This is Page 2 of 4 - the best of November 2010!
posted: November 30th, 2010
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This page begins with November 12th and another trip to Jindai Botanical Garden. Then we jump to November 13th, a trip to Okutama for fall colors. The final item on this page is the famous Ginkgo Tree at Mitake. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
Begin November 12th
  On November 12th we made another trip to Jindai Botanical Garden to check on the progress of Fall Colors. As you can see in the first 2 shots here, they are progressing fairly nicely. The 3rd shot is a Dahlia against some nice Autumn Yellow Leaves.
  We left the Botanical Garden (we have a year pass so we can go in and out as many times per day as we like) and went to the Shrine to see the colorful Maple trees. On the way we passed the Koi (Carp) pond and the fish were colorfully congregated as shown in the first photo. We found this beautifully colored Red Maple Tree shown in the 2nd and 3rd photos.
  Here is a zoomed in shot of that Red Maple Tree and Ginkgo Tree shown in the previous photo. This shot has been enhanced by adjusting the shadows and highlights. The 2nd shot is a stand of Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) trees, which should soon turn brick red.
  On November 13th Kazuya and I took the Okutama Holiday Special Train out to Okutama and from Okutama Station we hiked the old road (Mukashi Michi) to Okutama Lake. The purpose of our trip was to take fall color photos. For the first time ever - we seem to have hit it at the very peak of colors. In first position is a shot taken from the bridge over the Tama River, just down the hill from Okutama Station. The 2nd and 3rd images are both 3 exposure-bracketed photos which have been Tone-Mapped with Photomatix Pro software, using the Tone-Compressor Option, and then combined into single images.
  The 1st and 2nd photos were taken from about the same spot - looking up the valley. The 2nd image is more zoomed in than the first photo. The 3rd shot is a beautiful Red Maple Tree.
  Here is a photo taken looking across the Tama River and then one looking downstream on the Tama River from a foot-bridge - it shows some beautiful colors. The 3rd shot is another beautiful Red Maple.
  In the first 2 of these 3 photos you can see the Tama River - they were both taken from the same spot. The 3rd photo shows a very interestingly colored tree in the center, sandwiched between some Red Maple branches.
  The first 2 images in this row are both 3 exposure-bracketed photos which have been Tone-Mapped with Photomatix Pro software, using the Tone-Compressor Option, and then combined into single images. The 3rd shot has not been enhanced - it is just as the camera took it.
  In first position in this row is a shot of Okutama Lake - if you look hard you can see the yellows on the mountains across the lake. The light was not great for trying to capture any colors from this spot. When we finished hiking the Okutama Old Road we took a bus back to Okutama Station and then we took a train back to Mitake. We got off there and hiked down to the place where the famous Ginkgo Tree is, beside the Tama River. The light was already becoming poor, as it was 3:15 PM. We decided to come back out here tomorrow. We did, however, take several shots of the Famous Ginkgo Tree (Ginkgo biloba) through the branches of the Red Maple. I'm sorry if several of these look about the same. I DID delete Three of the Ginkgo shots from this page to try and reduce the number! Each shot is a little bit different angle, a different zoom or something which I want to show.
  Here are 3 more shots of the Famous Mitake Ginkgo Tree (Ginkgo biloba) taken through the Red Maple branches. Notice the tree to the left of the Ginkgo Tree - the orange leaved one with the white car underneath it. This is the very first time we have ever seen it so orange.