Oilfighter's photostream Pro User

This is called The Pleasure Pier, located in Galveston, TX. But it looks so ghostly after a long exposure and BW treatment.

5D Mark III
24-105mm F/4
Lee 10 Stop Big Stopper

While waiting for the elevator at our hotel, I spotted a picture of this temple in a photo album that was on a table by the elevator. Later that night, we pulled up google maps and got some directions to here and made the decision to visit this place the next day.

It was pouring rain when we arrived at the gates of this temple. I tried to use google translate on my phone to ask the ladies at the gate if this was the right place, she understood us, but she just kept on speaking Japanese. I guess she was hoping that perhaps something, anything, would stick. Unfortunately, we spoke zero Japanese… But we figured we would gamble and go in anyways, since we are here.

One good thing about the heavy rain was that no one was here. Which was a huge contrast for us. The past few days we were drowning in an ocean of people. So with the whole place to ourselves, we set out to explorer this temple. The rain really saturated the color, and I put on a polarizer to help remove some glare. We found the lake at the very end of the property, with the place to ourselves, we were able to walk around, and take in the peaceful temple.

Canon 5D Mark III
24-105mm F/4
Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer

The light beam from the hole in the wall dissipated as the sun got lower. So I started to look for another shot. The thin clouds at the horizon looked good, so I wanted to see if I can get an over view of the beach. Then I saw it, a small path leading up to the cliff right behind me. With 10 minutes left, I packed up my things and started the steep climb. Unfortunately, I changed in to my sandals earlier because I was standing in the waves. After 2 steps, I knew I had to change. So I quickly dried off my feet and pulled my boots on. Huffing and puffing, I finally got to the top of the cliff just as the sun was dropping below the horizon. The clouds didn’t reach as far as I thought it did, but it was still a great way to end the day.

5D Mark III
16-35mm F2.8
Lee 2 stop Hard Graduated ND

I was told about a light beam that will shine through the hole at Pfeiffer Beach, and that it only happens for about a week or so every year. Knowing that I wasn't going at the optimal time, I still made a stop here.

Turns out, even though the angle of the light isn't the best, the light beam still showed up, as did many other photographers. A word of advise though, if you come during the weekend, parking can be a huge problem. I saw many photographers huffing and puffing running towards to beach after the sun had set, because they couldn't find any parking.

Canon 5D Mark III
70-200mm F/4

We saw a picture of this bamboo path while buying our multiday bus tickets at the Kyoto Tourism office. Naturally, we must visit it! Trouble was, we couldn’t find detailed directions to this temple anywhere. Armed with a cell phone picture and a very general direction, we took a very long bus ride, and walked around trying to find this temple. We bumped into an old man out hiking, and showed him the name of the temple from our cell phone picture. After a bit of sign language, we actually understood him, and found the temple! We got there before the doors were open, and soon enough, a few people showed up looking confused. So we weren’t the only ones having trouble finding the place.

5D Mark III
Singh-Ray Warming Polarizer