Miyajima / Itsukushima Island, Japan

Absolutely stunning panoramic views of the Seto Inland Sea from the Shishiiwa Observatory atop Mount Misen. It was a beautiful sunny day with a bit of haze and very thin, low lying clouds only a few kilometres away. It was ethereal and mysterious. This is where the Miyajima Ropeway ends it’s ascend.

We spent a little too much time here and didn’t realised that we needed, at least, another hour for the return trip to the Misen Observatory. And that’s without allocating time for photographs. Very disappointing as there are relics and temples there. We had a long day trip ahead of us today and had to make a choice.

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28 mm, 1/200th second @ ƒ/11, ISO 100

Miyajima / Itsukushima Island, Japan

Check out my last post if you haven’t seen the torii to this magnificent Itsukushima Shrine. When we arrived for sunset, I was a little disappointed to see it was low tide but glad it was for this shot. Though my friend was cold and we were hungry, we stayed a little longer after blue hour to capture more images. We were only here one night thus wanted to make the most of it. I wanted a centred composition with the reflection but to get it I had to get my feet a bit wet. Well, I tried to avoid it but it was a failed mission. I got the shot I wanted and that’s all that counts.

I have to say I’m blown away by my new camera and lens. It took me a long time to get it but the combination of the Sony a7 III with the Tamron 28-75 mm ƒ/2.8 is just awesome. In regards to this photo, though taken a 30 seconds and ISO 50, the raw file was very dark. Everything behind the shrine and the foreground was in darkness. The dynamic range on the raw file was amazing. I was able to bump up three stops of light noise-free without loosing any sharpness. I’m literally blown away by this camera lens combination and the quality of the images.

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28 mm, 30 seconds @ ƒ/11, ISO 50

Miyajima / Itsukushima Island, Japan

We arrived on Itsukushima Island, also known as Miyajima, with enough time to drop our luggage at our hotel and make our way back down to the majestic Torii of Itsukushima Shrine. This gate is humungous ! I’m 180 cm tall which is the high tide level on the torii. It must be at least three stories high. Every time I see these huge architectural feats I wonder how they were accomplished in their era. And how are they able to weather time for so many centuries. Just amazing.

I wanted a clean shot of this torii meaning I didn’t want anyone in the photo. So I took two photos. This one and another a few minutes after. Hoping people wouldn’t stay still longer than that. I used this second image to mask people out of this photo. Taken toward the end of golden hour, I really like the contrast with blue hour coming in. The luminosity on the torii is a warm coloured spotlight located just off frame to the right of the photo. Just perfect with that sunset.

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38 mm, 0.8 second @ ƒ/11, ISO 100

Miyajima / Itsukushima Island, Japan 

photo of the day

Sorry for the last couple of posts but we’ve had some very long days and I’ve been too tired to edit a photo and write a blog post. On the train right now so hopefully I can get a couple of posts written out.

So this photo is of one of only five pagodas of this style in Japan, the Gojunoto Pagoda. It’s quite impressive up close and gorgeous. Situated on Itsukushima Island, also known as Miyajima. It’s where the Great Torii Gate, the entrance to the Itsukushima Shrine, can be found as well. This is a beautiful island and we wish we could’ve stayed, at least, an extra night. Lots to visit and explore. I’m going to leave this one on my bucket list to come back to.

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1/40 second @ f/11, ISO 100, 49 mm