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  1. #1
    First Deputy Junior Assitant Guru Roy Latham's Avatar
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    Kyoto Temple Garden

    This is the Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto. The garden of 15 rocks with raked pebbles is said to represent no less than the entirety of Zen philosophy. The image was trimmed on the left, and the shadows were enhanced considerably in Photoshop. The flat lighting of a gray day poses some problems.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Kyoto Temple Garden-kyoto-temple.jpg  

  2. #2
    Member mattp's Avatar
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    Re: Kyoto Temple Garden

    Hi Roy,

    The temple looks great, but I'm strugging a bit with this shot. I'm having trouble identifying what the focus of the image is - am I suppsed to be looking at the garden, the pink tree, or the way that the people are interacting or responding to the environment? It doesn't feel that the picture is giving me any clues, or leading me towards what it was about this place that made you choose to take that shot. Does that make any sense?

    As an example, if it is the garden itself, I would think about isolating an element of it, maybe finding a simple, balanced shot that echoed the feeling of serenity the garden is intended to provoke. Alternatively, perhaps you could have picked out a candid shot of someone comtemplating the garden, perhaps with enough background info to tell the viewer what it is they are looking at. Maybe concentrating on the couple with the camera phone would have made an interesting comment about the clash of technology and an ancient religion.

    Just some ideas, hope there's something helpful in that

    best wishes

    matt

  3. #3
    is back jar_e's Avatar
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    Re: Kyoto Temple Garden

    I agree with matt, maybe a tighter crop to focus on one subject. Surely looks like a beautiful subject, and a whole array of things to shoot!

  4. #4
    Where is Snowy? Yoyo Szeto's Avatar
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    Re: Kyoto Temple Garden

    Hi,
    I find this shot very interesting and am like it a lot. The beautiful rocks and pink flowers attract most people's attention but the couple is more attracted to the temple's architecture. The vantage point is strong. Very good!
    yoyo

  5. #5
    Seb
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    Re: Kyoto Temple Garden

    Quote Originally Posted by Roy Latham
    This is the Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto. The garden of 15 rocks with raked pebbles is said to represent no less than the entirety of Zen philosophy. The image was trimmed on the left, and the shadows were enhanced considerably in Photoshop. The flat lighting of a gray day poses some problems.
    Hello Roy,

    I agree with Matt here for the most part but I still find the picture to be enjoyable. The thing that distract me here is how the picture is cropped at the bottom. I think that some people are oddly cut while some others that aren't cut would need a little more space.

    That being said, the garden is beautiful and I love how the trees comes out.

    Seb

  6. #6
    First Deputy Junior Assitant Guru Roy Latham's Avatar
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    Re: Kyoto Temple Garden

    Quote Originally Posted by mattp
    ... I'm having trouble identifying what the focus of the image is - am I suppsed to be looking at the garden, the pink tree, or the way that the people are interacting or responding to the environment? It doesn't feel that the picture is giving me any clues, ... would have made an interesting comment about the clash of technology and an ancient religion.
    I appreciate your comments. My taste in such photos is a perhaps bit odd.

    The picture is supposed to ask the question: "What do you do when confronting 15 rocks that represent all of Zen philosophy?" The answers offered are: 1. contemplate it, 2. look at the flowering tree instead, 3. use it as a backdrop for a phone camera picture with your girl friend, 4. (my answer) photograph the whole scene. The question is left unresolved, which is a bit Zen-like to boot.

    This is a matter of taste. I like photos that pose more or less complicated situations because, if successful, they get the viewer involved in the scene as a participant. Not that this always works, as the dangers include making a photo that seems pointless or boring, or which is just confusing.

    The situational approach is useful for taking pictures of very well known landmarks -- like what can you do with Mt. Rushmore other than take one more picture identical to the 100 million others that have been taken? nthe answer is to show the spectators reacting.

    Tehcnically, this usually requires an ultra wide angle lens. I think comment about the foreground being truncated is on target. It's difficult to get a wide enough angle with a digital camera.

  7. #7
    First Deputy Junior Assitant Guru Roy Latham's Avatar
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    Re: Kyoto Temple Garden

    Quote Originally Posted by Seb
    ... The thing that distract me here is how the picture is cropped at the bottom. I think that some people are oddly cut while some others that aren't cut would need a little more space...
    I agree. It really needs a wider angle lens, as vertically it is full frame with the allegedly "ultra-wide angle" of a Nikon 8400 digital camera. I suppose "it's a poor carpenter who blames his tools." I have another version framed vertically, but that didn't give as good a sense of the whole situation.

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