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This is Page 1 of 3 - the best of December 2010!
posted: December 29th, 2010
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This page begins with November 30th - Seasonal Illumination at Roppongi - Midtown. The next outing is a December 4th trip to the University of Tokyo's, Koishikawa Botanical Garden for Fall Color Viewing. The final outing on this page is a December 11th trip to Mt. Takao.
Click on any thumbnail to begin.

Begin November 30th
  On Tuesday, November 30th, I had a class at Roppongi Midtown and took these photos of some Seasonal Illumination. In the first photo you need to take note of the box that the people are looking at. It is about 2 meters (about 6+ feet) on a side. The 2nd shot shows what you see when you press the camera right up against the wall of the box - it appears like it goes on forever. The 3rd shot is looking down into the box - looks like it goes down forever.
Nov30_20RAW_RoppongiIlluminationRC
Nov30_20RAW_
RoppongiIlluminationRC
Nov30_11_RoppongiIlluminationRC
Nov30_11_Roppongi
IlluminationRC
Nov30_12_RoppongiIlluminationRC
Nov30_12_Roppongi
IlluminationRC

  Here are 2 more shots looking directly into the box as the colors change. Note that you can see through the box - the lighted trees in these 2 photos are the 2 trees which show in the very first photo in Row 1. The 3rd photo is a shot of the lighted trees. There are several more photos, but these are the best.
Nov30_16RAW_RoppongiIlluminationRC
Nov30_16RAW_
RoppongiIlluminationRC
Nov30_17RAW_RoppongiIlluminationRC
Nov30_17RAW_
RoppongiIlluminationRC
Nov30_06_RoppongiIlluminationRC
Nov30_06_Roppongi
IlluminationRC
End November 30th, Begin December 4th
  On Saturday, December 4th, Kazuya and I went to Koishikawa Botanical Garden, a part of Tokyo University. Our intention was to see if there were any fall colors left. As shown in the first photo, the cherry Trees are pretty much bare of leaves at this time. In the 2nd photo, however, you can see that the Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) trees have a fair amount of leaves remaining. In the 3rd photo you can also see that the Acer palmatum trees also have a fair amount of leaves.
Dec4_005_KoishikawaGar_FallColorsRC
Dec4_005_Koishikawa
Gar_FallColorsRC
Dec4_003_004_Stitch_KoishikawaGar_FallColors_GinkgoRC
Dec4_003_004_Stitch_
KoishikawaGar_FallColors_GinkgoRC
Dec4th_KoishikawaBG004_AcerPalmatumRC
Dec4th_Koishikawa
BG004_AcerPalmatumRC

  The 1st and 2nd photos in this row show more Acer palmatum colors. The 3rd shot was taken through a bare Cherry Tree looking towards the Maple Trees.
Dec4th_KoishikawaBG006_AcerPalmatumRC
Dec4th_KoishikawaBG
006_AcerPalmatumRC
Dec4_020_KoishikawaGar_FallColors_MapleRC
Dec4_020_Koishikawa
Gar_FallColors_MapleRC
Dec4_032_KoishikawaGar_FallColors_MapleRC
Dec4_032_Koishikawa
Gar_FallColors_MapleRC

  Here is a final shot of the Acer palmatum area - with a star shaped sun showing in the branches of the tree. The 2nd and 3rd photos show an evergreen Cinnamomum camphora and a bare Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) tree side by side.
Dec4th_KoishikawaBG021_AcerPalmatumRC
Dec4th_KoishikawaBG
021_AcerPalmatumRC
Dec4_043_KoishikawaGar_FallColorsRC
Dec4_043_Koishikawa
Gar_FallColorsRC
Dec4_044_KoishikawaGar_FallColorsRC
Dec4_044_Koishikawa
Gar_FallColorsRC

  Here are 2 shots of an Oak leaf (Quercus dentata and then a very interestingly colored maple - an Acer nikoense. The Acer nikoense is also known as Acer maximowiczianum.
Dec4_061_KoishikawaGar_FallColors_Quercus_dentataRC
Dec4_061_KoishikawaGar
_FallColors_Quercus_dentataRC
Dec4_051_KoishikawaGar_FallColors_Quercus_dentataRC
Dec4_051_KoishikawaGar
_FallColors_Quercus_dentataRC
Dec4_088_KoishikawaGar_FallColors_Acer_nikoenseRC
Dec4_088_KoishikawaGar
_FallColors_Acer_nikoenseRC

  Here are 3 Panoramic images taken near the pond. They each show some overlapping area, but they were taken in different spots so the angle is a bit different. I believe that the first 2 panoramas may have been taken while standing at the same spot, but the 3rd one was definitely taken while standing at a different spot.
Dec4_074_075_Stitch_KoishikawaGar_FallColorsRC
Dec4_074_075_Stitch_
KoishikawaGar_FallColorsRC
Dec4_075_076_Stitch_KoishikawaGar_FallColorsRC
Dec4_075_076_Stitch_
KoishikawaGar_FallColorsRC
Dec4_079_080_Stitch_KoishikawaGar_FallColorsRC
Dec4_079_080_Stitch_
KoishikawaGar_FallColorsRC

  Here is one final shot of the pond area. The 2nd and 3rd shots show you how many Ginkgo Fruits (Ginkgo biloba) there are this year. If you know Ginkgo, then you know that the fruits have a bad smell. Our noses were offended and the bottoms of our boots were smelly after walking through this area.
Dec4_082_KoishikawaGar_FallColorsRC
Dec4_082_Koishikawa
Gar_FallColorsRC
Dec4th_KoishikawaBG041RC
Dec4th_Koishikawa
BG041RC
Dec4_056_KoishikawaGar_FallColors_GinokoFruitsRC
Dec4_056_KoishikawaGar_
FallColors_GinokoFruitsRC

  Here is a reflection Panorama image at a different pond. This is also a Ginkgo Tree. The 2nd shot shows a small stand of Metasequoia glyptostroboides.
Dec4_102_103_Stitch_KoishikawaGar_FallColorsRC
Dec4_102_103_Stitch_
KoishikawaGar_FallColorsRC
Dec4th_KoishikawaBG084_MetasequoiaGlyptostroboidesRC
Dec4th_KoishikawaBG084_
MetasequoiaGlyptostroboidesRC

  The first shot here shows the beautiful yellow leaves on this member of the walnut family (the tree had no name tag). The 2nd, and final shot is just a nice blue sky with some interesting colors in the foreground.
Dec4th_KoishikawaBG080RC
Dec4th_Koishikawa
BG080RC
Dec4_131_KoishikawaGar_FallColorsRC
Dec4_131_Koishikawa
Gar_FallColorsRC
End December 4th, Begin December 11th
  On Saturday, December 11th, Kazuya and I went out to Mt. Takao and climbed it in search of Frost Flowers. We did not find any Frost Flowers, but it was an amazingly clear day and we could see Mt. Fuji very easily and sharply. It is not uncommon to see Mt. Fuji from Mt. Takao, but it was amazingly clear today. Anyway, in this row - the first photo is a single Hydrangea Bloom - why is it blooming in December?! As you can see, it is surrounded by dead and dried out flowers. The 2nd and 3rd photos are Mt. Fuji. Mt. Fuji is 55 kilometers (about 34 miles) from Mt. Takao.
Dec11_01SIPeFR_MtTakao_HydrangeaRC
Dec11_01SIPeFR_
MtTakao_HydrangeaRC
Dec11_06_MtTakao_MtFujiRC
Dec11_06_Mt
Takao_MtFujiRC
Dec11_08_MtTakao_MtFujiRC
Dec11_08_Mt
Takao_MtFujiRC

  The 3 images in this row are all from the same photo of Mt. Fuji. The first photo is just as it came from the camera. The 2nd photo has been enhanced - if I recall correctly - I only adjusted the Brightness and Contrast in this one. The 3rd image has been HDR toned with Photoshop CS5 - that makes a major change in the appearance.
Dec11_11_MtTakao_MtFuji55kmRC
Dec11_11_MtTakao
_MtFuji55kmRC
Dec11_11FR_MtTakao_MtFujiRC
Dec11_11FR_Mt
Takao_MtFujiRC
Dec11_11HDR_MtTakao_MtFujiFRRC
Dec11_11HDR_
MtTakao_MtFujiFRRC

  Here is a shot of Winterberries and a shot of Enoshima Island - which is 42 kilometers (about 26 miles) from Mt. Takao. We have never seen Enoshima Island from here, it is never clear down by the ocean! The 3rd image here has been enhanced with Photoshop CS5 to make the Island stand out better.
Dec11_03SIP_MtTakao_WinterberriesRC
Dec11_03SIP_Mt
Takao_WinterberriesRC
Dec11_13_MtTakao_EnoshimaArea42kmRC
Dec11_13_MtTakao
_EnoshimaArea42kmRC
Dec11_13_Fixed_MtTakao_EnoshimaAreaRC
Dec11_13_Fixed_Mt
Takao_EnoshimaAreaRC
End December 11th, End Page 1


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