Day 24: Perhaps my favourite place to visit in Kyoto

Day 24 (29 Dec) There was a promise of fine weather today so at 6.12am I was watching the NHK news on TV, to get the weather report. Turned out, today was going to be fine, but tomorrow (30 Dec) when I wanted to be at Ryoanji temple (for my birthday) was going to be raining again. So we had a change of plan and our 30 Dec schedule became our 29 Dec and vice versa. Kinkakuji was also on the schedule, the famous 'Gold Pavilion' and I was interested to see if I was going to get the 'exact same' shot I'd managed on my first visit as a student in 1984...I'm yet to find my first photo, in an album somewhere...the old film days. 

The news at 6.12am. 

Anyway, there was much to look at through a photographer's eye and it is interesting to see how my photos have changed over three decades of photographing Japan. I've become much more interested in capturing light and shade than objects as such these days. Reflections are something I like to capture as well. 

The play of emerging sunlight on the wet surrounds was a amateur photographer's dream and capturing that with the sparkle of the gold of Kinkakuji was quite something. We were there early, but already there were several hundred people as well. 

A view of Ryoanji temple

I was hoping to be at Ryoanji (the stone garden temple) on my birthday to try and emulate one of the works of a favourite artist, Davis Hockney, who captured the garden in his unique way. Anyway, I did have a go and I'm yet to complete the piece, but it was better to be there on a dry day rather than a wet one. 

Of course, being winter, you forget it gets dark early and we headed back to the city as the sun began to set. We stopped off at one of the key sights, only to find it had closed for new year preparations.

Kyoto Tower and the
rainbow fountain, at 6.12pm.

Close to dinner time at 6.12pm but both Jinko and I were interested in photographing the illumination of Kyoto Tower and the multi-coloured fountain underneath, timed to a musical program. We'd both seen a similar photo in the hotel and wondered whether it was an original or digitally manipulated...after our efforts, we both determined the hotel version had to be two separate photos made into one...it was then onto dinner, of course. 

Cold weather today, but fine. Tomorrow, more rain was predicted...I don't think rain and 4 degrees celsius go well together.