garden snaps (dusting off the big camera)
Just like mentioned in a post from earlier this month, I decided to dust off the big camera (an old Sony Alpha 57 from around 2012-13, I think?) to do some "proper photography" in the botanical garden.
The weather was overcast this time, compared to the beautiful bright spring weather during my first visit this year. Also, I wasn't able to spot any warbling white-eyes, which I had been most looking forward to taking pictures of. They get pretty close to people when they're focused on getting all that sweet nectar out of the plum and cherry blossoms (which means they're easy to get relatively good pictures of), and the green of their plumage paired with the white and pink of the flowers makes for a very pleasing color palette. But alas, maybe next time. I still enjoyed it. Below are some of my favourite snaps.
Around this time of the year, it's easy to get carried away taking dozens upon dozens of cherry blossom pics, but I tried to control myself a bit. After all, they're not exactly the most unique motif and there's thousands of pics just like this (in better quality, too) on the internet already.
Using the big camera (which is heavy and pretty cumbersome to use) made me think about what I even want to achieve when taking photos. I arrived at the conclusion that I want to focus on quality over quantity, choosing motifs more intentionally instead of just pointing and shooting whenever something vaguely nice-looking enters my field of vision. I at least want to be able to articulate why I took any given picture.
By the way, the cherry blossoms are very early this year. Considering where the world is going in general, I assume mid-March is going to be the new standard for hanami season (it used to be early to mid April).
This is a yamabuki (Japanese Kerria) which had just started to bloom. You can see lots of small flower buds around the singular opened blossom. I really liked the lush feeling of this spot. The area close to the entrance with most of the cherry trees was filled with families and little children running around. The area with this yamabuki was further to the back, where it was quieter and also darker. Even though it was open to everyone (and there were other people around), it felt like a hidden / secret area of sorts.
This is probably the photo that I'm most proud of from this recent trip! A little egret (kosagi) was wading around the pond of the Japanese garden. Every now and then, it changed foraging spots by doing these short flights to different sections of the pond. I didn't think I'd be able to capture birds in flight like this, as I don't really have the "proper" setup for this kind of bird photography. Considering the limitations, this shot turned out remarkably well. I was using manual focus and managed to adjust it just in time.
I also managed to see some other birds in the plum garden section (most flowers had already fallen off). I didn't recognize it on my own, but Google Lens helped me out ... this one is a Japanese pygmy woodpecker (kogera). There were quite a few of them (you can see a second one in the upper right hand corner), hopping along the branches and pecking at the bark to get to the insects crawling underneath. Their pecking sounds made for quite an interesting soundscape in this section of the garden.
This is an instrument shelter (called hyakuyōbako 百葉箱 in Japanese) where meteorological equipment is stored. In the foreground are some wisteria branches (these will be blooming in around a month or so). I like how this piece of scientific equipment contrasts with the nature around it, and how the wooden box around it gives it a low-tech kind of vibe. It feels vaguely solarpunk to me, even though it doesn't have any overt "futurstic" aspects.
This water fountain near a resting area had fallen camelia flowers placed on it. They must've been deliberately placed, because as far as I remember, there was no camelia in the immediate vicinity. This arrangement made the water fountain look like a makeshift tsukubai (a stone washbasin used in shrines, but also Japanese gardens as a design feature), which are sometimes adorned with flowers. I like how this is a "mundane" version of that garden element, but still has the same kind of effect.
Overall, it was fun using the big camera again. The last time I used it was probably around five years ago. I want to use it more, but apparently it's become a bit "senile" over the years (it keeps telling me to set the time and date when I turn it on but then "forgets" the settings immediately). Also, it's way too heavy and unwieldy for casual outings. If I use it, I have to plan dedicated photography trips. But this could help with my goal of taking photos more intentionally.