Pix4Japan

2020-05-19

Daikoku Pier West Park

One of my favorite landmarks in the Port of Yokohama is the the Yokohama Bay Bridge. Although it is not as beautiful as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Yokohama Bay Bridge remains a popular tourist attraction, is a critical part of the local infrastructure, and a proud symbol of Yokohama city.

For this photo shoot, my dog and I left home at about 2:00 a.m. and reached the Daikoku Pier West Park in less than an hour. The park lies on the water's edge where ships sail into the Port of Yokohama from Tokyo Bay.

Daikoku Pier West Park on Google Maps:

https://goo.gl/maps/RpwYUZN9YHtutooJ6

Completed in 1990, the Daikoku Pier West Park is a popular destination during the weekend for folks who enjoy fishing. In the evening, the park becomes a so-called "date spot" as young couples visit the park for its romantic and beautiful views of the Port of Yokohama. The third group of visitors to the park would most likely be photographers.

For this photo shoot, some extra preparation was called for due to the poor weather. I brought rain boots, rain pants, a rain jacket, and a large umbrella (to keep the camera equipment dry). My border collie loves the rain, so she didn't need any preparations other than some water and doggy snacks.

We reached the park around 3:00 a.m. and drove around for an additional 20 or 30 minutes looking for a parking lot that was located within walking distance. We finally found a parking lot and first visited the park to: 1) confirm that the park was accessible in the middle of the night; 2) let the dog have a chance to relieve herself; and 3) scouted around from various vantages in search of compositions.

The park is quite small with most of the surrounding area being private property with huge tall fences to keep out unauthorized entry. My vantages were limited to close-up views of the bridge at only three angles: a) the eastern side of the bridge; b) directly under the bridge; and c) and the western side of the bridge.

With accessibility and vantages confirmed, the dog and I headed back to the car and got the camera gear, and some dog food and water. We returned to the park shortly, set up the gear, and tied the umbrella to the side of the tripod. The pouring rain was got worse and the wind picked up speed. Fortunately, the umbrella did not blow away and was critical in keeping water off of the front of the lens.

While I focused on shooting pictures, the border collie spent her time barking and chasing after crows who were trying to devour a dead fish that was lying on the pier. How the fish got there, I have no idea. Maybe it was caught by a bird of prey and got dropped? The dog got lots of exercise and was able to run freely since we were the only ones at the park in the middle of the night.

My first shots were taken about 30 minutes before sunrise. The weather seemed to worsen and a fog started rolling in. The sky was initially a dark blue, but as we got closer to sunrise, the yellowish lamp posts lining the piers on the other side of the bay created a warm, soft violet color that was ever more visible as the clouds descended and the blue hour got brighter.

Soon after sunrise, the whites and cooler tones of blues and grays become increasingly prominent, which can be seen in the shot of the bridge girders below and the last shot at the end of this post.

Overall, I was satisfied with this photo shoot. I wouldn't say my shots are great as there are limitless photos online of this bridge that were taken during clear weather with beautiful lighting. Personally, I prefer moodier shots, and this particular photo shoot gave me plenty of opportunity to play with the contrast of a soft fog enveloping the hard lines of man-made structures.

I finished up at around 5:00 a.m., loaded up the gear and dog, and headed back home.

It was a productive night and I was able to achieve several of my goals for this photo shoot:

1. Taking shots in a downpour without drenching the equipment even though my gear is weather resistant.

2. Experimenting with a circular polarizer when there is no direct harsh sunlight.

3. Practicing how to focus on the subject under low-light conditions using live-view zoomed in with a high ISO as opposed to the view finder (my preferred method).

4. Experimenting with various methods of stabilizing the tripod under high-wind conditions.

5. Scouting the area for future photo shoot opportunities.

Original shot in camera ↑

Final shot after post-processing ↓

Yokohama Bay Bridge

Pentax KP 18mm ISO 100 for 6 sec. at ƒ/3.5

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

#橋 #湾 #横浜港 #横浜ベイブリッジ #大黒ふ頭西緑地 #横浜

Fine art prints available at pix4japan.darkroom.tech.

Original shot in camera ↑

Final shot after post-processing ↓

Yokohama Bay Bridge

Pentax KP 18mm ISO 100 for 30 sec. at ƒ/14

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

#橋 #湾 #横浜港 #横浜ベイブリッジ #大黒ふ頭西緑地 #横浜

Fine art prints available at pix4japan.darkroom.tech.

Original shot in camera ↑

Final shot after post-processing ↓

Yokohama Bay Bridge Girders

Pentax KP 18mm ISO 100 for 15 sec. at ƒ/11

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

#橋 #湾 #横浜港 #横浜ベイブリッジ #大黒ふ頭西緑地 #横浜

Fine art prints available at pix4japan.darkroom.tech.

Original shot in camera ↑

Final shot after post-processing ↓

Lighthouse

Pentax KP 18 mm ISO 100 for 25 sec. at ƒ/16

#lighthouse #marker #navigation #port #harbor #Yokohama #Japan

#灯台 #舷灯 #航海 #港 #大黒ふ頭西緑地 #横浜

Fine art prints available at pix4japan.darkroom.tech.

Original shot in camera ↑

Final shot after post-processing ↓

Yokohama Bay Bridge & Lighthouse

Pentax KP 18mm ISO 100 for 6 sec. at ƒ/14

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

#橋 #湾 #横浜港 #横浜ベイブリッジ #大黒ふ頭西緑地 #横浜

Fine art prints available at pix4japan.darkroom.tech.

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.

2020-05-12

Ryugu Sea Cave

The Ryugu Sea Cave is located about 4 hours southwest of Tokyo or about half that time if you take the toll expressways. You can also access the cave in about 3 hours from Tokyo if you take the bullet train, local lines, and a bus.

Google Maps:

https://goo.gl/maps/VfcRXVrxLyGbag3E7

After getting home at around 11:00 p.m. from my day job, I took the dog for a quick walk to let her pee and poo before starting to pack my camera gear and going through my list of items not to forget.

I packed the car and we (the dog and I) left home at around 1:00 a.m. and reached the sea cave at around 5:00 a.m. There was no parking available that early in the morning, so I had to find an empty space on the side of the road that was about a 20-minute walk from the cave.

Having drove all night without a break, I was exhausted. But the second I entered the cave, all the exhaustion disappeared and I grew excited imagining what kinds of compositions I could achieve.

To be honest, I found it difficult to find a good composition at this site. If I had brought a graduated ND filter, I could have caught the beautiful blue colors of the ocean and sky that were visible from the entrance of the cave. I also struggled with how long of an exposure of the waves I wanted and was not exactly sure what f-stops would work best.

Of the shots taken, I would probably say that the first and third ones below are my favorites.

For the first shot, I wanted to create a leading line from the boulder along the reflected light and out to the exterior of the cave.

For the third shot, I tried to used the beach of rocks leading from the boulder to the opposing wall of the cave to create a leading line ending with the cinnamon-colored wall that was similar to the color of the large boulder in the foreground.

Overall, this photo shoot was a good experience as I tried to take advantage of the circular polarizer to minimize reflections from the water surface and the wet rocks (which seemed to work well in these shots).

This was also the first time I had used a 64 ND filter (6 stops of light) to create the effect of misty water. With the filter on, it was difficult to guess how long of an exposure would have been ideal. I really need to learn the maths for this or buy an app to help me do the calculation automatically.

On the way home, the dog and I were both beyond help and had to pull over to the side of the road to catch a nap for about an hour or so. We finally made it home at around 3 or 4 p.m. that evening.

It was an exhausting 32-hour day with only that 1-hour nap during the drive home. Still, I can't wait to head out for another site again in the near future.

Before ↑ and After ↓

Ryugu Sea Cave

Shot of calm waves from the Pacific Ocean washing into this sea cave on the Izu Coastline of Eastern Japan.

Pentax KP 28mm ISO 100 for 2.5 sec. at ƒ/14

#rocks #boulders #waves #cave #ocean #sea #coastline #Izu #Japan

#海 #龍宮窟 #沿岸 #海の洞窟 #下田市 #伊豆半島 #静岡県

Fine art prints available at pix4japan.darkroom.tech.

Commercial licensing available at pix4japan.picfair.com.

Before ↑ and After ↓

Cinnamon Colored

Erosion reveals multiple layers of cinnamon colored volcanic lapillus on the walls of the Ryugu Sea Cave on the Izu Coastline of Eastern Japan.

Pentax KP 18mm ISO 100 for 25 sec. at ƒ/16

#cave #wall #seacave #ocean #sea #coastline #Japan

#海 #龍宮窟 #沿岸 #海の洞窟 #下田市 #伊豆半島 #静岡県

Fine art prints available at pix4japan.darkroom.tech.

Commercial licensing available at pix4japan.picfair.com.

Before ↑ and After ↓

Collapsed Ceiling

As the waves washed in and eroded the volcanic lapillus walls, the ceiling of the cave eventually collapsed creating a huge skylight that allows you to more clearly see the contrast between the aqua blue waters and the cinnamon-colored volcanic lapillus of the cavern walls.

Pentax KP 18mm ISO 100 for 25 sec. at ƒ/16

#cave #wall #seacave #ocean #sea #coastline #Japan

#海 #龍宮窟 #沿岸 #海の洞窟 #下田市 #伊豆半島 #静岡県

Fine art prints available at pix4japan.darkroom.tech.

Commercial licensing available at pix4japan.picfair.com.

Before ↑ and After ↓

Border Collie at Sea Cave

She found a stick that must have tasted good enough to gnaw on while I was taking shots. Either that or she was just bored waiting for me to finish up.

Pentax KP 100mm ISO 3200 for 1/160 sec. at ƒ/5.6

#BorderCollie #dog #pet #sheepdog #companion #ocean #Izu #RyuguSeaCave #Japan

#ボーダーコリー #犬 #ペット #牧畜犬 #愛犬 #海 #龍宮窟 #伊豆半島 #静岡県

Fine art prints available at pix4japan.darkroom.tech.

Commercial licensing available at pix4japan.picfair.com.

2020-05-05

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:

↓

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.

↓

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.

↓

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.

↓

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.

↓

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.

↓

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.

2020-04-28

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.

Before

↓

After

↓

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

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

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

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.

Original Shot in Camera

↓

Post Processing Result

↓

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

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

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.

Commercial licensing, framed prints, and canvasses are available at our online store: pix4japan.picfair.com

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