Making the Best of Lackluster Snow in Kyoto by Heading North

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 27mm — 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 —
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Long Street Tall Trees

Makino, Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture, Japan

(perspective “corrected” in Lightroom to make the trees vertical, and hence the white slivers at the bottom)

The forecast for last night and today was nonstop snow for Kyoto, so it
was with disappointment but not surprise that I awoke to find just a thin
scatter of snow. Sigh, why do I get my hopes up? Even just a few inches
makes things wonderful, like this snow six years
ago, but it doesn't happen often in the city.

In the end, Kyoto saw mostly rain, and Anthony's soccer practice was
canceled, so we decided to take a drive up north for an hour or two (to
near where I took Anthony
skiing four years ago) to see whether they might have more snow.

They did, but not much.

The area we visited includes a rural street famous for being
photogenically lined with trees. I'd first heard of it years ago when a
photo by my doctor of it appeared on his computer's screensaver during an
exam and I had to stop to ask about the location, but I'd not gotten to
actually visit until today.

It was probably the worst possible time to visit.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 35mm — 1/125 sec, f/4, ISO 100 —
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Bleak

The road is surprisingly long, stretching for 2½km (1½
miles) like this, lined with towering dawn
redwood. Different areas have different vibes, but today everything was
a resonating blah.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 140mm — 1/320 sec, f/4, ISO 800 —
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“Full” Color View

On this street was a small temple we stopped at because we noticed a huge pile of snow had accumulated under
its steep roof, and Anthony was getting antsy to play...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/160 sec, f/4.5, ISO 100 —
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Roadside Temple With Inviting Snow

Zuikoin Temple (瑞光院)

Makino, Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture, Japan

The bottom inch or three was pure slush, but the big pile was playable snow, and play we did...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 40mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
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Banzai!









Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
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Happy To Move

Fumie sat in the warmth of the car while letting Anthony and me play, and snapped a few photos through the foggy window
with her phone...

iPhone 5s at an effective 150mm — 1/120 sec, f/2.2, ISO 40 —
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King of the Hill

is unseated

photo by Fumie Matsunaka Friedl








iPhone 5s at an effective 150mm — 1/120 sec, f/2.2, ISO 40 —
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Pause for a Photo Op

photo by Fumie Matsunaka Friedl








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 82mm — 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 110 —
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The Photo I Took

(You'll notice that my photo is better than Fumie's, but that's only because I had a better camera .)

Standing on top the snow pile brought me even with the edge of the roof....

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400 —
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Temple Roof Tiles








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/160 sec, f/5, ISO 640 —
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At an Angle

At one point I wandered off to take some shots of the tree-lined street, and during that time Anthony returned to the car...

iPhone 5s at an effective 30mm — 1/40 sec, f/2.2, ISO 40 —
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“Mommy, I have a present for you!”

photo by Fumie Matsunaka Friedl








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250 —
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Oh Well








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 450 —
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Tuckered Out

On the way home, in the encroaching dusk, we stopped by the southern end
of the line of trees, and I snapped this photo of the nearby mountains
enshrouded in mist and becoming enshrouded in dark...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/160 sec, f/8, ISO 450 —
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Dusk