Plum Blossoms at Yushima Tenjin Jinja
Although Japan’s most famous flower is almost certainly the Cherry Blossom, the country also boasts another beautiful floral tree known as Ume [oo-meh], better known in English as the plum blossom. Like most flowers these come in a variety of colors, though primarily visitors will run across two specific colors: pink and white. While these lovely trees are not as numerous as the Cherry Blossoms, there are many great places around Tokyo to enjoy them....
Frozen Protector
This is another photo from one of the big snows we had around Japan in February. The statue here is called “komainu” – a lion/dog which is believed by some to protect the nearby shrine from evil spirits. I don’t know about that, but I do know it makes for an interesting photographic subject and I’ve often been interested by this particular angle, but until it snowed I had a hard time getting a shot...
Orange Autumn Evening at Matsudo Jinja
Although Spring is on the way, it feels to me like Autumn was only yesterday. I think part of the reason is that the Autumn colors this year seemed to last for a while. The Autumn of 2012 didn’t seem nearly as colorful to me, especially around where I live. But this year the colors lasted well into December. Not that I’m complaining – it was a beautiful sight, and gave me plenty of opportunity...
Everything Beautiful – Preparing For The Cherry Blossoms
Now that we’re in March, the Cherry Blossom trees will be blooming in just a few short weeks, so I’m preparing my photographic eye for the occasion by practicing on the lovely Ume (plum) Blossoms that are all around the area right now. This particular photo was taken at a little park in Tokyo’s Minato ward, not far from the Tokyo Tower. It reminds me of a lovely verse from the Bible: “God has made...
Summer Sunset on the Pemigewasset
The location of today’s photo holds some special memories for me. My wife is from New Hampshire, and as a child grew up camping with her family at this location. So after we married I was lucky enough to get to join in on this family past time. The river in the photo is of course beautiful, but it also has a mouthful of a name. The river is called the Pemigewasset (pronounced pem-ee-juh-wah-set), and...