{"id":2576,"date":"2015-05-20T23:29:02","date_gmt":"2015-05-20T14:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2015-05-20\/2576"},"modified":"2015-05-20T23:29:02","modified_gmt":"2015-05-20T14:29:02","slug":"discovering-kyotos-wonderful-toji-in-temple-on-a-tour-with-noru","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2015-05-20\/2576","title":{"rendered":"Discovering Kyoto’s Wonderful Toji-in Temple on a Tour with NORU"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/10, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBasin Above the Garden<\/span>\nat the Toji-in Temple (\u7b49\u6301\u9662), Kyoto Japan\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

I had a fun outing this morning on a temple<\/span> tour led by Joshua Levine<\/a>,\nwho wanted to lead a test<\/span> tour in preparation for offering tours by bicycle\nas part of his “<\/span>cycle cafe”<\/span>\nNORU<\/a>, scheduled to open near the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine at the end of\nthe month.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 26mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFirst Stop<\/span>\nHirano Shrine (\u5e73\u91ce\u795e\u793e\uff09\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Unlike the cafe whose target demographic is cyclists, the tours merely\nuse bicycle as a means<\/span> to move around freely, so they're cute\nhighly-adjustable easy-to-ride little bikes. Riders ranged from 153cm to\n192cm (5'0 ~ 6'2) and we all had a great<\/span> fit. The bikes were surprisingly easy to ride.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 31mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nCompact Parking<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAlways Impressive<\/span>\nwith how many tourists can be crammed into the Golden Pavilion\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nKumiko · Joshua · Sara · Dino · Manseki\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The test subjects consisted of some cycling friends (Kumiko, Manseki,\nMichael who had to leave before this photo was taken, and me), and two\nnon-cycling acquaintances of Joshua visiting from Switzerland, Sara and\nDino. They fit the demographic for this kind of tour, and if their reaction\nis any indication, it will be a great<\/span> success.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRunning Commentary<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 48mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSort of Freaky View<\/span>\nof the top of the Golden Pavilion (\u91d1\u95a3\u5bfa)<\/span> poking above the trees\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 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 45mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOff to the Next Spot<\/span>\ntaken while moving at 16 kph (10 mph)\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The next stop was the Ryouanji Temple...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nGarden-Viewing Room<\/span>\nRyouanji Temple (\u9f8d\u5b89\u5bfa\uff09\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

(The sort of yellowish-green tone to the back room screams\n“<\/span>fluorescent-light white-balance problem”<\/span> to my gut, but it was actually\nthat way in real life, green flooding in from the overhanging trees out the\ndoor seen in the background.)<\/p>\n\n

The temple's grounds are gorgeous in the autumn<\/a>,\ngorgeous in the\nspring<\/a>, really just quite nice any time. But it's most famous for its\nZen rock garden. It seems<\/span> that I've never posted specifically about it,\nwhich I find<\/span> hard to believe, but all I can<\/span> find are one-off pictures of\nit, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>. Perhaps\nit's telling that all three are provided as desktop backgrounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOff to the Next Spot<\/span>\ntaken while moving at 8 kph (5 mph)\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBicycle Parking<\/span>\nToji-in Temple\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The next spot, the Toji-in Temple (\u7b49\u6301\u9662),<\/span> was new to me and by far the highlight of the trip.\nUnlike the Golden Pavilion which was mad-house crowded, and Ryouanji which was normal crowded,\nToji-in was almost empty, yet the garden was prettier than both.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 5000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMore Running Commentary<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nEnjoying the Garden<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 58mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 1400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nEnjoying Tea<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 32mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 140 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nEnjoying Each Other<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 40mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTea House Above the Garden<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

It as brilliantly sunny, which makes it difficult to get shots that\ndon't feel washed out. I had my<\/span> polarizer filter (which makes a huge<\/span> difference<\/a>) and so\nit helped, but with many of these shots I had<\/span> to be sufficiently aggressive\nwith post processing that they start to edge toward an HDR<\/a>ish feel (what I call<\/span>\nsingle-shot HDR<\/a>). I\ndon't<\/span> care for HDR, but it's a “<\/span>lesser of two evils”<\/span> situation.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/16, ISO 640 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nKitchen Roof<\/span>\npointing out that the littlest rooflet sticking up would be above the kitchen\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The shot that leads this post was created with Lightroom 6<\/span>'s new HDR\nphotomerge feature, combining seven shots that I created<\/span> in rapidfire with\na bracketed<\/span>-exposure burst (handheld). I just selected<\/span> them, invoked “<\/span>Photo > Photo Merge > HDR”<\/span><\/span> and let it do it. It corrected<\/span> for the slight movement among the shots, and came up with a great<\/span>\nresult without any further input from me.<\/p>\n\n

On the other hand, the next two highly-similar shots are of the aforementioned “<\/span>single-shot HDR”<\/span> variety...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 26mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/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 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nWood and Bamboo<\/span>\ncorner of the tea-house veranda floor\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 140 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPrivate Garden<\/span>\nIt seesms that the guy in the room at right was the only other person there at the time\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 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>60 sec, f<\/span>\/7.1, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHallway<\/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

Another two-methods pair, one from a single<\/span> frame and one combined from multiple frames...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRoom All To Themselves<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 2500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNot Quite Alone<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The tour continued on to other places, but I had<\/span> to bow out early for a prior<\/span> commitment, so this is where the story ended for me.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had a fun outing this morning on a temple tour led by Joshua Levine, who wanted to lead a test tour in preparation for offering tours by bicycle as part of his \"cycle cafe\" NORU, scheduled to open near the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine at the end of the month.<\/p>

Unlike the cafe whose target demographic is cyclists, the tours merely use bicycle as a means to move around freely, so they're cute highly-adjustable easy-to-ride little bikes. Riders ranged from 153cm to 192cm (5'0 ~ 6'2) and we all had a great fit. The bikes were surprisingly easy to ride.<\/p> [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,8,1,2,6,10,25],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576"}],"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=2576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}