a cloudy fall day in Matsushima
It was one of the new ALT's birthdays and none of them had been to Matsushima yet, so yesterday I took some folks there to eat oysters and see the scenery. Overcast skies meant that most of my photos came out underexposed, and the bottom photo in this entry required massive postprocessing work to look halfway decent; I need to start shooting in raw mode and learn how to meter properly in order to avoid losing the shadows.
Most of the fall colors this year haven't been all that great. The trees are all changing at different times this year, so that by the time the maple trees are in full color the rest of the trees' leaves are brown and sagging. I went to Naruko last week but it was overcast and only half the leaves had changed over.
Most of the other trees were either still green or had lost their leaves. This lone tree was trying to disprove the old Japanese adage that "the nail which sticks out gets pounded in".
I took this photo directly below the tree in the photo above.
Set into an alcove on one island, I don't know whether this is a gravestone or just a simple marker.
I like how despite the caretaker's best efforts to keep things spotless, leaves still collected on the roof.
As I raised my camera to take this shot, a flock of seagulls graced the scene with aerial acrobatics. Isn't it nice when nature just poses for you?
November 12th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Seeing that bridge took me right back to when we were there. I think in spite of the clouds, the pictures are great. The one of the 3 leaves is really good. Did you "pose" them, or was that the way you found them? We love seeing pictures of where you are or where you go. Even things like a picture of a restaurant where you usually eat will be important to you later, and we'd love to see it.
November 13th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Fabulous photos!!! Thanks for sharing.