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The Midnight Wonder Garden Whenever I am in a place like this, I try to linger as late as possible so I am the last one remaining. There are occasionally other people around, but I really prefer to be by myself. I enjoy listening to music, relaxing, and walking around to find the interesting angles.These are the lower gardens of Kiyomizu-dera in one of the older parts of Kyoto. I've been to this area multiple times, and I try to go at different times of the day and different seasons. I'd love to be lucky once and catch it in the snow... I suppose that would mean I need to go in the winter or something.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Hidden Temple in Bamboo at Night This place was pretty far off the usual beaten path but I was glad to find it!In Kyoto, there is a wonderful and unexpected temple that weaves through an old bamboo forest. It weaves up, down, and around hills with warm, calming bamboo swaying about. Here and there, little temples, urns, and benches are placed. Everything is delicately lit to add to the mood. And just beyond where the lights are, the bamboo forest is pitch black and full of wonderful mystery.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Girl in Japan While walking down a busy street in Kyoto, most of the people were in regular clothes. And, by "regular clothes", I mean that the Japanese are often quite stylish dressers. There is something unique about the Japanese style that varies from other Asian cultures. They have a different kind of fashion sense, and it's usually very smart. They dress in a lot of layers, fine cloths, nice textures, and somewhat fanciful. Maybe you know what I mean.On occasion, I would see traditional girls wearing kimonos, drifting in and out of various shops. This girl was taking small steps while leaving the shop,- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Kimono Under the Cherry Trees It was my second time to Kyoto, but my fourth time to Japan. I started to become more accustomed to the times of day and the comings and goings of the ladies in kimonos. You can see them most any time of the day or not, but they flood out of every crevice around this time of night. The pink cherry blossoms made everything seem like it was right out the days of the shogun.I shot this with my second camera - the D3S that I had across my chest. My main camera is always the D3X on a tripod, and I was getting a lot of night photography shots. But I had my D3S with a 50 prime ready to capture things like this. Another nice advantage is that it seems to make the trees feel a bit more soft. There is another soft aspect to the colors - these prime lenses capture the tones in a very soft way.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Creepy Green Stairs Why are the stairs green in this? Anyone, Anyone? Bueller? Voodoo economics is the answer.Instead of answering directly, I'll let you clever readers figure out the answer and put it down in the comments... I have faith in you guys to figure it out!This was taken in Kyoto, Japan on a rainy evening. This is one of the main temples that stay open late into the night. It's one of my favorite times to come, because the crowds are gone and everything is extra-eerie. It makes it even more special while I'm listening to my special playlists on my iPod. It really gets me in the mood to make these sorts of shots.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Pretty Girl in Cherry Blossoms I started riding the wave of the cherry blossom bloom in Osaka before ending up here in Kyoto. All the news stations in Japan have a long nightly report that shows a fluttering line of pink cherry blossoms that flow across the map from the west to the east.It's a huge national celebration -- and it's really fun to be part of the sensation. There are hundreds of tiny and large parks all over the country that have cultivated gardens of these special trees. I visited a few dozen, and I enjoyed wandering around taking photos while the blossoms fell down like gentle pink snow. Millions of Japanese people also go out to enjoy the event. This girl was standing alone under a tree, taking photos and just sort of smiling, enjoying everything. I gave her the international sign for "mind if I take a photo???" She gave me a little bow along with a mouth-covering giggle before relaxing into a smile.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Home of the Tree Samurai This was my second trip to Kyoto, and I decided to return to this amazing treetop temple. At night, the delicate lights turn on and everything comes alive. It's really brilliant... one of those scenes that makes you think the world is really a wonderful place.This was right in the peak of the cherry blossom season. The soft pink of the blossoms grabs and reflects the light into an unbelievable prism. It's all like something out of a dream, and I've done my best to bring it back to life here ...- Trey RatcliffRead more, including some exciting info on the upcoming Burning Man photowalk here at the entry at stuckincustoms.com.
1,000 Red Gates What a wonderful and unique place on earth this is! In Kyoto, Japan, there resides the unique shrine of Fushimi Inari. It consists of thousands of red gates that wind up and down the mountain. I walked through it deep into the night…. I was the only one around and it was downright eerie. Every now and then, the gates would stop and there would be a mini-shrine off to one side or a graveyard to another. Both of these added to the creep factor.I had a serious worry about an hour into the hike through these gates — what if they turn off the lights? I had no flashlight! I considered my two options — I could strobe my SB-800 to find my way out, which would be a totally surreal experience through these gates. Or, I could do what one of my Israeli hiker friends did in Argentina, use the back of my camera display for light (he actually used his to set up his tent)!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
A Silent Evening in Kyoto Under the Cherry Blossoms The beautiful white cherry blossoms were in full bloom and their gentle petals would fall down like snow, collecting on the ground.To get here to Kyoto, I took the bus from Osaka — and this was not the most simple thing in the world. I’m used to traveling in strange places and getting around confusing transport systems, but that doesn’t mean it is always easy! The Japanese transportation system is particularly perplexing. The train system is the easiest to figure out. The bus system is second. The subway is last — dead last.Many of these places I end up have no one that speaks English, so there’s a bit of guesswork involved. After I’m on a bus for 5-10 minutes, I start to have a sneaking suspicion that perhaps I am on the wrong one! With no one to ask or no one to call, it’s a bit more uncertain than I prefer it!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Midnight Wonder Garden


Whenever I am in a place like this, I try to linger as late as possible so I am the last one remaining. There are occasionally other people around, but I really prefer to be by myself. I enjoy listening to music, relaxing, and walking around to find the interesting angles.

These are the lower gardens of Kiyomizu-dera in one of the older parts of Kyoto. I've been to this area multiple times, and I try to go at different times of the day and different seasons. I'd love to be lucky once and catch it in the snow... I suppose that would mean I need to go in the winter or something.

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog." href="javascript:openLB(1289442525,'',XLarge,'',1024,749);">The Midnight Wonder Garden Whenever I am in a place like this, I try to linger as late as possible so I am the last one remaining. There are occasionally other people around, but I really prefer to be by myself. I enjoy listening to music, relaxing, and walking around to find the interesting angles.These are the lower gardens of Kiyomizu-dera in one of the older parts of Kyoto. I've been to this area multiple times, and I try to go at different times of the day and different seasons. I'd love to be lucky once and catch it in the snow... I suppose that would mean I need to go in the winter or something.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Midnight Wonder Garden


Whenever I am in a place like this, I try to linger as late as possible so I am the last one remaining. There are occasionally other people around, but I really prefer to be by myself. I enjoy listening to music, relaxing, and walking around to find the interesting angles.

These are the lower gardens of Kiyomizu-dera in one of the older parts of Kyoto. I've been to this area multiple times, and I try to go at different times of the day and different seasons. I'd love to be lucky once and catch it in the snow... I suppose that would mean I need to go in the winter or something.

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
See photo in original gallery.
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