The ghost of 'lectricity...
Dwarfed
Posted by Duncan Galbraith (kyoto, Japan) on 31 January 2007 in People & Portrait and Portfolio.
I need a wider lens. Its a humungous building, thats only the gate. The main temple itself is undergoing renovation and cant be seen, as during the renovation (which may take 10-15 years) theyve built what can only be described as a shed around the building. The worlds biggest shed at that. It's partially visible bottom left.
Higashi Honganji, Karasuma-Dori, Kyoto.
Daniel from United States
Haha! I have been there before! I think that dude in eyeballing you. They were working on the temple when I was there too! Although I can appreciate you are doing a scale thing here and you captured that nicely, but I don't find the image too interesting. The temple is big. Well, big deal. I guess I don't think you need a wider lens. The details are more interesting than the whole, and the details are often lost with wide angle shots. Cheers!
31 Jan 2007 5:08am
@Daniel: mmmmmm. The size of the temple is a big deal in my opinion. It's one of the largest free standing wooden buildings in the world. And for that reason it's worth a mention. A mention is what it got and nothing more, unless you choose to make that 'bottom left' into the subject that is.
Damon Schreiber from Toronto, Canada
Erm... I'll counter Daniel's not too encouraging bit above by stating for the record that I think this is fantabulous! I've mentioned before that I find these beautiful old buildings in Japan difficult to photograph in an interesting way. But this more than makes up for the infamous 'autumn leaves' post - you know what I'm talking about. They way you filled the frame with the structure so that it's rectilinear yet the lantern is diagonal... and that might all be as dreary as Daniel says, but with the addition of the golden-hued gent, it really shines. It's as though this little man is so special that he requires this structure as a backdrop. Monumental and exceptional! Makes me embarrassed to have posted the 'metro theatre' today.
31 Jan 2007 6:06am
@Damon Schreiber: Cheers for a more positive outlook Damon! I put this up in Portraits as it was always revolving around the gentleman himself. I wouldnt be embarassed about the 'Metro' shot mate. Its a great take. Only be embarrassed if you went in ;)
Manuela Photography from Hainburg (near Frankfurt/Main), Germany
Well I think it is superb! The angle emphasizes the temple structure.
Then particularly like the gentleman at the bottom, puts everything into perspective. One more interesting thing is the threatening sky on the right and the blue sky piece on the top corner. Superb!
31 Jan 2007 9:04am
@Manuela Photography: Cheers Manuela!
Pedro Ferreira from Portugal
Not to be so extensive, very weird angle, works perfectly. keep them coming!
31 Jan 2007 9:45am
@Pedro Ferreira: Cheers Pedro!
Stu from Kyoto, Japan
A grand shot I reckon. The old guy makes for me. Super, Duncs.
31 Jan 2007 12:46pm
@Stu: Cheers mate!
Alfredo J. Martiz J. from Tokyo, Japan
I like the angle of the shot, and also funny to see the senior looking at you like...what are you doing, foreigners!
Cool one!
31 Jan 2007 12:49pm
@Alfredo J. Martiz J.: Thanks again Alfredo!
Craiger from Vacaville, California, United States
Yea, what a massive building. Good capture!
31 Jan 2007 1:09pm
@Craiger: Cheers Craiger!
shiqi from Singapore, Singapore
It is a nice photo. a somewhat new perspective some might say. nice:)
31 Jan 2007 1:39pm
@shiqi: Thanks a lot shiqi!
Francis from Hong Kong
I like the anlgle but I really find the tones in this picture most interesting.
31 Jan 2007 3:23pm
@Francis: Cheers Francis, I used a spotlight (diffused) on the gentleman just to accentuate the tones and try and match the image to my memory of the time of capture.
John Hartman from Kyoto, Japan
I'm with Francis on this one. The color palette is almost monochromatic which makes the wee fella in the foreground kind of pop out at you. I've been looking at a lot of older, pre-war photos of Kyoto recently, and this (modulo the angle) looks like some of those.
31 Jan 2007 4:51pm
@John Hartman: Cheers John, I'd love to check out the pre-war stuff.
Zach Siebert from Bologna, Italy
you know how the light hits the man is just wonderful. i can agree with daniel that i've seen so many pictures of these temples that it's hard to see an interesting one any more, BUT you've managed to do that by taking great care with the details such as the colors (good god the shift from blue to almost black across the sky is awesome) and your real subject, the man-san, combined with the angling all work together to make this fun to look at!
31 Jan 2007 5:15pm
@Zach Siebert: Thanks so much Zach!
Bronnie from Christchurch, New Zealand
The temple isn't the focus at all for me - he is. I do like the colouring, and especially the way the light hits the man and highlights him.
Know what you mean about wanting a wider angle lens! But the restrictions from not having what you want means you can be incredibly creative with getting around it. Keep going and push the boundaries!
31 Jan 2007 6:09pm
@Bronnie: Thanks Bronnie! The lens comment was a bit of a joke at the scale of the thing ;) I actually quite like what I have to work with and will keep trying to employ them as best i can. Im glad you dig the picture!
Still from Valence, France
You have choose a dynamic framing which add interest to your image. The man catch the light... Interesting old mood in this one.
31 Jan 2007 10:25pm
@Still: Thanks Still, I wanted a somwehat aged look to the image to match both the gentleman and the backdrop. I used a beige filter to diffuse some of the lighting here. thanks mate!
Carol from Turkey
Excellent. I took some shots at this angle on a demo recently and they just don't work. Here it works great. With the light on the guy and the threatening sky - good stuff.
31 Jan 2007 11:26pm
@Carol: Thanks Carol!
jc from Ireland
i'm going with the general feeling on this one, interesting perspective and the right half of the frame really shines, with the guy and the sky .. good stuff, Duncan
1 Feb 2007 12:48am
@jc: Thanks John. Shame this place was shut actually when you came, you'd have loved it!
Mike Cash from Kiryu, Japan
The net is fairly awash with gaijins posting pictures of Japan, but you put them all in the shade as far as I'm concerned. You've managed to push me over the edge into actually installing an RSS extension into Firefox just to make it easier to keep up with your doings.
2 Feb 2007 8:03am
@Mike Cash: Thats possibly the nicest thing anyones ever said Mike. You have my eternal thanks. Im glad youre enjoying the work Mike, and Ill be keeping up with whats going down on your end via your travels. I guess you manage to cover a lot of ground? If you ever get out towards Kyoto, let me know!
Fujifilm FinePix S9000
1/350 second
F/2.8
ISO 80
7 mm