Folding Fields

The coastline around Fukui-prefecture is characterised by jagged metamorphic rock (of which I took a photo last year), and the vast expanse of the Sea of Japan (日本海). Though it was actually raining (I think it is always raining in Fukui) quite hard, the sun was also shining quite brilliantly through the clouds, giving the sea an amazing blue. I stopped the car half-way up the mountain road, and took this snap.

The celestial ballet

Have you ever set a reminder so far ahead in time that it really, truly, becomes a reminder? I did just that around a year ago, when I created a calendar alert for "good views of venus". I'd taken some photos of the moon and venus, but it was a little cloudy. I looked up when venus would next be so visible in this part of the world, and the internet told me "Dec 5th 2013". I made a reminder in the calendar application on my computer, and forgot about it until 4:30pm this afternoon, when my phone reminded me. I quickly grabbed my RX1 (a focal length of 35mm is not usually considered ideal for taking a photograph of the moon) and made my way to the stairs at the end of my building. I often take photos from this position, but rarely after sunset. The sun had just gone down, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky - just perfect colours. I watched venus and the moon perform their annual celestial ballet, as Tokyo descended into darkness.

Dramatic Lighting

This time of year is like a second rainy season. The skies are often very dramatic, with water-laden clouds lining the horizon. If you're lucky, you may even see a rainbow or two. Soon, the skies will be clear in preparation for the amazing blue which characterises winter in Japan. I'm looking forward to that, but in the meantime, I will try to work with what I've got. 

I typically perform very subtle (if any) edits to my photos, as the direct camera output pleases me greatly. However, I had a little fun with the picture below, and slightly tweaked the tint in the sky for a bit more drama.

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Dramatic Skies | RX1 | 1/200s f/11.0 ISO100 35mm | Lightroom tweaks (clarity & tint)

Double Rainbow

(click the photo for full-screen)

This morning was one of my least favourite kinds of weather - sideways rain due to strong winds. The umbrella is merely used for its placebo effects. The sun broke through the clouds at around 5pm, with sunset due at 5:27pm (so early in Tokyo). As I walked past one of the labs, I noticed an amazing colour in the sky, and made a dash for the emergency fire escape - to be treated by a view like no other... a double rainbow (二重の虹) over Tokyo Sky Tree. I switched my camera to manual mode, as I wanted maximum detail and control over the exposure. The above is the result of a 3-photo vertical stitch, as the arc was just too wide. I think I've probably got an opening slide for the next presentation I give on atmospheric aerosols!

Info: Secondary rainbows are caused by a double reflection of sunlight inside the raindrops, and appear at an angle of 50–53° (a single rainbow is at 42º). As a result of the second reflection, the colours of a secondary rainbow are inverted compared to the primary bow, with blue on the outside and red on the inside. The secondary rainbow is fainter than the primary because more light escapes from two reflections compared to one and because the rainbow itself is spread over a greater area of the sky. The dark area of unlit sky lying between the primary and secondary bows is called Alexander's band.

Flat-tops

Almost exactly six months ago, I stood in this exact same place and took an almost identical photo, using an almost identical focal length.  

Even though Mt. Fuji is currently without its trademark snow-cap, you can still make it out to the left of the Shinjuku Government Offices (tallest building, with twin-towers) due to the clear skies following the last typhoon. 

To add a sense of scale, from where I was standing, those skyscrapers are 7 km away. Mt. Fuji is 125 km away, and 3,776 m tall.