Rodney Campbell's Blog

Asakusa (浅草) is one of Tokyo’s districts, where an atmosphere of the Tokyo of past survives. It is central to the area colloquially referred to as Shitamachi, which literally means “low city”. In this case it is referring to the low elevation of this old part of Tokyo, on the banks of the Sumida River.

Asakusa’s main attraction is Sensoji, a very popular Buddhist temple, built in the 7th century.

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 250 mm, 1/250 sec at f/8, ISO 280

Above one of the late flowering Sakura still in full bloom.

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 90 mm, 1/100 sec at f/6.3, ISO 180

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

Asakusa is always crazy busy, it’s a very popular tourist and religious destination. Here we battle with the crowds in one of the shopping streets leading to the temple.

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 28 mm, 1/30 sec at f/8, ISO 360

One of the things I had come here for was to buy some of the “famous” Asakusa senbei. Senbei is a Japanese rice cracker (for as long as I can remember I’ve loved these things). My daughters are also quite partial to them so it’s happiness all around.

Senbei have a long history, going back to the ninth century in Japan and even further back to the seventh century in China. The original crackers were sweet and flour-based, and it wasn’t until the 17th century that rice was used.

I remember buying the crackers here more than 20 years ago so it was time to repeat :).

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 28 mm, 1/320 sec at f/3.5, ISO 100

We had apparently missed the best of the Cherry Blossoms by just a week. We hadn’t actually planned to be here at the peak time. It was just coincidence we had arranged to be here around Cherry Blossom season.

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 210 mm, 1/250 sec at f/5.6, ISO 180

The Cherry Blossom (or Sakura in Japanese), blooms across Japan between March and May each year. While the blossom is out crowds of people flock to parks, gardens and riversides to eat, drink, and be merry underneath the flowers.

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 62 mm, 1/200 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

The blooming time of cherry trees differs from year to year depending on the weather. This year the blooms came a little earlier than usual and we missed the best of the blossoms. The cherry blossom season is relatively short. Full bloom (mankai) is usually reached within one week after the opening of the first blossoms (kaika). Another week later, the blooming peak is over and the blossoms are falling from the trees. Strong wind and rain can cut the blooming season even shorter.

We were in Ueno Park to view the last of the blossoms (most had already fallen with some bad weather). Still there was a little of the punk blush left on the trees in the centre of the park. I used this as best as could with some nice portraits of my daughters.

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 300 mm, 1/320 sec at f/5.6, ISO 250

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 190 mm, 1/200 sec at f/7.1, ISO 280

It had been more than twenty (20) years since I had last been in Japan. My two eldest daughters had individually travelled there on holiday with my parents in recent years. However my wife last visited together more than 20 years ago. Our youngest daughter had never been and was extremely keen to go (perhaps as the only one never to have been).

Arakawa

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 58 mm, 1/60 sec at f/9, ISO 250

So plans were put in motion and we arranged a family trip to see all the sites and visit my many relatives across Japan.

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 135 mm, 1/160 sec at f/8, ISO 220

In Tokyo we decided to stay at an apartment we found on Airbnb. It was conveniently located near the Subway at Machiya in Arakawa. Finding places with at least three bedrooms in cities in Japan is tricky but the place was clean and comfortable.

Ueno Reflective

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 44 mm, 1/125 sec at f/8, ISO 100

My Tokyo relatives met us at the Airport and took us all the way to our accomodation. After a quick baggage dropoff we all headed out to dinner at a local restaurant.

Japan in Bloom

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 45 mm, 1/100 sec at f/8, ISO 100

The next day my aunt and uncle met us in Ueno (Park) to see the very last of the famous Cherry Blossoms.

Next stop on our journey on the road to Dunedoo. With frequent stops for me to get the drone up in the sky to look for more slashing lines, interesting colours, textures and shapes. Even this area of what I presume was wild canola lent itself to discovery of amazing patterns from the air. I think beyond the interesting shapes and colours it’s the amazing light filtering through the clouds which makes this image.

Slashing Light

DJI Phantom 4 - FC330 + 3.6 mm @ 3.61 mm, 1/120 sec at f/2.8, ISO 104

Stopping further down the road we’ve found this field of well maintained canola. It’s separated from what may have been a recently harvested field by this thin strip of dirt along a fenceline. The repeating parallel lines and angles do it for me here :).

Criss Cross

DJI Phantom 4 - FC330 + 3.6 mm @ 3.61 mm, 1/180 sec at f/2.8, ISO 100

Finally below we have a bit of a behind the scenes (BTS) look at the area. Actually neither of the shots above are included in this view but it does give you a good idea how the various paddocks are laid out. Perfect for the style of photography I was interested in this day.

DJI Phantom 4 - FC330 + 3.6 mm @ 3.61 mm, 1/310 sec at f/2.8, ISO 100

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

When we first drove by this location earlier in the day I just knew it would be perfect for a shot like this. The haunted house, the creepy spooky trees, the open field – just perfect. I’d been on the lookout for locations which had these sorts of conditions. Something for a nice uninterrupted milky way arch across the sky above something interesting in my foreground.

The Haunted

NIKON D750 + 14.0 mm f/2.8 @ 14 mm, 25 sec at f/2.8, ISO 6400 x 12 Frames

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

I’d already determined that time wise it was roughly ideal – within days of the new moon. Secondly we were out in a relatively remote area of country New South Wales. This gives me access to reasonably dark skies away from populated areas.

I’d also determined that the milky way would start higher in the sky in the early evening and would lay over to the west towards the horizon as the night progressed. I’d also have the core of the milky way nicely visible in the sky. An app like PhotoPills on the phone is an ideal tool for this type of planning.

All I needed was a good location facing west with clear views to the north and south and something interesting to put under my arch to the west. Ohhh and I needed the clouds to go away :)…

Cue sunset and the clouds were still around but soon afterwards the skies cleared nicely and all the clouds went away.

With the conditions just about ideal my daughter and I just had to place ourselves in the field. Moving to a spot so that the grove of trees surrounding the haunted house 🙂 would sit nicely under the arch.

This image is a panorama stitch of twelve (12) vertical frames taken with the Samyang 14mm. It’s composed of two horizontal rows of six frames – one taken directly level and one taken 45˚ upwards. The field of view would be roughly 200˚ and encompasses the full milky way arch looking south to north.