Jeffrey E.F. Friedl's Blog, page 42

Photo Shoot with Alice Gordenker in Kyoto

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Alice Gordenker

Kyoto Station (京都駅), Kyoto Japan

I've been a fan of Alice Gordenker's monthly “So
What The Heck Is That?” column in the Japan Times for years. I first mentioned her writing on my blog more than seven years go when
referring to an article she wrote about Gold Poop. (Yes, Gold Poop. Go ahead and read about gold
poop, I'll wait.)

She writes a variety of
articles for the Japan Times, and also has a blog where she often
goes into more detail on whatever the newspaper article was about.

Somewhere along the lines we became acquainted via email, and a couple
of years ago I ended up doing some photography for her article about Japanese candles. Finally
last month I actually met her for a few hours for a photoshoot.

The photo of her on her blog had been a grainy one from a video frame
capture, so while passing through Kyoto on a
project, she finally took me up on my offer to take a better photo.

We met at Kyoto Station and we got along great... to use what I think is
a uniquely American phrase, she's a real kick in the head.

She'd brought along a parasol that had been in her old blog photo, so we
gave it a try for some shots right there at Kyoto Station...

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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 —
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In trying to figure out a nice place to go for the bulk of the shoot, I found that she'd never been to the Fushimi Inari shrine (which I first
wrote about six years ago in the appropriately-titled “Kyoto's Dazzling
Fushimi Inari Shrine”), so we decided to go there. It's a photogenic
place, so I've done photo shoots there before... here and here.

For her blog masthead she needed a very wide short crop, so that's the composition we tried for first, and came up with this:

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at the Fushimi-Inari Taisha Shrine (伏見稲荷大社)

Kyoto Japan1

It's now gracing the top of her blog.

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She's got TV experience, so she's a pro at posing. She even brought a couple of shirts to mix and match looks.

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At the Lake

the foreground is way too dark compared to the bright background

( I could recover this much with some aggressive Lightroom adjustments )








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Sort of Cliché

but we're there, so may as well try the shot








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Relaxed








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Back-Cover Sleeve Shot

should she ever write a book








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Interviewing the Locals








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? ? ?

( like I said, we where there, so may as well try it )








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Waiting

for the background to clear








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Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1400 —
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Straight-Up Portrait

It was really too dark to do this kind of shot... by this time it had
gotten very darkly overcast and we could hear thunder off in the distance. It turns out that just north of us the main center of Kyoto was getting
inundated by a sudden torrential downpour of biblical proportions that
claimed books and electronics from friends who got caught in it, but half a
mile south we got off with nary a drop.

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Back near the entrance we tried some more in the same area where we started...

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And that was that. It was a fun time, and a pleasure to finally meet her.

On the way home I noticed that the pillars at the train station were painted as if they were shrine-gate legs...

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Keihan Fushimi Inari Station (京阪伏見稲荷駅)

If I'd noticed it before, I'd forgotten. (I've posted a shot from the same perspective before, but in B&W). The benefit of being forgetful, I guess, is that you get to rediscover little things like this.

A Few More Off-Season Spring Blossoms

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Blossom Tunnel

The Haradanien Garden (原谷苑), Kyoto, Japan (Apr 2013)

I'd prepared a few other “off-season spring-blossom” photos that didn't
fit into yesterday's
post, so I thought I'd just post them today. All but the last two are from April 2013.

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Odd Perspective

nice colors, but not a fan of the Nikkor 14-24/2.8 bokeh

Ryouanji Temple (龍安寺), Kyoto Japan

This was from the same trip that produced a wonderful bonanza of
pictures that I've barely scratched the surface of.

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Temple Garden

Toji Temple (東寺), Kyoto Japan
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Ryoanji's Famous Rock Garden

Ryouanji Temple (龍安寺)
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Eden

The Haradanien Garden (原谷苑)








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Cherry-Blossom Edge
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Layers

The Haradanien Garden (原谷苑)








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Target-Rich Environment

The Haradanien Garden (原谷苑)








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Subtle, Yet Festive

The Haradanien Garden (原谷苑)
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The last few are from the amazing Haradanien Garden (原谷苑), which I've posted about at length in the past
starting here.

I haven't done all that much blossom photography over the last two years, but I did snap this shot of the late-April blossoms
on our recent trip to the northern-Japan Aomori prefecture, where we could see snow and cherry blossoms at the same time (though no snow in this shot):

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Late-April Cherry Blossoms

Hirosaki Park (弘前公園), Aomori Japan

This is the same trip with the big waterwheel.

Sort of unrelated, but on the flight I got this out-the-window shot of a mountain emerging from the mist, which I sort of like....

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Peeking Peak

Lightroom Catalog Maintenance: Clearing Out Edit History For Potential Performance Gains

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Serene Japanese Garden

'cause nuts-n-bolts digital maintenance like this post is about can give a headache

Toji Temple (東寺), Kyoto Japan, April 2013
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This post is about trimming down the file size of an Adobe Lightroom
catalog. In keeping with the off-season them of
my previous post (which was filled with fall-foliage
photos), this post is sprinkled with a few
photos from Kyoto springs past, chosen more for their mentally-calming
effect than for photographic quality, which they generally lack. (Sorry)

In a nutshell, if you have a large Lightroom catalog, and
if you don't need the detailed editing history for your photos, you
might be able to significantly reduce the size of your Lightroom
catalog by flushing that edit-history data, which might generally
improve overall responsiveness when working in Lightroom.

As one data point, my personal Lightroom catalog holding data for 134,026 photos and
videos went from 3.9GB to 1.7GB, a savings of 56%.

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 —
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Cherry-Blossom Whiteout
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Before you can do this, you have to decide whether the edit history is
data you don't want to keep. It's a log of every
change made in the develop module, as illustrated here:

Lightroom allows you to return the image to any given step by clicking
on the step in the list, which can be quite convenient while you're working
on an image. But if you're like me, it's
of practical use only while actively working on an image. For editing states that I
want to save over time, I use either
snapshots (such as automatically made via my
Snapshot on Export plugin), or virtual copies.

So I personally don't need the step-by-step editing history to be saved
for years and years in the catalog, so I hope I'll get some benefit by
clearing it out.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — 1/100 sec, f/11, ISO 100 —
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Rock Garden

Ryouanji Temple (龍安寺), Kyoto Japan, April 2013
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Just how much benefit the clearing-out provides remains an open
question. It's obviously better to have a smaller catalog file, though I
haven't run any quantitative tests to put a number to it as I have in some
earlier write-ups (such as I did in “An Analysis of
Lightroom JPEG Export Quality Settings” and “A Qualitative
Analysis of NEF Compression”).

A reduction in catalog size clearly makes backups smaller and faster,
and you are backing up your Lightroom catalog, right? It contains a
lot of data that would be painful if not impossible to recreate if
you lost it. But one assumes a smaller file makes any of its database
access quicker, and so day-to-day interaction with those aspects of
Lightroom should, one reasons, be faster

The procedure is easy, but before doing it, it's perhaps interesting to
know the size of your catalog file before flushing edit-history data, as a
point of comparison with after. To check the file size, first optimize the
catalog (in Lightroom, invoke “File > Optimize Catalog...”, exit
Lightroom, then check the size of the “*.lrcat” catalog file using
Finder or Explorer.

Then make a backup of the catalog file, just in case. You can do so by
zipping up a copy in Finder or Explorer, or you can use
Lightroom's backup mechanism, though the latter can be excruciatingly
slow for large catalogs.

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 140 —
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Searching for Improved Performance

Toji Temple (東寺), Kyoto Japan, April 2013

Now to flush the edit-history data. Back in Lightroom, select the images
that you want to do this to. I selected everything, but you can select a
subset. You might select all but recent photos, for example.

Then enter the Develop module, and invoke “Develop > Clear History...” menu item,
and if you've selected more than one image, you'll be presented with a dialog:

Choose “Selected Photos”.

You then have to wait “a while” for the process to complete. Lightroom
gives no indication that anything is going on under the hood, but if you
have a CPU-activity monitor running, you'll see it working for a while. It's unfortunate that Lightroom doesn't expose this background task's progress
so you can know for sure when it's done. If you don't have a CPU-activity monitor,
I'll blindly suggest waiting at least a minute for every 25,000 items selected.

You can use Lightroom while this is going on, or just let it sit.

Once you're ready to see the results, again invoke “File > Optimize Catalog...”,
exit Lightroom, and inspect the new size.

Nikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — 1/2000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000 —
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Poof

your catalog file might be much smaller now

Mine reduced to less than half of what it had been, but your results
will depend on your own editing history, of course. Lots of
local-correction brush strokes, for example, makes for much larger history
data, so when clearing it out, for much more savings.

If you chose to do this, how much savings for how large a catalog did you get?

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 160 —
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Cherry Blossoms

a nice way to end any post
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Revisiting Kyoto’s Fall Colors: Shugakuin Imperial Villa Last November

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Too. Much. Color.

volunteer ground crews at the Shugakuin Imperial Villa (修学院離宮)

Nov 2013, Kyoto Japan

Chatting with a visitor to Kyoto yesterday, she said that she really wanted to see Japan's fall foliage sometime. That prompts me
to dip into my archives for a fall-foliage post today, with photos from a visit last November to the Shugakuin Imperial Villa in north-east Kyoto.

It was a brilliantly bright day and even with my polarizer filter (which
normally has a wonderful
effect with fall colors) the photos seem washed out to me, but some are
still not too bad.

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This is my second visit, the first having been covered starting in

“My First Visit To Kyoto’s Shugakuin Imperial Villa”
where I explain a bit about the place.

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Destroyer of Scenic Views

I'd prefer them to sprinkle more colorful leaves, rather than rake up what's there

As I explain in the post about my first visit, visiting is only by
reserved tour, and it moves along at a brisk pace with little time to stop
and compose a photo. Knowing this, I moved forward quickly so that I could stop and
have a moment before the rest of the group caught up...

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The First Gate
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Moments Later








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Not Far Inside the Gate







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Narrow Path
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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/100 sec, f/3.5, ISO 100 —
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Stark Sunlight

and this really looks as if I didn't use the polarizer. I wonder why.








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Lower Mossy Angle








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A Bit Better light
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The tour pauses for a moment at some minor outer building.

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Minor Outer Building

with a couple of rooms








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First Amazing Vista

that I just can't photograph well

The tour stops here for a couple of minutes so you can enjoy (and photograph) the view, which is nice, but both times I've been
here I've not been able to do it justice. Here are the shots last time..

Later we come across a less-minor building that has some old paintings
on the doors, of the hoko
rolling floats of the Gion
Matsuri Festival held every July for more than a thousand years...

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Room with Old Paintings

I posted a close up of the painting in an earlier post. In modern times,
these old hoko are festooned with lanterns, so look like this and
this.

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Roof Detail








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Protruding Nails








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Tour Path

taken, literally, on the run to stay ahead of the group and get a clean shot

At some point along the path I turned around to get the trailing crowed...

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Deep in Conversation

tour-guide policeman explaining something to my friend Kentaro Kataoka

Japanese citizens wanting to visit the imperial sites in Kyoto must make
reservations far in advance, but a foreigner (non-Japanese) can often make
a same-day reservations. Each group of foreigners can bring one Japanese
citizen with them, and this time I brought my masseur friend
Kataoka-sensei. (Coincidentally, I had a massage from him today to
handle a severely-pulled neck/shoulder muscle; the guy is a miracle worker.)

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/160 sec, f/3.5, ISO 100 —
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Another Gate
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Closer View

as 30 folks bear down on me from behind








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Climbing Up








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Nice View

To be continued...

Milestones: Twenty Five Years Since First Coming to Japan, and More

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Happy

A cake from October 29th, 2008

( placed on this post in 2014 for reasons we'll see below )

Today is the 25th anniversary of my first arrival in Japan.

来日２５周年になりました！

It was June 19th, 1989 that I flew into Tokyo from California after
having finished grad school and then lived with my brothers for several
months while waiting for my work visa to be approved. I was met at the
airport by Krish
Kulkarni, whom I had never met, but had no trouble finding because he's
the twin brother of my best friend at grad school, Ram Kulkarni (who later
went on to be the best man at my wedding, and I at his).

A day or two later I made my way down to the Kyoto/Osaka region, where I
started work as an engineer at Omron Tateishi
Denki (オムロン立石電気).

I worked at Omron for about eight years, though spending much of the
time in The States at Carnegie Mellon University as a “visiting researcher”
(I was really a
babysitter for a room full of computers
that Omron had donated).

I eventually moved to The States to work for Yahoo!, but not long before
I met the woman I would
marry. She happened to be Japanese, and after
about eight years in Silicon Valley we moved back to Japan, setting up our lives in
Kyoto. That was 10 years ago this spring.

Along the way we moved
into where we live now, I picked up photography as a
hobby in earnest when I
bought my first dSLR, and I started to
develop plugins for Adobe
Lightroom.

And that brings me to my second milestone. Almost six years ago I
released my
Geoencoding Support plugin. It was the eighth plugin for Adobe Lightroom
out of what so far has been about fifty.

Back then, when I first
announced it on October 29th 2008, the plugin didn't have any
documentation beyond what I wrote on the announcement post. I should have
provided complete documentation, but I didn't..... until today. Today,
almost six years later, I finally got around to it, and changed the plugin's home
page from a placeholder to a long description of all the plugin can
do. If you use the plugin, check it out.

So why didn't I write up the documentation when I released the plugin? My Lightroom catalog tells me that I was busy that day with a party at
Anthony's preschool for all the kids who had a birthday in October. So, I thought it would be fitting to post a few photos from that 2008 party
today...

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Party Preparation









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“Happy Birthday!”








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Buffet Lunch










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Waiting To Start

he'd just turned six years old; now he's 11








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Building His Sandwich








iPhone 3Gs — f/2.8 —
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Using My Camera

A Nikon D700 with a Nikkor 24-70/2.8 is heavy stuff for a newly-minted six year old






iPhone 3Gs — f/2.8 —
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Three Cakes

for the three years' worth of kids in the school








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Showing His Craft Project

I was happy to finally get the plugin documentation done today. Some of my other plugins have okay documentation, but perhaps 40 need serious work.
Perhaps I'll start on the next in another 25 years...

Unearthly Steak in Japan at Awaji Island’s “Beefland Prince”

Note: this article may not appear properly in news readers.

This article contains interactive aspects that are likely removed by most news readers. Please see this particular article directly on Jeffrey's blog for full functionality.

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1600 —
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Literally

melts in your mouth

Sirloin at Beefland Prince, Awaji Island, Japan

ビーフランド大公、淡路島
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With Anthony away on a school trip, Fumie and I made a day-trip date to
Awaji Island two hours by car south from Kyoto, where our first stop was a
late lunch in heaven, A.K.A “Beefland Prince”.

息子は修学旅行中なので、妻と一緒に淡路島の日帰りデートをしました。まずは「ベーフランド大公」でめっちゃ美味いステーキを戴きました。

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Sirloin Lunch









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Sizzling

it's served on a slab of very hot stone, so it continues to sizzle for quite some time

You can't begin to imagine how good this steak was. When I say the steak
literally melts in your mouth, I'm literally using the word “literally” for
its literal meaning... the fats in the meat just melt away. It's almost unearthly when
compared to any other steak I've ever had in this life (including
the fantastic teppanyaki steak I wrote about
the other day; as good as it was, it's not in the same class as today's place).

Sadly, it's a two-hour drive away and is pretty pricey, so we can't
enjoy it often. We last came four years ago.

Because I'm a camera geek, check out yet another example of the powerful impact a polarizing filter can have, in these two shots
of the chopsticks' sleeve:

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2200 —
map & image data — nearby photos









Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500 —
map & image data — nearby photos








span.b012 { padding: 6px; border: gray 1px solid }


With Polarizer 偏光フィルタ有り
  -   Without Polarizer 偏光フィルタ無し

mouseover a button to see that image

What a difference.

I used a polarizer on the steak shots above, but only partially because
as I wrote about in my first writeup on using a polarizer filter six years ago,
a certain amount of shine/glare is usually appealing with food. I've also presented other examples of the filter
with: fall foliage
moss ·
wet rocks ·
a temple garden ·
lotus flowers ·
a stream.

Anyway, this was our third time at this restaurant. I thought I'd posted about it in years past, but for the life of me I can't
find any evidence. Here are some shots from our last visit four years ago...

次の写真は４年前の写真です。

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 58mm — 1/640 sec, f/8, ISO 250 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Sign at the Road








Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 36mm — 1/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Outdated Look









Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1/640 sec, f/8, ISO 5600 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Entrance









Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Inside: Dated and Dirty

The impression of the place is not good... until you're served, then all else is forgotten.

For historical-archival purposes, my steak four years ago:

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2000 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.5, ISO 1250 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Fumie had the filet mignon, which tasted just as exquisite but had quite a different look:

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.5, ISO 560 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Okay Views From Kyoto’s Shogunzua’s Overlook Today

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Checking Out The View of Kyoto

Shogunzuka Overlook (将軍塚), Kyoto Japan

We had a brief heavy rain this afternoon a couple of hours before
sunset, and so with the clearing air I thought to make a visit to check out
the views from the Shogunzuka Overlook, which I haven't been to in a while.
(However, the “nearby photos” link under any photo brings you to the
bazillion photos I've posted from up here over the years.)

今日の集中豪雨の後、将軍塚からの景色を見に行きました。

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 90mm — 1/320 sec, f/13, ISO 100 —
map & image data — nearby photos

A Bit Dynamic

It reminded me of
one of the first times I posted photos from up here seven years ago, also after a storm.
Photos from that day also appeared on last year's
“Views of Kyoto From Shogunzuka Over The Years”.

Nikon D4 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/80 sec, f/16, ISO 320 —
map & image data — nearby photos







Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 116mm — 1/250 sec, f/16, ISO 1000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

More Clouds Rolling Through







Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 190mm — 1/400 sec, f/8, ISO 320 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Sundrenched Island







Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/400 sec, f/8, ISO 900 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Southwest Toward Osaka

30km in the distance







Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/160 sec, f/9, ISO 220 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Big Sky







Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/80 sec, f/9, ISO 100 —
map & image data — nearby photos

The End

Most of the clouds were gone a few minutes later, leaving nothing for the setting sun to light up, so that was that.

将軍家から撮った景色色々は以下のリンクで見えます。

Some of my favorite views from this area are seen in
“Views of Kyoto From Shogunzuka Over The Years”, and in:

A Typhoon Makes for a Good Sunset (But It’s Me That Makes It Great )
Unusually Dynamic Views of Kyoto from Shogunzuka
More Dynamic Views of Kyoto From Shogunzuka
The Hope Imbued in a Dull Sunset

Screw It, I Did My Next Annual Mt. Hiei Hike 51 Weeks Early

This is sort of a continuation of the previous post, “My Mt. Hiei Climb Challenge 2014, Part 2”, that covered my 3rd annual hike up Kyoto's Mt. Hiei.

次の比叡山の年次山登りは５１週間早くしました。今回はカメラを持って行かなかった（アイホン以外）のでこの記事の写真はまずい。御免。

Previous attempts:

The first year's hike wrecked me so much that it shocked me into getting in shape.

The 2nd year (last year's) was better but still quite a challenge.

This year's hike, two weeks ago, was much better almost to the point of “easy”, but giving the hike back down a try for the first time ended up
killed my knees and ankles, leaving me in pain for a few days and sort of took the luster off what would have otherwise been a feeling of accomplishment.

So, I decided to do my fourth-annual hike 51 weeks early.

My goal was the self-satisfaction of doing the hike up quickly without
feeling like I killed myself. I packed lightly: in particular, no camera
except for the iPhone. It was overcast and the rain we'd had for a few days
was threatening to return, but this meant that it was pleasantly cool when
I departed home at 8:15am last Friday.

The walk to the trailhead normally takes 45 minutes, but I decided to
jog it this time and so it took only about 24 minutes. Unfortunately, it
seems that jogging has the same painful effect on my knees that downhill
hiking does, so my knees were in pain before I even started the hike
proper.

iPhone 4S + iPhone 4S back camera 4.28mm f/2.4 at an effective 35mm — 1/20 sec, f/2.4, ISO 80 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Muddy

crappy iPhone photo, sorry

この実記の写真はすべてまずいアイホンのやつです。ごめん。







iPhone 4S + iPhone 4S back camera 4.28mm f/2.4 at an effective 35mm — 1/30 sec, f/2.4, ISO 64 —
map & image data — nearby photos

21-Year-Old Sign

The design looks quite old, but the sign itself, according to the date written on the post, is just 21 years old.

This next one looks to be quite a bit older, especially based on the font used for the writing on the post (which, unfortunately, lacks a date).

iPhone 4S + iPhone 4S back camera 4.28mm f/2.4 at an effective 35mm — 1/20 sec, f/2.4, ISO 64 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Even Older

It's the same design as the sign seen engulfed by a tree in
“The Mountain Claims a Sign, But Doesn’t Claim Me” from a couple of weeks ago.

iPhone 4S + iPhone 4S back camera 4.28mm f/2.4 at an effective 35mm — 1/180 sec, f/2.4, ISO 50 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Halfwayish

the shrine gate that marks about the halfway point, timewise

As I wrote in an earlier installment, it usually takes about 48 minutes to get here from
the trailhead. This time it took almost 50 minutes, even though I felt I was faster. I'd paused a few times to text with friends about the hike, so maybe that
took a few minutes.

Anyway, it's from here that the hiking becomes notably strenuous, with very steep ups and sometimes temporary steep downs. To the top this time took only 45 minutes, as opposed to 48 minutes the previous week and 70 minutes the previous year.

Unfortunately, it turns out that I really wish I had a real camera because the low overcast that I eventually climbed up into
made for some really peaceful forest scenes. I tried to do a best I could with the iPhone, but the results are horrible.

iPhone 4S + iPhone 4S back camera 4.28mm f/2.4 at an effective 35mm — 1/30 sec, f/2.4, ISO 50 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Not Spooky

just calm and peaceful






iPhone 4S + iPhone 4S back camera 4.28mm f/2.4 at an effective 35mm — 1/40 sec, f/2.4, ISO 64 —
map & image data — nearby photos






iPhone 4S + iPhone 4S back camera 4.28mm f/2.4 at an effective 35mm — 1/30 sec, f/2.4, ISO 50 —
map & image data — nearby photos

It was nice. I had pretty much the entire mountain to myself. I met only two other folks on the way up.

iPhone 4S + iPhone 4S back camera 4.28mm f/2.4 at an effective 35mm — 1/1400 sec, f/2.4, ISO 50 —
map & image data — nearby photos

“Scenic View”

my goal for the hike

There was absolutely no view this time, but the “nearby photos” link
under the picture above brings you to photos I took on other more
photogenic trips up here.

All told, from the trailhead to here — all pauses included — took 1h 37m.
From the house it took a total of 2h 9m, beating the previous best set the week before by 23 minutes,
and beating the previous year by almost an hour and a half.

In part 1 talking about last week's hike I noted that jeans aren't the best for hiking
because they get hot and sticky, they're heavy, etc. So between last week's hike and this one, I bought a pair of Under Armor “Heat Gear” compression leggings, the leg version
of the workout shirt I posed about in April.

They were fantastic. I threw a pair of old basketball shorts over them to preserve modesty, but they kept me cool and bug-free the whole climb.

iPhone 4S + iPhone 4S back camera 4.28mm f/2.4 at an effective 35mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.4, ISO 50 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Chillin' For a Bit

I didn't linger long... I felt great and there wasn't anything to see, so I made the 12-minute hike farther up to a bus stop (yes, at the top of the mountain).

iPhone 4S + iPhone 4S back camera 4.28mm f/2.4 at an effective 35mm — 1/1250 sec, f/2.4, ISO 50 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Where My Hike Ends

Some high-school kids got off a shuttle bus from a nearby temple, and I imposed on one to snap a photo of me.

iPhone 4S + iPhone 4S back camera 4.28mm f/2.4 at an effective 35mm — 1/700 sec, f/2.4, ISO 50 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Somewhat Elfish

My clothes are certainly not the height of style, but they were great for hiking.

I was back home by noon, and two hours later I was at the gym taking one of the toughest workout lessons
they have, in a room heated to 39°C (102°F) with 80% humidity no less.

家から午前８時出発で、12時位帰りました。２時からジムで結構激しいレッスン(矢部先生のホットシェイプ)を受けました。満足の気持ちでした。

I finally had my feeling of accomplishment.

My Mt. Hiei Climb Challenge 2014, Part 2

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/800 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Scenic-View Picnic Area

near the top of Mt. Hiei, Kyoto Japan

比叡山の山頂の近く

This post picks up from “My Mt. Hiei Climb Challenge 2014, Part 1”, where I'd ended with having completed the ascent in good time and good form.

It was still early (12:45ish), so I decided to check out some of the temples farther into the mountains.

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/2000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Lots to Explore








Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/1000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Must Be an Old Road

judging from how the guardrail posts that line the road are collapsing down the mountain








Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/1250 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Even Older

Some of the paths in these mountains were laid out thousands of years
ago. I'm sure these old guardrail posts aren't that old, but this next
photo gives a hint to the age because the bigger post, which essentially
looks brand new compared to the guardrail posts, is dated April 1936...

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/2000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Brand New

78 years young

Dotted here and there in the mountain are temple buildings of various sizes...

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/1250 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Enrikuji 's Sannoin Temple (延暦寺の山王院)

This set of steps, off the main path, looked impressive...

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/250 sec, f/5, ISO 250 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/250 sec, f/5, ISO 500 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Still Goin' Down








Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/8000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Oops

I surmised that a big tree must have fallen across the rail. I figured that such a thing might take out some of the
stone lanterns along the side, and sure enough the two closest were much newer than the others....

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/250 sec, f/5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

The new ones are dated 2006, while the one in the foreground is dated 1963.

Anyway, continuing on, we come to a more substantial building...

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/400 sec, f/5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/2500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Looks Peaceful

Enrikuji 's Jodoin Temple (延暦寺の浄土院)

A map nearby indicated that it was a minor outlying building for a larger group a bit farther on, so a bit farther on I went.

Along the way I came across this little shrine in a flat area seemingly carved out of the mountain. I liked the grass, which you don't
see often in this context...

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/6400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Small Grassy Shrine

at the Enrikuji Temple complex (延暦寺)
Desktop-Background Versions

1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600  ·  2880×1800

After paying a $6.50 fee to get past a certain point, I came across a fairly standard gateish kind of building,
but the light just seems so nice in the picture so I'll post it:

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/8000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Gate to Enrikuji’s Shakado Temple

延暦寺の釈迦堂
Desktop-Background Versions

1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600  ·  2880×1800








Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/5000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Enrikuji’s Shakado Temple (延暦寺の釈迦堂)

I was feeling good about the hike, but the temple building didn't seem all that interesting from a photographic point of view,
so I didn't get any closer than the shot above, taken from a bench in the shade.

Just off to the left, though, was a much more interesting building, of bare wood:

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/2000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Beautiful Aged Wood

It's not exactly a wheelchair-friendly place, so my first thought about
the ramp in front of the doors is that it's for heavy equipment, making the
building more or less a barn. But the windows on the left don't look very
barnlike, so I'll have to check it out again next time I visit.

Not being all that interested in what I'd seen so far, I decided to head
back home. In prior years I'd taken a train or a bus down —
this mountain is convenient that way — because my knees normally have
sharp pains on any kind of downhill slope. But this year my knees felt
fine, so I thought I'd actually hike back down.

Not wanting to retrace my meandering path back to the scenic-view area, I looked at the trail markers for a more direct route, but the way they
sent me was clearly the road less traveled...

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Not So Well-Worn a Path








Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 400 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Getting Worse

mostly overgrown








Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 360 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Ah, Civilization!

It turns out that “civilization” was right next to the grassy shrine
seen above, and that I'd been sent on a round-about path through the woods
to get there. Still hoping for a shortcut that might be faster than
retracing my steps, I plunged back into the woods again...

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/250 sec, f/1.4, ISO 320 —
map & image data — nearby photos

This is a Well-Worn Path

but little traveled these days, apparently

This was very different terrain than the path leading up, or at least it seemed so because the path was so insubstantial.

Eventually the path dead-ended into another path, with no sign to indicate what might be where.

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/250 sec, f/7.1, ISO 2000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Looking Left

the path heads up sharply toward the right side








Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/250 sec, f/7.1, ISO 1250 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Looking Right

with the fallen remnants of some kind of sign that offered no help

I decided to try heading right, and soon came across a wall to a temple that I could mostly see over...

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/2500 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Looks Peaceful

When I got out to the front, I realized that this was the same one I'd seen before (Enrikuji's Jodoin Temple, 延暦寺の浄土院),
the one just after the fallen-tree-bent railing at the base of the super long stairway.

Sigh, I'd again been sent on a wild goose chase looking for a shortcut. Had I had any brains I would have just cut my losses and backtracked
on the known path I came in on. Or heck, had I just pulled out my iPhone to check the map I would have realized that I was going in the wrong
direction for any kind of shortcut. But no, instead I returned to where the path had T'd a bit earlier, and went left.

The path got very tenuous, but eventually wound its way up to a small building of some sort...

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Small Building of Some Sort

in the middle of nowhere

The path beyond that seemed to evaporate into nothingness...

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/250 sec, f/3.5, ISO 1100 —
map & image data — nearby photos

End of the Line

at least for me

In looking at the satellite view for
this location, I see that I was about 100 yards from a huge parking
lot. I had no idea. I realize now that the bus from the top stops there on
the way home to Kyoto, so perhaps good info for the future.

In any case, I retraced my steps back past the T junction to the “Looks Peaceful” temple for the third time,
to start retracing the whole path back.

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/250 sec, f/3.2, ISO 250 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Heading Back Up

I lost count of the steps

It took about 20 minutes to get back to the “Scenic-View Picnic Area” that I use as the goal of my hike up, so I considered it the start of my hike down.

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/250 sec, f/13, ISO 360 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Hazy View

Drank the last of the 2L of drink I'd brought with me, and headed down.

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/250 sec, f/4.5, ISO 1000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Diving In

there's no turning back now

Though my knees hadn't hurt all day, I've suffered the
painful-knee-on-downhills problem all my adult life, so I was stressed at
the thought that it might hit halfway down the mountain.

Indeed, it started to flare up almost right away, but looking at the path from a different view (from the top looking down)
brought new discoveries, and I found a side-path that lead to near where the cable-car goes down, and I earned a nice view
(or, at least, a view that would have been nice had the air been clear).

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/250 sec, f/11, ISO 280 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Northern Kyoto

I did take the opportunity to buy another liter of sports drink at the cable-car station. I didn't think I'd really need it,
but turned out to appreciate it over the next hour and fifteen minutes of knee-shredding ankle-twisting pain it took me to go down.

The knee pain didn't surprise me, but the number of times I twisted my ankle did. I had at least half a dozen big scares, including
twice when I went crashing to the ground. What was up with me.... had I suddenly forgotten how to walk?

The path is anything but smooth, but on the way up the angle of the mountain puts the path right in front of your face, so my gaze is naturally
just a yard or two in front of my feet, and it's easy to avoid the rocks and roots and random bumps that lie in wait for your ankle. In fact,
one uses the bumps and such as footholds to get a better grip. On the way up. On the way down, though, your gaze is way off in the distance at the
pretty vista always unfolding before you.

Combine all that with the fact that my knee pain was worse the slower I went, so as odd as it sounds, it hurt less if I ran down the mountain. But running down the mountain doesn't bode well if you're trying not to twist your ankle.

Each time I twisted my ankle I half expected to see a bone sticking out,
and oft imagined the drama that
would ensue, but it seems that I dodged a bullet each time as I appeared
unscathed. Each time I would berate myself for a basic inability to walk
and vowed to pay more attention as I continued, only to inexplicably repeat
the process all too soon.

It became sort of a race, to see which would cripple me first: twisting an ankle, or the knee pain that was now almost unbearable.

But in the end I made it down to the little temple that marks the start of the mountain hike. Another 43 minutes of city walking and I was home.

As I neared home, I snapped this picture:

Nikon D700 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM — 1/4000 sec, f/2.2, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

The people visible near the top of the building in the center are in the
same spot where I took the “Heian Shrine Gate From a New
Perspective” shots the other day, just outside of the room featured in
“The Lazy
Photographer: Exposing for Single-Shot HDR”.

In the shot above, it's a photographer, likely taking new shots for their web page. How can I tell from here? I'd seen them when I'd left six hours earlier, taking photos of the building from across the street. You can see them in the first
shot of part 1.

I bet their day was more fun than mine, but I bet I have a better feeling of accomplishment (though I shouldn't judge until I see their shots ).

Afterward

Everything above my knees felt great, but my knees and everything below felt absolutely horrible.

When getting ready for a well-needed shower, I was surprised to notice a
lot of blood on one lower leg, coming from a spot just at the top of the
sock line. I didn't know what it was from, but two ideas immediately sprang to mind. One is that I'd smashed it during one of my ankle-twisting falls, and the other is that
I'd been bitten by a tick or the like. Ewwwww.

I didn't think it was a tick because I'd positively soaked my shoes,
socks, and pants (inside and out) with permethrin, which kills ticks on contact.

Or at least it should. The little-used trails I was on gave ample opportunities for a tick to hitch a ride,
and if the permethrin wasn't working, the first skin it'd find when crawling up my leg is right were I found the blood
streaming out. So this is the stuff of bad dreams, but a week later I'm leaning toward the “banged my shin” side of things.

Anyway, the day after the hike I was in mostly good shape, except my ankles felt like they were essentially fused together,
and I could hobble more than I could walk. Nevertheless, I went to the gym and did a hard session,
and only later did it dawn on me that I wasn't just feeling normal soreness, but that I'd really beaten them up on the way
down, especially with all the twisting.

It took several days, but I finally shook it off, and so ends my story.

Mostly.

To be continued...

My Brother Just Finished a 55-mile UltraMarathon!

Having just posted about a
tiny baby hike to the top of an anthill in Kyoto that I feel good about having been able to do, I'm put to shame by my next-older brother Mike, who moments ago finished the Comrades Ultra-Marathon
in South Africa. A normal Marathon is 26.22 miles, but this one is 55.5 miles (89.28 km). He finished in 9h 37m 26s,
the 3,198th finisher out of 18,000 runners.

That leaves a pace of 10m 24s per mile.... every mile... more than 55 times in a row. On a good day I might be able to do one mile (2%).

Congrats Mike. What an accomplishment!