I went out on a photowalk with my 250mm lens. I usually don't like a zoomed in view and find myself defaulting to as wide as possible, making my wide-angled lens my default most of the time.
All the more reason to force myself to use an extreme zoom sometimes. That's exactly what I did on this photowalk. I went to the local shrine and took some photos there. We are getting late in the season, but plenty of cicada are still around, making them the subjects of most of my photos. I don't think I got any award winning looks in the bunch, but I had fun trying to get what I could.
Come with me now as we look through a few of the shots.
We'll start with the bug mentioned in the title. This guy:
They are everywhere at this shrine, covering all the trees. It is very loud, but a pleasant sound that rises and falls, not all together different from the sound of waves against the beach.
They will keep going until it starts to get cold, but this is probably their peak time right now. From this point forward, we will start to find more and more of their dead bodies all over the ground where they will remain until they are either swept away or the birds clean them up for us.
Along with the cicada, there is the shrine itself. I didn't take many photos of it, but a few places caught my attention as I was looking for things to shoot.
These ladles are used to wash our hands at the cleaning station near the entrance to the shrine. Everyone is expected to come and wash their hands before praying. You might think of it as the shrine kami favoring cleanliness and therefore increasing your odds of having your pray answered.
There is also the dragon water spout. Unlike the evil dragons of the West, the Asian dragons are good creatures, water gods. That makes them a prime pick for providing water at the cleaning station. You sometimes see other creatures at these places, and sometimes just a bare faucet at shrines that presumably don't have the money to afford nicer ones, but the dragon is the most common I think.
Looking up over the shrine, I saw an interesting view:
I did allow myself to switch out lenses for this guy:
Well, not so much allowed, but I couldn't resist. I know I know. Next time I'll be more strict with myself.
There was also the torii gate
Not sure why I took that strange angle. Oh well!
Well...that's all the shrine stuff. Back to the cicada!
Many foreigners complaining unendingly about the cicada. Some younger Japanese do as well. But for my part, I love hearing and seeing them every year. They will be gone soon, so I am enjoying them as much as I can right now!