Reach for the Sky

This photo was also taken at Shoren-in, that temple I’ve kept talking about that’s famous for it’s camphor trees. This one I particularly liked because it seemed that the tree extending it’s fingers into the clouds. Whenever I see it, I heard that little sound clip from Toy Story — the one you hear when Woody’s string is pulled. Maybe I’m a little bit crazy.

Light and Design

It’s always a pleasure for me to see small pieces of greater wholes that are eye-catching. It reminds me that there are artists and designers working, even on a level that might not be noticed everyday, to make things beautiful. These nuggets of design are something that fascinate me, and I’ve tried to capture one here, from perhaps an unusual perspective.

Though I haven’t studied photography, I am human, and I have noticed that there are certain perspectives I rarely see. I’m usually looking at the world from about 6 feet, or 185cm up (which often means looking right into a doorframe in Japan). In general though, people don’t look up at things, or get down low. It’s too much trouble. So there’s an incentive for a photographer to present this unusual perspectives, because they might be new or exciting to the viewer. So that’s what I’m doing here. It shouldn’t be too hard, but can you guess what this is? Answer after the jump.

The Photographess’ Silhouette

This is a beautiful portrait of my beautiful girlfriend, Sakiko (her photoblog). I thought the edge of her silhouette being lit made the photo. This was taken at a pretty little shrine at the top of Shoren-in. From the foxes around, I assume it was an inari shrine. Hit the jump for a black and white version.

Set the Controls

This was taken in Kyoto, at a small temple famous for it’s giant Camphor trees called Shoren-in. This was actually my first time visiting the temple during the day — during Golden week, my dad and I took advantage of a light-up (temples in Kyoto occasionally expertly light their grounds to make for an interesting night-time visiting experience) to try to take some good night shots, but they caught us using a tripod about halfway though….

In any case, I managed to make it back during the blazing summer, which helped me capture this picture. I’m not really sure what I was trying to do with it.