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Every time I visit Kencho-ji temple of Kamakura, I always manage to capture some unique images. Last time I was there I arrived just for the daily bronze bells singing, where monks are hitting temple bells in certain order, and the bells are afar from one another, so if you sit in the middle of the temple grounds the effect is incredible. After the bells go silent the monks gather inside one of the temple buildings for a prayer and sutra recitations. They drop a net around windows to seclude themselves from the surrounding world. I could have completely bypass those ropes in the photo but i thought it adds a lot to the mood of the image and send a very special message. To see other travel photos from Kamakura just search the blog for relative posts, there are many of them here.
My Youtube channel with free photoshop tutorials Photography workshops in Tokyo - click for more details. Hire a photographer in Tokyo Buy original Chinese and Japanese calligraphy art Check out my new portrait photography services in Tokyo website!
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Hasedera is one of the Zen temples located above Kamakura, and you can see the whole bay and the beach from up there. Magical place, not as peaceful as Kenchou-ji but it does have a very soothing atmosphere. There are quite a few temple buildings there and the entire complex is wrapped around hills and rocks. One of those buildings is very special for me, it is a Buddhist sutra copying pavilion, devoted to sutra studies and meditations with mantras. Japanese and Chinese calligraphy studies are a well-known activities that prolong life in more effective way than tai-chi. Power of concentration, mind moving with the brush, balance and harmony - all of those that has healing powers. Watching calligraphy is also considered to be therapeutic.
My Youtube channel with free photoshop tutorials Photography workshops in Tokyo - click for more details. Hire a photographer in Tokyo Buy original Chinese and Japanese calligraphy art Check out my new portrait photography services in Tokyo website! Kenchou-ji Zen temple in Kmakura - hands down my favorite place in this small traditional Japanese city. The amazing atmosphere and aura that surrounds this peaceful place is simply therapeutic. If you are lucky you can sit down and listen to the chanting sound of massive temple bells, being struck in certain order by the monks, or witness the every-day prayers and ceremonies, or listen to the sutra recitation. The entire temple is an cove of peace and tranquility. I have visited this place several times and I can never get enough. If you enjoy travel photography or architecture photography, Kenchou-ji is a dream place to shoot. If you want to see other photos of mine taken in Kamakura, just type 'Kamakura" into the search box. Kamakura is relatively close to Tokyo, so if you are visiting the Metropolis you should definitely save one day for exploring the temples of Kamakura.
My Youtube channel with free photoshop tutorials Photography workshops in Tokyo - click for more details. Hire a photographer in Tokyo Buy original Chinese and Japanese calligraphy art Check out my new portrait photography services in Tokyo website!
Searching for peace and tranquillity in Tokyo is like trying to get some sleep in a dorm, full of first year hormone-propelled students. I found this place on the 7th floor of Tokyo International Forum building. The whole level was empty and quiet, just the way I like it, not to mention a rather splendid view of the Gotham City of Japan. This photo is an HDR capture, which means that it was edited from a few exposures. In fact, I took this photo myself. First, I shot three exposures for my HDR photo processing software, and then took one more, with me sitting on the floor, using a remote control shutter. Then, I blended all photos together, added the calligraphy work in photoshop, and voila! The Japanese calligraphy text is also written by me, and it reads 心上雲, i.e. "mind above the clouds". Sometimes it is good to be someplace else, even if it is only in your mind.
I shot this lavishly decorated pagoda last year, during my visit to the Narita Temple. The temple grounds are massive, and there are thousands of places and vistas to photograph. It is like a candy store for a photographer. The temple is located near Tokyo, so it is easily accessible for anyone visiting the metropolis. Narita temple and its architecural details is one of the most amazing places I have seen in Japan.
This is a view of a hallway of Hojo, which is the Kencho-ji (建長寺, lit. temple of longevity and good health) abbot's living quarters. Hojo is also a place where special Zen ceremonies are being held. Behind my back there is a Zen garden with a small pond, of which photo I will post in a separate article., and just to the right, behind the Hojo main structure, there is a small yard with a Chinese golden gate. You can see it here.
Sanmon (三門 or 山門 in Japanese) is a large, a few stories high temple gate. Sanmo is not only one of the key elements of the Zen Buddhist temple, but also one of the so called "seven temple halls" (七堂伽藍, Japanese: shichido garan), which are elements that form an ideal Zen Buddhism temple. There are many types of Buddhist temple gates in Japan, which are categorised into three ranks, being sorted by their height and size. The role of the sanmon in the Buddhist temple is to free all passers through from greed, hatred and foolishness. The pictured temple gate is located in Kencho-ji Rinzai Zen Buddhism temple in Kamakura. I also wrote another article about a small figurine of a meditating monk, which sits at the base of Kencho-ji temple gate, and you can read more about it here. Buy a print of this photo at my store on Fine Art America.
There is something ethereal and magical about the architecture of the wooden Japanese temples, especially the Zen temples, which are far less decorative than the Shinto shrines, although when I first saw the Kencho-ji (建長寺) temple in Kamakura, it had the same impact on me as the Nikko Tosho-gu (日光東照宮) temple complex. I knew I will be coming back there a few times. When I went back to Kamakura this year, there were very few people visiting this shrine, which made the whole area feel more intimate and secluded, and I wanted to capture this special mood on the camera. Photography is all about understanding the light, and the composition. The latter has much to do with perspective and the angle from which one takes a photo. Sometimes small adjustments can dramatically change the story one wants to tell. My aim was to create a photograph that would eliminate anything that was modern, including the tourists. When I was retouching this photo in Photoshop, I even removed the lightning conductor wires that ran along the sides of the roofs. I wanted to create an image that would make the passing of time irrelevant, Buy a print of this photo at my store on Fine Art America.
This is a Chinese style golden gate, known in Japanese language as karamon (唐門, lit. Chinese-style gate). You can see some of those gates here, including the pictured one, only before its restoration. This particular gate is located at the back end of the Kencho-ji Zen temple complex in Kamakura, and it underwent a complete renovation back in 2011. It looks absolutely amazing, especially when the sun hits it directly. The lavish decorations and all the golden reflective details are simply mind blowing. If you are visiting Kamakura, I highly recommend you stop by the Kencho-ji temple. On my both trips to Kamkura, I spent about four hours on the grounds of this temple, and I would not mind going there once more, and take my camera with me. Buy a print of this photo at my store on Fine Art America.
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