Hello HDR

Early start and a slumbering train trip for 3 hours to the temple complex of Nikko. It was beautiful and bustling, to the extent that my decision to walk 40 minutes to the site was both cheaper and quicker than getting the bus. It was extremely busy on account of being the weekend and the time of the year for momijigari (autumn leave watching). The temples were impressive and overblown in a way that's difficult to capture on camera. A hall with a dragon on the ceiling had been designed so that claps echoed into a shrill roar. The original three wise monkeys (hear no see no speak no evil) were present as a wood carving. The whole forest is shot through with temples and shrines and statues and a deep bed of moss that looks like history.

I had been trying to figure out my cameras automatic HDR mode, and realized that the problem (for once) was shooting in RAW rather than jpeg. The mode is a bit hit-and-miss, but without it I wouldn't be able to do sites like this justice.

Bye Barbara

p.s. it reminds me of the Space Odyssey monolith