Photo Shoot with Alice Gordenker in Kyoto

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/100 sec, f/3.2, ISO 250 —
map & image data — nearby photos

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...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 —
map & image data — nearby photos

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:

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/640 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 —
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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.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/640 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 —
map & image data — nearby photos

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

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/100 sec, f/7.1, ISO 2000 —
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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 )








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 4000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Sort of Cliché

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








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/3.5, ISO 6400 —
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Relaxed








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/3.5, ISO 6400 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/3.5, ISO 5000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Back-Cover Sleeve Shot

should she ever write a book








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1600 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1600 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Interviewing the Locals








Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 5000 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/100 sec, f/2.2, ISO 360 —
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? ? ?

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








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/100 sec, f/1.4, ISO 3200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Waiting

for the background to clear








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/100 sec, f/1.4, ISO 3200 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1400 —
map & image data — nearby photos

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.

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1800 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1800 —
map & image data — nearby photos

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

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 360 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 500 —
map & image data — nearby photos

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...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 320 —
map & image data — nearby photos

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.