Looks good, but I would tone down the sharpness. The phone camera may have it on automatically to make the image pop more, but I find its always a bit too strong.
Consider turning your camera phones raw mode on and get the shot using a manual setup, and then add the sharpness yourself later so that it stays a little more smooth.
My Grandma was born there and left when she was around 8 or 9 and then returned in her teens before getting married and moving abroad. She always said how beautiful it was, I honestly have no idea, but she was convincing
They see so few non-locals there, that ripping off strangers hasn’t really developed into a thing. If you see someone else pay whatever for something, you can easily get that same thing for that same price. Otherwise lots of things have a fixed and posted price. Other items can be bargained for. Or you can just ask what the price is, and they’ll let you continue on your way without any further discussion if you don’t like the price. Then you can ask for the price at another stall selling the same thing, and quickly figure out if you’re being quoted a reasonable price or not. I was generally able to buy stuff at prices much lower than I was expecting.
It’s busy and crowded, but in a good way. No pushing, no aggressive behavior, just trade done as it has been done for centuries. Like in past times, many of the goods for sale are from China, but unlike before they’re now mostly made of plastic. Fortunately, there’s still lots of spices, textiles and more local handicraft, too. I really enjoyed it.
Beautiful!! I’ve a question tho as a Korean I never understood so many Europeans come to Korea and Japan to teach English. We literally have so many Europeans now living in my street so i dont undertstand why not go to Africa or Syria to teach English?/
Because Korea is more developed, I would imagine. And Syria has state department advisories as a dangerous location for Americans to travel. Teaching English is a good way to travel abroad and not have it cost a lot, since they have guaranteed employment in their host country.
The program my daughter is on does all of the hard work in finding a place to live, arranging a vehicle, work visa, all of those complications for a young person living abroad.
I think Koreans needs to ban English like Chinese did. Chinese ask all the foreigners to learn mandarin or Cantonese if they want to work and live in the country apart from few English teachers.
I’m sorry you feel that way. Cultural exchange programs such as the JET programme in Japan, and whatever equivalent there is in Korea are wonderful programs which promote and encourage understanding amongst nations. And the world can certainly use more understanding instead of less. I appreciate the perspective, though.
I highly recommend it. It is remarkably easier these days, with Google maps for transportation. Public transit is amazing there. I’m fortunate that since my mother is Japanese, language isn’t much of a barrier for me, but I saw tons of folks using Google translate just fine. And the dollar is strong against the yen right now, so it’s a great time to go there!
It's a beautiful city with wonderful food. I would strongly recommend against going there in the middle of the summer, however. Especially August-early September. You might think you've experienced hot and humid, but oh man.... It is on another level in Japan compared to anywhere in North America or Europe (and I've lived in Florida).
This picture was taken in spring, which is a lovely time of year to visit.
Yes, we chose Spring deliberately, for the weather. While it did rain a bit in Hirado (southern Japan), it was lovely everywhere else we visited. The timing for Kyoto was really good - just before peak cherry blossom blooms, by just a week or two. So while it was a little crowded, it was nothing like full bloom tourist crowds!
The iPhone does have a pretty good night mode, but this wasn’t shot in that mode, as there was plenty of ambient light.
I think this one was in wide angle. I do always shoot in RAW, though, so I can post process in Lightroom. The iPhone does do a lot of color processing on-camera, which I don’t usually like, hence my preference for RAW photos to tweak later.
It shows. I dream of how cool this would look on a pro camera. There’s something off about the sharpness and contrast that is sort of jarring. I can, however, see what your eyes saw that made you want a photo of it. I just wish your camera represented it better.
Any suggestions for a person that may travel to Kyoto next year?
I debated quite a bit before deciding not to bring my “good” camera. But, as they say, the best camera in the world is the one you have with you when you see something interesting…
Kyoto was great. If you’re not familiar, and aren’t sure what to see, I highly recommend a tour guide. They can show you what you want. Kyoto has a famous geisha district “Goin” which has a fascinating history, if you enjoy cultural history. A food tour would have been great there, as well - but we did that for the Izakaya area in Tokyo earlier that week…
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