Saihoji Maple Photo

Photographer’s Note

I'd like to say hello to all Trek Earth people, and wish you all a Happy New Year for 2008.

Saihoji is a Buddhist Temple on the western outskirts of Kyoto. It nestles in a damp, shady valley and has a large garden dedicated mostly to myriad varieties of moss. There are many deciduous and evergreen trees, and an odd lake or two. I thought it the most beautiful place of all those I saw in a month of Japanese travel in November.

In this picture, a fiery red, autumnal maple tree strikes a vibid contrast against the cool, dark, shady lake. I post this as my first contribution to TE as it is not strictly eligible for TN, being actually taken in a garden, albeit a pretty wild one.

The image has not been cropped, just resized and sharpened in Photoshop to fit TrekEarth specs.

difty93, rushfan2112, broken_nail has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

difty93 (545) 2007-12-26 15:13

Hi Alan,
Very beatiful photo!And great colours!!

jloup (622) 2007-12-26 15:30

Hi Alan,

What a nice picture. I was in Kyoto last year and I miss the color of automn on ginko and mapple trees. A very nice picture, thanks fo sharing.

Jean-Loup

bizsu (1011) 2007-12-26 16:04

Hi Alan,
Beautiful the maple the colour of tree, and your photo gives it back nice. He is a very good composition. Congratulations.
Regards Zsú
Happy New Year !

rushfan2112 (2965) 2007-12-26 16:30

Hi Alan.

I love the composition and the colours. The tree is species "Acer" or Japanese Maple. I have tow - both are variety "Palmatum Bloodgood" and look very similar to these.

I am no expert but they are incredibly beautiful and you have caugh them in very good light. Perhaps a little too much reflection as the reflections on the leaves has burned out slightly.

These trees love moist, acid soil so ericaceous compost should be used if you decide to grow any and have clay or alkaline soil.

You can also grow them very well in tubs so long as you don't allow them to become potbound.

The red and green colour combination works superbly and the water feature looks so typically Japanese. Great work.

Regards, Paul.

angela926 (1882) 2007-12-26 16:53

Hello Alan,
very nice photo, good composition, nice dof. pretty colors
Angela

Happy Holidays!!!

broken_nail (190) 2007-12-26 22:37

Hi Alan!!!

Welcome in TE and all the best for the coming New Year!!!

Lovely the colors and the perspective with the lake, thank you for sharing it!

Best Regards
Gatti Matti