Cape Kannonzaki

Arrived at Cape Kannonzaki on the shores of Tokyo Bay at about 4:30 a.m., just a few minutes after sunrise. Due to the incoming storm, the horizon was hazy while dark clouds loomed overhead letting in occasional slivers of sunlight. 

Primary features of the coastline consist of rock formations jutting out into the ocean along the coast angled at about 30 degrees--a result of the stratum from the deep sea floor that was eventually pushed up and out of the water approximately 500,000 years ago.

Numerous fishing boats were going up and down the coast close to shore pulling in their catch as tanker ships and container ships were slowly sailing into and out of Tokyo Bay. 

Most of the coastline is rocky with most of the stone having smooth top surfaces resulting from constant erosion. In fact, you have to be careful not to slip even if the stone is dry. 

My primary goal for this photo shoot was to compose a landscape shot with the lighthouse that sits upon a ridge at the end of the park that covers the whole cape. However, fallen rocks and a mudslide from a super typhoon from last year had yet to be cleared. Plans may have been in place to have the trail to the lighthouse cleared by spring, but with the onslaught of the pandemic, sightseeing spot repairs are not an immediate priority of the prefecture who is responsible for this park's maintenance.

Many crows were flying in from the nearby woodland and catching fish or other sea life that had washed ashore. My border collie could not resist the opportunity to race after them in either a game of chase or a futile attempt at  herding. Arriving so early in the morning ensures there are no other people on the beach or in the park at all. My dog and I had the whole place to ourselves!

My favorite feature of the landscape was the moss covered rocks. The color of the moss reminds me of the fresh, young leaves on trees at the start of spring. The moss is able to retain that same type of luminance throughout most of the year.

I hope to come back to this shore again once access to the lighthouse has been complete.

Location: Google Maps

Gear used in the photo shoot:

1. Camera: Pentax KP Body and Lens Kit

2. Standard zoom lens: smc Pentax-DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 ED AL[IF] DC WR

3. Telephoto zoom lens: HD Pentax-DA 55-300mm F4.5-6.3 ED PLM WR RE

4. Tripod: Manfrotto MT190CXPRO4 (carbon fiber legs with quick locking clamps) 

5. Ball head: Manfrotto Cloud XPRO

6. Circular polarizer: Polarpro Quartzline CP

7. GPS unit: Pentax GPS Unit O-GPS1

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Mossy Shoreline

Kannonzaki Park offers a small beach and rocky coastline with unusual rock formations jutting out of the ocean.

Pentax KP 28 mm ISO 100 for 1.3 sec. at ƒ/14

#KannonzakiPark #beach #coastline #seascape #Yokosuka #Japan

#海岸 #海岸地方 #海の景色 #横須賀市 #観音崎公園

Licensing & prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

Rocky Coast Landforms

This sandstone-like rock was once part of a stratum that formed on a deep sea floor millions of years ago, only reaching the surface about 500,000 years ago at an approx. 30-degree angle. This one stone reminds me of the sandstone cliffs of the southwestern U.S. 

Pentax KP 28 mm ISO 100 for 1/6 sec. at ƒ/9.0

#KannonzakiPark #beach #coastline #seascape #Yokosuka #Japan

#海岸 #海岸地方 #海の景色 #横須賀市 #観音崎公園

Licensing & prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

Border Collie on Cape Kannonzaki Coastline

Taking a rest on the cool, wet rocks after chasing crows for an hour after sunrise as they tried to scavenge for food along the coast.

Pentax KP 18 mm ISO 100 for 1/6 sec. at ƒ/11

#dog #pet #bordercollie #CapeKannonzaki #seascape #Japan

#犬 #愛犬 #ボーダーコリー #横須賀市 #観音崎公園

Licensing & prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

Lighthouse on Cape Kannonzaki

Couldn't get any closer shots since the steps to the lighthouse got damaged by last year's super typhoon.  

Pentax KP 300 mm ISO 100 for 1/8 sec. at ƒ/20

#lighthouse #coastline #CapeKannonzaki #seascape #Japan

#灯台 #海岸 #海岸地方 #海の景色 #横須賀市 #観音崎公園

Licensing & prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

Lighthouse on Cape Kannonzaki

Originally built with bricks in 1869, the Cape Kannonzaki Lighthouse Japan’s first ever lighthouse. However, it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1922. Rebuilt using steel and concrete in the spring of 1923, it was cracked and damaged by the Great Kanto Earthquake in September of the same year. The current version was restored in 1925 and has thus far endured for the past 95 years.

Pentax KP 260 mm ISO 100 for 1/8 sec. at ƒ/20

#lighthouse #coastline #CapeKannonzaki #seascape #Japan

#灯台 #海岸 #海岸地方 #海の景色 #横須賀市 #観音崎公園

Licensing & prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

Break in Clouds

Long exposure of the sun breaking through the clouds over Tokyo Bay as viewed from Cape Kannonzaki.

Pentax KP 24 mm ISO 100 for 58 sec. at ƒ/18

#seascape #cloudy #coastline #seaside #Kannonzaki #TokyoBay #Japan

#海の景色 #曇 #海岸沿い #海岸地方 #沿岸 #海岸 #観音崎 #東京湾 #三浦半島

Licensing & prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

Moss & Tanker Ship

Considering how much tanker traffic sails into Tokyo Bay, the coastline of Cape Kannonzaki seems quite clean. There were no signs of oil or pollutants along the shore that would normally kill off the moss that lives on these rock formations.

Pentax KP 68 mm ISO 100 for 1/8 sec. at ƒ/18

#KannonzakiPark #beach #coastline #seascape #Yokosuka #Japan

#海岸 #海岸地方 #海の景色 #横須賀市 #観音崎公園

Licensing & prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

Going Home

We arrived at around 4:30 a.m., a few minutes before sunrise. Two hours later, it was time to go home. Dale-chan is looking in the direction of the car—maybe an indication that she is ready to go home or wants to drink some fresh water after playing in seawater all morning.

Pentax KP 100 mm ISO 400 for 1/80 sec. at ƒ/5.6

#dog #pet #bordercollie #seascape #CapeKannonzaki #Japan

#犬 #愛犬 #ボーダーコリー #観音崎公園 #横須賀市

Licensing & prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license are available at Caubarrere Piché LLC.

Mt. Banjirodake on Izu Peninsula

After a nearly 5-hour drive, we finally reached the trailhead to Mt. Banjirodake. One of the best things about this location is that there is a designated parking lot just for hikers--it is free, has clean restrooms, and has basins for washing mud off of your gear and shoes.

Mt. Banjirodake:

https://goo.gl/maps/aadUBByg5uijXbxz8

Designated Parking:

https://goo.gl/maps/75p6D9MXT1vpE5MdA

The trail started out very easy. After about an hour, the trail became steeper but not that challenging. The difficult part was that the trail had been severely eroded by rain. In some locations, you have to walk off the trail and find an alternate path to get back on the trail while climbing over huge boulders. I am sure it will take a long time and significant expense to get the trail back to its original condition.

Ascending the mountain, I didn't stop to take any photos. The climb up was to scout for compositions that I could shoot on the way down the mountain.

After reaching the peak, I was a bit disappointed. The view of the ocean was bleak and hazy. The sky was misty and no nice cloud cover. I might have been able to find some decent shots, but I was soaking wet with sweat which seemed to attract small flying insects (gnats? flies?) that made it impossible to stand still long enough to set up the tripod for some carefully composed shots. I don't recall being swarmed by so many insects at one time. They didn't bite or sting, but were incredibly maddening.

I gave up on spending the time needed to set up the tripod and focus on some carefully planned compositions. Rather, I took a run-and-gun approach with handheld shots while trying to avoid standing still long enough to be engulfed by the flying insects.

On the way down, we were able to finally escape the swarm of insects that were at the top of the mountain and finally had a chance to take out the tripod for some interesting shots while giving the dog and myself some rest. Although coming down the mountain was easier than climbing, I had to be very careful that I did not go too fast and injure my knees as I had to climb down some steep grades and hop off of big boulders blocking the trail.

Here are the few shots that I was able to take with so-so quality. I would like to go again in the fall when the air is dryer and maybe the fall leaves might add to more dramatic shots.

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Beech Woods

Beech wood tree on peak of Mt. Banjirodake (at elevation of 1,299 m/4,262 ft). This peak is located on the Amagi Mountain Range, which is located on the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture (approx. a 3.5 hour drive southwest of Tokyo).

Pentax KP 31mm ISO 100 for 1/40 sec. at ƒ/4.5

#mountain #hiking #Banjirodake #trees #beechwood #Izu #Shizuoka #Japan

#山 #ハイキング # 万二郎岳 #木 #天城の秘境  #ブナの木  #伊豆半島 #静岡県

Licensing & prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

Tired

We had driven all night and reached the trailhead at about 5:00 in the morning. Four hours later we reached the peak of Mt. Banjirodake. She seemed exhausted and quickly found a huge, cool  boulder to rest on while I was taking photos.

Pentax KP 135mm ISO 1600 for 1/200 sec. at ƒ/5.6

#dog #pet #bordercollie #MtBanjirodake #Shizuoka #Japan

#犬 #ワンちゃん #愛犬 #ボーダーコリー #万二郎岳 #伊豆半島 #静岡県

Licensing & prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

Moss

This shot was taken at about 1,200 meters (3,937 ft) where you can see many species of moss creating new life from dead trees in an old growth forest that was spared the destruction of cedar tree plantations found at lower elevations.

Pentax KP 68mm ISO 800 for 1/200 sec. at ƒ/5.6

#moss #tree #oldgrowth #forest #MtBanjirodake #Izu #Shizuoka #Japan

#苔 #コケ #古い成長の木 #森 #万二郎岳 #伊豆半島 #静岡県

Licensing & prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

Happy to Go Home

お二人（僕とワンちゃん）はとても最高でした！

Halfway down Mt. Banjirodake, she jumped up onto this boulder and waited for me to catch up with her. On the way up the mountain, we both kept about the same pace. But on the way down, I with my backpack full of gear and my careful navigation of muddy rocks on the trail were no match for a spry border collie!

Pentax KP 36 mm ISO 1600 for 1/60 sec. at ƒ/4.5

#dog #pet #bordercollie #MtBanjirodake #Shizuoka #Japan

#犬 #ワンちゃん #愛犬 #ボーダーコリー #万二郎岳 #伊豆半島 #静岡県

Licensing & prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

Stewartia Monadelpha

On the climb down Mt. Banjirodake, came across a few very tall and unusual trees known as tall stewartia (Species: Stewartia monadelpha) that are native to the tropical mountain regions of Japan. The smooth, cinnamon colored trunks reach far above the canopy and stand in stark contrast to the surrounding cedar and beech woods.

Pentax KP 21mm ISO 400 for 1/50 sec. at ƒ/5.6

#stewartia #tree #oldgrowth #forest #MtBanjirodake #Izu #Shizuoka #Japan

#ヒメシャラ #姫沙羅 #古い成長の木 #森 #万二郎岳 #伊豆半島 #静岡県

Licensing & prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

Stewartia Monadelpha

This is the second stewartia tree I discovered on the way down Mt. Banjirodake. Don't know how I missed this tree on the way up! Was probably too focused trying to secure sure footing on the washed out trail. Hope to visit another old growth forest if I can.

Pentax KP 48 mm ISO 1600 for 1/30 sec. at ƒ/8.0

#stewartia #tree #oldgrowth #forest #MtBanjirodake #Izu #Shizuoka #Japan

#ヒメシャラ #姫沙羅 #古い成長の木 #森 #万二郎岳 #伊豆半島 #静岡県

Licensing & prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

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Pix4Japan by Iketani, Daisei is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license are available at Caubarrere Piché LLC.

Cape Kurosakinohana

Left home at around 1:30 in the morning in hopes of catching the sunrise at Cape Kurosakinohana (黒崎の鼻), which is located on the west coast of the Miura Peninsula about 2 hours 20 minutes from Nihonbashi, Tokyo (Google Maps link).

After parking the car at the parking lot that was closest to the cape, the dog and I walked about 30 minutes to reach the coastline. Fortunately, we arrived before sunrise and had a few minutes to scout the area for some compositions.

As expected, I had most of the coastline to myself! A few fishermen showed up after sunrise, but for the most part, it was just me and my dog!

This time of year, however, there is a haze that wipes out any hint of clear blue skies in the distant. From what I have read, Mt. Fuji can be seen clearly from here on a clear day. This was not one of those days.

Although the rocky coastline was very interesting from a geological history aspect, I had difficulty finding any clear leading lines I could use in a composition. I spent almost 3 hours taking various test shots and looking for interesting views.

While exploring the length of the coast, there were several Japanese kites (a kind or raptor called "tobi" in Japanese) flying close to the shore. They seemed to be taunting my dog into chasing them--which she promptly obliged! She had a blast running through the ocean waves, across the wet, cool sand, and over jagged rocks.

Although I wasn't able to take any "great" shots on this trip, I thoroughly enjoyed the sunrise and watching my dog get lots of exercise in trying to "herd" some beautiful raptors. I will come back in winter or after a typhoon in hopes of catching some clear skies or at least some dramatic clouds.

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Sunrise

Shot taken at Cape Kurosakinohana, Japan, which is a small headland that juts out into the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of the Miura Peninsula located about 2 1/2 hours south of Tokyo.

Pentax KP 55mm ISO 100 for 1/200 sec. at ƒ/18

#sunrise #Miura #scenic #Japan

#日の出 #黒崎の鼻 #景勝地 #三浦半島 #海の風景

License & Prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

Sea Dog

She had fun playing in the water and chasing after raptors called "tobi" (Japanese black kites). 

Pentax KP 21mm ISO 200 for 1/160 sec. at ƒ/7.1

#dog #pet #bordercollie #MiuraPeninsula #coast #Japan

#犬 #愛犬 #ボーダーコリー #三浦半島 #海の風景

License & Prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

    Water Silk

Sulfur colored marine plant drying on coastal rocks at low tide. Initially thought was seaweed but actually might be a filamentous algae called water silk or mermaid's tresses. 

Pentax KP 18mm ISO 100 for 1/20 sec. at ƒ/14

#seaweed #algae #MiuraPeninsula #scenic #Japan

#海藻 #藻 #黒崎の鼻 #景勝地 #三浦半島 #海の風景

License & Prints: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

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Pix4Japan by Iketani, Daisei is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license are available at Caubarrere Piché LLC.

Minami-Honmoku Pier

Tonight's photo shoot entailed visiting two different parks that have small hills where you can get high enough for a mostly unobstructed view of the bay. From street level, there are too many buildings and a huge double-decker raised expressway (highway) that blocks most of the view.

The first two shots required that I fix my tripod between a tall fence and thick tree trunk to catch the shot over the fence. Most of the shots were unusable due to slight motion of the tree caused by a light breeze. Only two shots were close to being sharp and in focus.

The third shot was a breeze to take since I planted the tripod on solid ground. Only drawback was that the bridge was so far away that I had to use a telephoto zoom lens maxed out at 300 mm.

My faithful dog was very patient with me as we scouted locations at around 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning.

It's great to visit these parks only a couple hours after midnight when there are absolutely no other people around. I can let my dog follow me around off her leash, which also frees up my hands for carrying gear. 

Will have to come back to this area during the daytime to catch some shots of the greenery in the future.

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Container Pier and Oil Refinery

Two berths with oil refinery tanks and mega-gantry cranes make up the Minami-Honmoku Pier as seen from Honmoku Waterfront Park.

Pentax KP 40mm ISO 100 for 30.0 sec. at ƒ/11

#cranes #gantrycrane #containercrane #pier #smokestack #coolingtower #refinery #Japan

#クレーン #メガガントリークレーン #石油精製工場 煙突 #冷却塔 #横浜港

Portfolio: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

Container Pier and Oil Refinery

Two berths with oil refinery tanks and mega-gantry cranes make up the Minami-Honmoku Pier as seen from Honmoku Waterfront Park.

Pentax KP 40mm ISO 100 for 30.0 sec. at ƒ/13

#cranes #gantrycrane #containercrane #pier #smokestack #coolingtower #refinery #Japan

#クレーン #メガガントリークレーン #石油精製工場 煙突 #冷却塔 #横浜港

Portfolio: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

Long-Span Cable-Stayed Bridge

Yokohama Bay Bridge--gateway to the Port of Yokohama for ships sailing in from Tokyo Bay.

Pentax KP 300mm ISO 100 for 30.0 sec. at ƒ/14

#bridge #cablestayed #YokhamaPort #YokohamaBayBridge #Yokohama #Japan

#橋 #湾 #横浜港 #横浜ベイブリッジ #横浜

Portfolio: pix4japan.myportfolio.com.

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Pix4Japan by Iketani, Daisei is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license are available at Caubarrere Piché LLC.