posted: November 30th, 2009 |
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All photos on this page were taken on November 15th - a trip to Okutama, Okutama Lake and then Mitake - the home of the famous Ginkgo Tree. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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Begin November 15th |
  On November 15th I went out to Okutama Lake in hopes of finding great fall colors. I went alone as Kazuya was in the hospital at the time. I walked across the dam (Okutama Lake is man-made) and walked along this lake-shore trail. I found lots of yellow trees, but only a few red ones. The sun was on the wrong side, but in this row you can get a pretty good idea of all of the yellows I was seeing as I walked along. |
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  I included the first shot in this row to show you how quickly the leaves are disappearing - notice all of the leaves in the air. I found a few Red-Maple trees. These next 2 shots in this row show some really fine red colors with the blue water of the lake as a background. |
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  Here is a yellow-orange tree and one final shot of a Red-Maple with the blue water of the lake in the background. |
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  After I finished at Okutama I took a local train back to Mitake - the home of the famous Ginkgo Tree which Kazuya and I go out and take pictures of every year. I was not expecting it to be at its peak yet, but it was! I have included some larger size images this year, the small size which I normally use just does not do these photos justice. So, I have used 900 pixel x 675 pixel images for the best photos. This first row was taken between 1:05 and 1:12 PM. In this row, only the first photo is larger size. |
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  These next 3 shots were taken between 1:15 and 1:17 PM. I am telling you the time because the light is going to change after a while and I want you to be aware of what's happening. In this row the 1st and 3rd photos are larger size. |
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  These 3 shots were taken between 1:17 and 1:19 PM. All three photos are larger than normal. Anybody care to place a vote on which one of these several Ginkgo photos is best? I'd really appreciate getting some ideas. |
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  These photos were taken at 1:20 and 1:30 PM respectively. The first photo is larger than normal. The 2nd photo was taken after I crossed the foot bridge (not shown anywhere on this page) and I was standing right beside the Ginkgo Tree. |
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  In this row I am still on the other side of the Tama River. The first photo shows you the spot where the previous photos were taken from. See all of the people standing under the Red Maple trees shooting photos? They are photographing the Ginkgo Tree and using the Red Maple branches and leaves to frame their shots, exactly the same as I did in Rows 4 - 7. The 2nd and 3rd shots in this row show a very nice Red Maple further down the river. The 3rd shot is larger than normal. |
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  Here are 3 more Red Maple shots taken as I walked down the river. The 1st shot is larger than normal. |
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  Here are 3 more Red Maple leaf shots. All 3 images are larger than normal and I have also given you higher quality than normal so that the leaf edges are not as pixilated as they were when I used the normal quality which I usually use here. Usually I use 55% of original quality, but for these 3 shots I have used 70% of original quality. |
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  Now I've finished walking down the other side of the Tama River, crossed back over to the side which I started on and walked back up to the Ginkgo Tree. It's now 2:33 - 2:35 PM. This is 1 hour and 10 minutes later than the previous Ginkgo photo. Can you notice the difference in the sun angle? The 1st and 3rd photos are larger than normal. |
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  And here are the final 2 shots of the Famous Ginkgo for this year. The first and the 2nd image are the same photo, but the 2nd one has been color enhanced with PhotoShop. All 3 of these images are larger than normal. The time is now 2:39 and 2:41 PM. What do you think? Pretty nice colors, eh? |
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End November 15th, End Page 2 |
2010 USA (173 KB) and Japanese (183 KB) Refrigerator Door Size Calendar PDF's |
Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 3 for the continuation of this month's adventures. |
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