Geometric Views from the Miho Museum

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 160 —
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Meep-Meep

golf cart shuttle at the Miho Museum (ミホミュージアム)

near Kyoto, Japan

I've spent the weekend since having posted “Visiting the Miho Museum”
trying (and failing) to fight off a cold, but I seem to be slowly
recovering today, so today we have a simple post, of a bunch of
geometric-ish images from my visit to the museum, presented in the
order I took them (with the exception of the first two images being
swapped).

These first two from the tunnel leading to the museum have been
processed with differing white-balance settings for dramatic effect. The one above is processed so that the sunlight streaming in is white, turning
the incandescent lights lining the tunnel a deep orange.

The one below is the opposite, set so that the tunnel lights are white,
thereby turning the sunlight a cool blue...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/8, ISO 5000 —
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In reality it was neither blue nor orange... it was a dark spacey gray. But still cool.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
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Too-Tall Paul

distorted by the fisheye lens








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
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Bridge Truss




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 125 —
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Shadows




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 —
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“L”

I'm not sure what the thing above is, but I think it's a light. (The photo is from directly underneath, looking straight up).

Here's a more conventional view...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 —
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“L” is for Light?

Out of curiosity, here's what the “L” shot from above looks like at f/16 instead of f/1.4, flattening the dozen feet between the light
and the ceiling into nothing...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/160 sec, f/16, ISO 6400 —
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Flattened

and decidedly too busy

Just outside the window where I was taking these light shots is a rock
garden of some sort. Looking like it came out of a Sears catalog, it's
probably the least well done aspect of the museum...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
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Uninspired Rock Garden

with window reflections of the museum architecture

I'm no expert on rock gardens, but I'm thinking that one needs a better
backdrop, and so a square of marble and glass is probably not the ideal
location in the first place.

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 —
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Disconcerting?

One more shot from the lobby of the special-collections wing, where all
the interior shots have been so far...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 —
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Corner
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With “Disconcerting?” above I had intended to post only the color shot,
where like in the tunnel the different colors of light can be exaggerated
and set upon each other via white-balance adjustments in post, but thought
that maybe the lack of color might make for a slightly strange moment as
you try to figure out what you're looking at. Maybe not.

In any case, here's the color version...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 —
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First Floor Hallway

as seen from the 2nd floor lobby




Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 400 —
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Industrial Strength Joint

in the museum cafe
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Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 280 —
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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/640 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 —
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Precise

ring of museum symbols mark the fill line




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — 1/30 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2500 —
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Slightly Escher-esque

I tried to get a nice shot of the 2nd floor hallway, but didn't quite do it. Paul always has a nice smile, but
this first shot with him in the foreground looking at the off-camera Egypt Room would be better without him...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
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... and this second shot just doesn't have the right balance...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — 1/30 sec, f/8, ISO 200 —
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Oh well, maybe next time. Or maybe not; I'm told it's normally very crowded, so perhaps a future visit won't have such clean views.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 250 —
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Entrance Lobby and Sunburst

On the way out I grabbed a snapshot of one of the first visually-striking things I noticed on the way in, a circular umbrella stand...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
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I couldn't come up with a good way to make a good photograph, though.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/11, ISO 900 —
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Return Trip




Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 125 —
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Tree Snuggies

which I wrote about six years ago

And finally, one more futuristic take on the tunnel...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400 —
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