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posted: August 31st, 2011 |
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This page begins at 5:56 PM on August 8th on the summit of Mt. Chokai (2,236 m = 7,336 ft). It takes you through the remainder of August 8th and then through all of August 9th, 10th and 11th. Click on any thumbnail to begin. |
| August 8th Continues From Page 2 (at 5:56 PM) |
Okay, let's continue - we are, obviously, still at the summit of Mt. Chokai (2,236 m = 7,336 ft) and the sun is setting. The first image is a 2 shot panorama of the setting sun at 5:57 PM. It again shows the twin sun dogs and Tobishima (Tobi Island). The 2nd shot shows the same and so does the 3rd image, which is another 2 shot panorama.
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The first shot in this row is zoomed in on Mt. Gassan - the summit we were on just 48 hours ago. The 2nd shot has been manipulated with Photoshop to enhance it. It is zoomed in to the Kisakata Beach area - where we stayed last night in a hotel. The 3rd shot shows Kazuya at the Mt. Chokai summit.
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Here are 3 more setting sun and sun dog shots. The time now is 6:08 PM. Those sun dogs were visible for a long time, eh!
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Here is a shot looking south towards Mt. Gassan again and a shot showing some pretty good sunset colors.
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In this row is - a single shot of a lenticular cloud and some cumulonimbus clouds, then a 2 shot panorama and then a 3 shot panorama. This is a very strange cloud occurrence. The time is now 6:31 PM.
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And here are the 2 final shots for today - the time is now 6:40 PM in the first photo and 6:52 PM at the time of the 2nd photo. Out time at the summit tonight was amazing and there was not even one other person up here with us - the first time we've ever been here at sunset alone! Why? We could not understand this at all!
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| End August 8th, Begin August 9th |
Now it's August 9th and it's time for the sunrise. We did not go to the summit because virtually everybody in the hut got up early and headed for the summit for sunrise. The summit is not even large enough for everybody to have been able to fit at the same time, so we just watched sunrise from the hut area. In the first shot, if you sit back and look at the photo, you can see anticrepuscular rays. To understand anticrepuscular rays, start by picturing common crepuscular rays that are seen any time that sunlight pours though scattered clouds. Now although sunlight indeed travels along straight lines, the projections of these lines onto the spherical sky are great circles. Therefore, the crepuscular rays from this rising sun appear to re-converge on the other side of the sky. At the anti-solar point 180 degrees around from the sun, they are referred to as anticrepuscular rays. In the 2nd shot you can begin to be able to see the shadow of this mountain on the Sea of Japan. Although this is the 3rd time we have been here for a sunrise, it is the first time we have seen this mountain shadow on the Sea of Japan. In the 3rd photo you can see both the anticrepuscular rays and also the mountain shadow.
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This is the best photo for being able to see both the anticrepuscular rays and the mountain shadow. The 2nd and 3rd shots are zoomed in to the mountain shadow. What time it is? It's around 4:50 AM.
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Here are the final 2 shots showing the mountain shadow. The time is now 5:02 AM at the time of the 1st photo and it's 5:04 AM at the time of the 2nd photo. The 3rd photo shows some Penstemon frutescens at 6:02 AM - we have now eaten the breakfast we brought with us and we are on a different trail headed back down.
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Here are 2 images which were Tone-mapped from 3 exposure-bracketed photos, using Photomatix-Pro and the Details-Enhancer Option. They both show the summit shadow. The 2nd image is zoomed more than the 1st image. The time is about 6:10 AM. The 3rd shot shows another shot of the rare flower - Arenaria merckioides var. chokaiensis. This is a large patch of this plant.
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In the first shot in this row you can see the hut where we stayed and the mountain summit. That is followed by a shot showing Arenaria merckioides var. chokaiensis and Penstemon frutescens. The 3rd shot is an amazing cloud photo.
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Here are 2 more nice cloud photos - the 2nd one is zoomed more than the first one. The 3rd shot agains shows the hut where we stayed and the mountain summit.
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Here is a Tone-mapped image - created with Photomatix-Pro using the Details-Enhancer Option - from 3 exposure-bracketed photos of the hut and summit area. That is followed by a silhouette shot of Kazuya. The 3rd shot is a CHokai Thistle - Cirsium chokaiense.
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Here is another shot of Cirsium chokaiense - for this shot I used the flash. In 2nd position is a shot of Campanula lasiocarpa with a blue sky background. The 3rd shot is a nice pink Geranium yesoense var. nipponicum.
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All 3 shots in this row show the mountain summit. The first 2 shots also show you some Adenophora triphylla var. hakusanensis. The 3rd shot features a small umbrella cloud over the summit.
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Here is a Chokai Thistle -Cirsium chokaiense in first position. the 2nd shot is an unknown flower.
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These 3 shots are all from the hill which overlooks Lake Chokai. I was intrigued by that round hill - I decided that I wanted to call it Peach Rock!
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This zoomed photo by Kazuya makes the lake look like an ocean! Notice that somebody has created a kind of a pond there. The 2nd shot is also a nice one.
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Okay, we made it back to our starting point of Hokodate alive once again. We took a shower in the government building shown in the 1st shot. It was so wonderful. The weather had been so hot, the night in the hut had even been hot. We were sweaty and dehydrated. A 350 ml bottle of water at the summit hut was ¥500 (= USD5.00+) and we bought 4 of them for a total of ¥2,000 (= USD20.00+). We knew this would be the case and we had taken 3 liters of fluids with us, but with the hot weather this was not enough. The 2nd shot is Kazuya at the finish of our climb. This was taken before the first photo in this row, but it was put here for landscape mode/portrait mode balance. The 3rd shot shows Mt. Chokai from the train as we headed towards Kazuya's hometown. This was the end of the nice weather - it would be raining in another 48 hours.
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| End August 9th, Begin August 10th |
The next day we were at Kazuya's house staying with his parents. Our excitement for that day was very little - but just excatly what we wanted - we went to the Hot Spring in his hometown (Funagata, Yamagata Prefecture). These 2 shots are Mt. Gassan from the porch at the Hot Spring. The 2nd image is the same as the first, but it has been manipulated in Photoshop to make Mt. Gassan stand out better.
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| End August 10th, Begin August 11th |
And, the day after that Kazuya's mother took us to another Hot Spring. This is Kaneyama Hot Spring - in Akita Prefecture. The first photo in this row was taken from the car window as we traveled there. The 2nd shot is the Hot Spring Building. The 3rd shot is looking out the rear window of the Hot Spring Building.
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There were not many people here today - we had the entire place to ourselves for most of the time we were here. So, here are 2 shots of the very clear water Hot Spring Pool - one shot from each end of it - and a shot of the shower area. And, that's all for today.
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| End August 11th, End Page 3 |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Please continue on to page 4 for the conclusion of the best photos of August 2011! |
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