Beyond the Tamagawa: Kyoto 2006

Friday, October 27, 2006

Kyoto 2006

We visited Kyoto last weekend. Naturally, the leaves have not changed much yet---it is still summer like in most of Japan. Fall comes late here, and if you blink, you may miss it.
We didn't have a lot of time to do much, especially time for me to take decent photos. I have a lot of advice for anyone planning a visit to Kyoto, but perhaps the best I could give is that if your wife/husband etc is not interested in photography, make sure you schedule time apart so that you can do more than take hurried snapshots.
More pics to come as I process them. These may not look right as I have not changed the color space back to sRGB from RGB.

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When I was in high school, I found a photography book in the library about Japan. This was no ordinary Japan photo book as there was little in it that would would have been identified with the stereotypical Japan. As I recall, there were seascapes, landscapes, and other types of photos, but no temples, no shrines, no festivals, no geisha, and no shots of the intersection in front of Shibuya station. I was disappointed.

I wish I could recall the name of the book for I'd love to see it again. It comes close to my view of Japan. I don't think of the country or its people as weird, uniquely unique, Zen-like, or anything like that. It is a country, a people, and a culture that differs only by degree---when it does actually differ---from other countries. Just like every other country and culture on earth.

I no longer bother much with the typical "Wow, it's Japan" photos. I try to photograph things which for some reason interest me, or represent something to me, or perhaps I just like the colors, tones, shapes, or light. Perhaps disappointing for anyone looking for photos of Kinkokuji Shrine (though some are here), but those types are readily available anywhere. If nothing else, I will amuse myself with an expensive hobby.

(Since I am occasionally asked, I generally use Nikons: D300, D70s, or borrow my wife's D40. I occasionally use an old Olympus OM-1 for film, as well as Oly digicams, and a now sadly deceased Oly 35ED rangefinder.)