Leading up to the Asakusa Temple is a menagerie of vendors, selling everything under the sun. From samurai swords to hand carved wood chopsticks to clothes, along with food vendors, this place had everything. Though it was somewhat diametrically opposed in the setting, the hustle bustle of this shopping area, and then off in the distance the calm peaceful temple.
Spending most of the day in Arashiyama, I started to make my way back to the train station, to catch a ride home after a long day of shooting. Knowing the tourist hordes would be at the Bamboo Grove, I figured I should check it out regardless. So happy I did. With long exposure, you can effectively wipe out any existence of people in your shot. They end up being a blur. I just LOVE the lanterns on the ground, dotting the path, casting their glow up on the wood stick fencing. And then the lights they have turned on in the bamboo grove, to illuminate them. Just wow. Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Sagatenryūji Susukinobabachō, Ukyō-ku, Kyōto-shi, Kyōto-fu 616-8385, Japan
My photog buddy and I got up at 4am to avoid the mass throngs of tourists and to be able to move quickly around to capture moments like this. After grabbing a bunch of pre-dawn shots in the Piazza San Marco, we rushed over to the Ponte dell'Accademia to catch the sunrise. The clouds were just picture perfect, lazily hanging in the air as if waking from a sleepy slumber. The canal was almost picture perfect still, a polar opposite of how it is during the day. The sun was slowly starting to make its rise, slowly creeping up from behind the horizon, warmly illuminating parts of buildings on the canal. These are the moments that make it worth the early AM rise, just to get that one amazing shot you'll remember a lifetime. Google Maps Location: http://goo.gl/OOlMl
