Slopes of Mt. Fuji

Left home at around 10:00 a.m. and reached the 5th station of the Gotemba trailhead that leads to the peak of Mt. Fuji at 3:30 in the afternoon. Although there are many other trailheads, this is the only one that I was familiar with that had a parking lot. In fact, this is the same trailhead I took to climb Mt. Fuji back around 1985 or 1986.

Although the trailhead was closed to vehicular traffic, I was able to find a rest area on the side of the highway about 3 or 4 kilometers from the trail head. I parked the car and hiked up to the trailhead where I was able to find the exact landscape that I was looking for--solemn dark volcanic rock and ash enveloped in mist and fog rolling down from the upper slopes of Mt. Fuji.

My border collie took full advantage of this trip to chase some deer we saw grazing along the way. 

Taking long exposure shots was a bit difficult since the fog was moving fast and engulfing the trees as I was setting up the tripod. My faithful dog happily took a rest from chasing deer and patiently waited for me to take numerous shot at various apertures and exposure times.

Here are original shots taken in camera and the following edits using Adobe Lightroom:

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Fog on Mt. Fuji

Pentax KP 18 mm ISO 100 at ƒ/22 for 5 sec.

#MountFuji #MtFuji #fog #trees #basalt #volcano #Gotemba5thStation #Japan

#富士山 #霧 #富士山の植物 #玄武岩 #火山 #富士山御殿場口五合目 #静岡県

Fine art prints available at pix4japan.darkroom.tech.

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Lonely Trees on Mt. Fuji

Pentax KP 28 mm ISO 100 for 5 sec. at ƒ/22

#MountFuji #MtFuji #fog #tree #basalt #volcano #Gotemba5thStation #Japan

#富士山 #霧 #富士山の植物 #玄武岩 #火山 #富士山御殿場口五合目 #静岡県

Fine art prints available at pix4japan.darkroom.tech.

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Border Collie on Mt. Fuji

Pentax KP 115 mm ISO 800 for 1/25 sec. at ƒ/5.6

#BorderCollie #dog #pet #sheepdog #companian #volcano #MtFuji #Japan

#ボーダーコリー #犬 #ペット #牧畜犬 #愛犬 #火山 #富士山 #静岡県

Fine art prints available at pix4japan.darkroom.tech.

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Bank of Trees

Pentax KP 40 mm ISO 100 for 1.0 sec. at ƒ/13

#MountFuji #MtFuji #fog #tree #basalt #volcano #Gotemba5thStation #Japan

#富士山 #霧 #富士山の植物 #玄武岩 #火山 #富士山御殿場口五合目 #静岡県

Fine art prints available at pix4japan.darkroom.tech.

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Moss-Covered Tree Trunks

Pentax KP 31 mm ISO 100 for 2.5 sec. at ƒ/5.6

#MountFuji #MtFuji #moss #trees #forest #woodland #fog #mist #Japan

#富士山 #霧 #富士山の植物 #木 #森 #富士山御殿場口五合目 #静岡県

Fine art prints available at pix4japan.darkroom.tech.

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Foggy Dirt Road on Mt. Fuji

Pentax KP 18 mm ISO 100 for 15 sec. at ƒ/22

#MountFuji #MtFuji #road #trees #forest #woodland #fog #mist #Japan

#富士山 #霧 #砂利の登山道 #木 #森 #富士山御殿場口五合目 #静岡県

Fine art prints available at pix4japan.darkroom.tech.

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Huge Tama River Weir

Before heading back home, there was one more weir that I wanted to catch at the tail end of the blue hour.

If I had a drone, I think a shot from straight above would have been very interesting with all the various flows of white water as it flowed over the geometric shapes protruding from the surface of the concrete weir that seemed to run from shore to shore of the Tama River.

I spent almost 2 hours snapping nearly 50 shots, but was only semi-pleased with about 3 shots overall. My poor dog was very patient and basically took a nap on the cool concrete nearby.

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Before

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After

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Pentax KP 18 mm ISO 100 for 30.0 sec at ƒ/22 with a CP filter.

Lightroom consisting of cropping and only slight changes to highlights and shadow.

Commercial licensing, framed prints, and canvasses available at https://pix4japan.picfair.com

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Tama River Debris

After catching some shots of water flowing over the weirs on Tama River, I walked downstream a bit to an outcrop of concrete barriers that were just barely above the waterline. Although my dog (a border collie) was too scared to get any closer to the rushing water, I forged ahead to snap just one more shot of the debris from down river before the sunlight disappeared.

My feet got wet, and so did the tripod. But the water flow was not enough to cause any motion and I was able to get the composition that I wanted. 

I admit that the second shot below was a bit over-edited in Lightroom--specifically in the area of adding texture. I know it's not very well done, and I am quite embarrassed to be honest. Still, I just can't get over how I was able to make the photo look like it was made using oils on a canvas. Cheesy, I know, but it was fun to play with this kind of editing. Definitely not the kind of photo that I think I could sell.

Maybe after a year, I will start to get a handle on how to use Lightroom properly, and then  move onto Photoshop.

Below are the before and after shots:

Original JPEG shot out of camera

After editing in Lightroom

Tama River Debris

Pentax KP 68 mm ISO 100 for 1/5 sec at ƒ/7.1 with a CP filter.

#river #debris #FlowingWater #TamaRiver #Tokyo #Japan

#川 #洪水がれき #流水 #多摩川 #川崎 #東京

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Funashima Inari Daimyojin Shrine

This shrine is located only 53 meters from the water's edge on the inner bank of the Tama River in Kawasaki. The shrine houses the guardian deity of flood control and agriculture and is typically referred to as Tsuku Inari Shrine  by the locals.

• Location via Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/yxKxCMMqJxd9HYLy8
• 船島稲荷大明神: 〒214-0021 神奈川県川崎市多摩区宿河原１丁目６−6

The shrine was founded in 1493, but was actually located on the opposite side of the river. Flooding in 1591 required relocation of the shrine, and then again in 1659. In 1721, the shrine finally found a permanent home where we can visit it today.

Somewhat surprising to me was that some of the stone lanterns and other stone sculptures on the shrine grounds were enclosed in steel cages that were anchored to the ground with steel cables or rods. Although peculiar and somewhat unsightly, such measures tell me that they might be more of a measure to prevent flood waters from washing everything away than to prevent vandals stealing historical pieces.

Unlike hundreds of years ago, the shrine most likely will never be moved again should it be overwhelmed with flooding again. The rapid development of land buttressing up against the river banks would make it impossible to move this little shrine ever again.

Unlike the huge shrines that welcome busloads of tourists, I much prefer little unknown shrines that still play an intimate role in the daily lives of the locals.

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Original Shot in Camera

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Post Processing Result

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Japanese Shinto Shrine

Pentax KP 24 mm ISO 1600 for 30.0 sec at ƒ/29 with a CP filter.

#shrine #Shinto #ShintoShrine #InariShrine #traditional #Kawasaki #TamaRiver #Japan

#神社 #神道 #船島稲荷大明神 #稲荷神社 #日本の伝統文化 #川崎市 #多摩川

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Tama River Weirs

I took the dog for a walk and after about 2 hours of walking in off-and-on rain showers, we found ourselves on the Kawasaki side of the large Tama River.

It has only been about 6 months since Typhoon Hagibis, which was on par with a Category 5 hurricane, passed through eastern Japan causing this river (and many, many more) to overflow her banks.

The flooding wiped out portions of the river bank while dumping silt and debris in other places. Parks and other areas closer to the water used to have metal fencing. Now, portions of the fences were either missing or were mangled tubes of twisted steel.

I took numerous shots from as close as I could get to the water’s edge safely, but was unable to get a satisfactory composition. Initially, I shot too wide and cluttered the shot with irrelevant structures, buildings, and train tracks.

Would love to have been able to get closer to the water’s edge with the tripod, but have no idea how that could be done and be able to any movement with water rushing around the tripod legs.

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Tama River Weirs

Pentax KP 53mm ISO 100 for 0.8 sec at ƒ/14

#river #weir #water #TamaRiver #Tokyo #Japan

#川 #堰 #川の堰 #流水 #多摩川 #東京

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Akiya Coast in Yokosuka

This small island was discovered by looking at Google Maps and following the coastline of the Miura Peninsula. The visit here was about a 3-hour drive from Yokohama with minimal traffic.

Fortunately, there was a large, empty parking lot that charged only a flat rate of 800 yen regardless of how long you stayed. Ended up spending the whole afternoon here until sunset. 

The drive home was a bit tiring, but felt happy to get some good shots. This particular shooting was the first time that I used a circular polarizer. I wasn't able to fully take advantage of the polarizer and the shots that worked with the polarizer had a lousy composition. 

It's so true that regardless of the gear you have, the composition and vision for a particular shot plays a very important role.

Bonten-no-hana Silhouette

Pentax KP 18mm ISO 800 at ƒ/11 for 1/250 sec.

#sky #clouds #island #beach #coast #Bontennohana #AkiyaCoast #Yokosuka #Japan #sunset

#空 #青空 #雲 #島 #海岸 #沿岸 #梵天の鼻 #秋谷海岸 #横須賀 #日暮れ #シルエット

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Bonten-no-hana Silhouette

Pentax K-S2 57.5mm ISO 800 at ƒ/11 for 1/250 sec.

#sky #clouds #island #beach #coast #Bontennohana #AkiyaCoast #Yokosuka #Japan #sunset

#空 #青空 #雲 #島 #海岸 #沿岸 #梵天の鼻 #秋谷海岸 #横須賀 #日暮れ #シルエット

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Border Collie in Yokosuka

Dale-chan the border collie, had a wonderful time chasing waves and barking at the foam forming on the beach and rocks during a visit to the Akiya Coast in Yokosuka, Japan. 

The beach on this coastline is very small but clean and offers some beautiful views especially at sunset. We were fortunate in that there were nearly no people on the beach nor any other dogs on this day. Thus, Dale-chan was able to run free off her leash and get lots of exercise while inadvertently swallowing lots of dark sand and seawater! 

Border Collie at Akiya Coast

Pentax K-S2 200mm ISO 400 at ƒ/5.6 for 1/500 sec.

#bordercollie #pet #dog #canine #purebred #blackandwhitedog #sheepdog #beach #coast #Bontennohana #AkiyaCoast #Yokosuka #Japan

#ボーダーコリー #ペット #犬 #愛犬 #動物 #純血種 #牧羊犬  #梵天の鼻 #秋谷海岸 #横須賀

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Pix4Japan by Iketani, Daisei is licensed under a
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