This post was written in 2005. Some information may be out of date.
The highlight of cherry blossom viewing is the night. I remember going out to Yeouido around blossom time last year
to take pictures too.. Expecting the same kind of thing in Japan.. I went to Yoyogi Park.
I should mention up front that on my way that day I happened upon a used camera shop and picked up the legendary 31mm and
77mm lenses. (Inside I was shouting “jackpot!” ^_^) So every photo I took that night is the work of the
31. But the lighting wasn’t great.. so they didn’t come out all that well, I think.
The entrance to Yoyogi Park.. Somehow the atmosphere felt a bit off.
Inside Yoyogi Park.. Just as I feared.. it was packed with drunk people and loud music. What is this..
You can hardly call this lighting.. I should have gone somewhere with proper illumination.. but I didn’t do my homework.. sob..
The shoot I’d been looking forward to was a total failure.. I was trying to make up for last week’s flop at Ueno Park.. and instead I just came home
with a bitter taste in my mouth.
Since the inside of the park is so dim.. every bench that was even a little dark had been taken over by couples.
Petals fallen on the ground. If it rains tomorrow, and the wind picks up, that’ll be the end of cherry blossom season..
When I thought that today might well have been my only chance to see the blossoms at their peak, the failure
stung twice as much T_T
I head back to Takadanobaba. Not to see the blossoms, but because every JR train home was packed
with people, so I came back to ride the relatively uncrowded Tozai Line home in comfort. But since I was
here anyway, I went to Omokagebashi again.
Various shots taken with the 31. They look decent enough on my laptop, but on another monitor
they might look a bit odd. (Gomen nasai~)
So many petals had fallen onto the rock in the middle of the river. Proof that today was the peak of
the blossom season.
Every shot with the 31 was taken wide open.
The lighting at Omokagebashi wasn’t that great either.. but there were no drunks.. so it wasn’t bad.
Still, I don’t think it compares to the blossoms I used to see back in midterm season, when I’d study until 11 p.m., leave the library, buy a drink
and sit on a bench above the library, gazing at cherry blossoms bathed in bright lamplight.
Honestly, how I resented those exams back then.. For a few years after graduating I’d buy some beer, go to campus and quietly
look at the blossoms before heading home. With no exams I could enjoy them at leisure.. but somehow that intense emotion
I felt the first time never came back after that..
It’s great having a wide-angle lens.. ^_^; you can take shots like this.. It looks like it’ll be my main lens for a while.
(Though I’m short on money, so who knows when I’ll have to sell it off..)
The photos look soft.. not so much because of the lens as because it was dark and I couldn’t get a fast enough
shutter speed. So that’s it for this year’s cherry blossom viewing.. It’s a shame, if anything.. but now
it really feels like spring.. Some of the more impatient folks were even out in short sleeves ^_^
Time to get ready for the coming season.. I’ll do some spring cleaning and pick up a few short-sleeved shirts.