920<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>2560<\/a><\/small><\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

It was perhaps the most beautiful scene of nature that I've ever witnessed firsthand.<\/p>\n\n

Because I'm so passionate about photography, every bit of me wanted to\ncapture that beauty in a photo,<\/span> but I knew<\/span> it was impossible. I don't<\/span> have\nthe skill. The multitude<\/span> of folks with 10× my skill, put together,\nwouldn't have enough skill to capture this scene, especially with the\npressure that a policeman<\/span> tour-guide was likely to come along any second to\nyell at you for dawdling, forever putting and end to your attempts.<\/p>\n\n

(I do have to say that the police\/guides here were much nicer than at\nthe other palaces I've been to in Kyoto, the aforementioned Shugakuin<\/a> palace, and the\nKatsura Palace, which I realize<\/span> now that I've yet to post about. Anyway, on\ntoday's trip they were much more forgiving of slow photographers, so I\nappreciated<\/span> every extra second in this mossy colorful dream.)<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLazy Hillside<\/span>\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a>  ·  2880×<\/span>1800<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nInviting<\/span>\nas a bed for a nap\n
Vertical Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\n1050×<\/span>1680<\/a>  ·  1200×<\/span>1920<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>2560<\/a><\/small><\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

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

Continuing the story about a day with friends in Kyoto last November that started with a morning visit to the Shugakuin Imperial Villa, after lunch we made our way to the Sento Imperial Palace, a small palace tucked away in a corner of the huge park that also houses the main Imperial Palace in Kyoto. <\/p>

It was my first trip to this particular palace.<\/p>

I include this photo mostly as an example of why one needs to be careful about using a polarizing filter with a wide-angle lens. I'd brought the filter along because it has such a dramatic [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,14,1,2,6,25],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2460"}],"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=2460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2460\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}