I was late to catch the koyo (autumn leaves) with my new D300- but not too late. I love the colours blending out of focus in the macro lens- there are endless artistic possibilities here. I love to use my Tamron 90mm for just this reason- the creamy, soft bokeh.
Everyone seems to like these fresh green leaves. They do have a kind of living-crystal appearance to them, so regular, but so pleasingly scattered. It is the light that makes them for us.
Finally, I met this peaceful and saintly figure on the way out of Hondoji. He was here to visit friends throughout Japan for the last time and it was sheer luck that I would meet him at all. May people enjoy leaves such as these for aeons to come and so many other things.
THE END
Another climax of colour, this time in Hondoji Temple garden. This was actually just a picture of the other photographers, but it since took on a life all of it's own on Flickr, thanks to the surreal colours and the fact that in some mysterious way, a small figure of a human makes a landscape all the more complete.
Here's another example of those extraordinary, dreamlike colours in the leaves recently. The colours from different trees actually formed layers, a kind of three-dimentional art in hues and shadows. This photo has become one of my most popular ever on Flickr, just shortly after uploading it and it was taken on none other than my Fuji F30 compact.
Here's a macro I took in the same garden, right up close to a little leaf. With the light hitting it, it glowed with beautiful colours, something like a gem.
Right now, I'm back in England for the Christmas holidays, but just before I left, I took pictures of the most marvellous koyo (autumn maple leaves) that I've ever seen.
This fire-like tree in Tozenji Temple garden was like natural Christmas trees, with all their baubles. Could this be something like what a heavenly tree?
