More From Kiyosumi Garden with the Leica IIIG

While visiting Kiyosumi Garden, this young couple, probably just engaged, came to the park with a professional photographer to get their pictures taken under the lovely cherry tree. Keeping a respectable distance, I shot a couple of exposures of my own.

 

Young Couple in the Park, by Reed A. George

Leica IIIG, Elmar 5cm f3.5 Collapsible Lens with Yellow Filter

Ilford HP5+ Film

 

They didn't seem to mind. I love the traditional dress, which makes the images somewhat timeless.

 

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Photos of Kiyosumi Gardens, Tokyo, with Leica IIIG

My mother-in-law lives in Tokyo. She is a wonderful host to us when we visit. Her home is a short walk from the beautiful Kiyosumi Garden. With an interesting history, including the incorporation of natural stones collected from all around Japan, and being owned at one time by the founder of the Mitsubishi empire, today it's a public park that is perfect for a morning stroll.

 

(Click Here) to read more about the history of Kiyosumi Garden.

 

The garden is centered around a large pond, and features a floating teahouse.

 

Kiyosumi Garden, by Reed A. George

Leica IIIG, 5cm f3.5 Elmar Lens with Yellow Filter

Ilford HP5+ Film (iso 400)

 

In addition to the natural stones and traditional Japanese garden trees (including pines, willows, and cherry trees), the garden has a lot of wildlife, like the ducks you see above, as well as turtles.

 

 

Kiyosumi Garden Wildlife, by Reed A. George

Leica IIIG, 5cm f3.5 Elmar Lens with Yellow Filter

Ilford HP5+ Film (iso 400)

 

The Leica IIIG, collapsible Elmar, and 400 speed film are not your classic landscape gear. However, I quite like the images I was able to produce with them here. The yellow filter helped increase the contrast just a little, but it was imperative that I keep the bright sky out of the images. In the first image, I had to crop out a plain white sky.

 

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Flight Delay - Thank Goodness for Snapseed

My airplane seems to have a "maintenance" issue, which is apparently interchangeable with a "mechanical" issue in airline terms. They seem distinct to me, but what do I know?

 

While I sit here waiting to hear whether I'll be home tonight or not, I decided to edit and post an image from Japan.

 

Japanese Garden, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7

iso 200, f8, 1/60 sec.

Edited in Snapseed

 

The garden in our hotel in Hakone, a historic resort about an hour from Tokyo, has a stunning garden. I have been traveling and shooting a lot. This reminds me that I have a lot of material to edit from our Japan trip. More to come!

 

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Remind Me Again Why I Need Multiple Cameras? The Lumix DMC-LX7 Does So Much.

Japanese Garden Scene, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7, 70mm (equivalent full-frame focal length)

iso 200, f2.1, 1/400 sec.

 

This is another jpeg direct from the Lumix DMC-LX7. As you can see, you can achieve relatively shallow depth of field with this camera, despite the small sensor size. That's because it has a very large maximum aperture in the Leica Vario Summilux lens, f1.4 at the widest angle zoom setting (24mm full-frame equivalent). I believe f2.1 is the maximum aperture at the focal length I needed for this shot. I think the bokeh (out of focus rendering) is very nice with this lens.

 

This camera really does sometimes make me wonder why I need any other gear, especially for travel photography. If you know me, and the fact that I have a large and broad collection of cameras, this statement doesn't come lightly from me. The LX7 is just plain impressive.

 

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Japan is Welcoming to Photographers

Any idea what this is? I came across it in the garden at our hotel in Hakone, Japan, and had never seen anything like it.

What The?, by Reed A. George

 

Well, it's a monopod, set permanently in a concrete base, in the optimum spot for a travel shot in the garden. Well, of course, I couldn't resist. I mounted the LX7 up, set the self-timer, and made this shot with my lovely wife.

 

Hakone Garden Picture Spot, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7

 

This reminds me of the Kodak Photo Spot campaign of years back, but it's not a commercial. It's simply a very nice feature that the hotel added to the garden.

 

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