One of the themes for my work in Japan in recent years has been "water." Within this theme, crystalline streams and waterfalls are subjects I particularly favor, and therefore, I have made many visits to such places. What we label "waterfalls" are actually quite diverse in scale, and in their changing forms of falling water.
Finding not-so-rainy days during the rainy season, I decide to visit Tochigi Prefecture. This was my first trip to Ryumon no Taki ("Dragon's Gate Falls"), a large 65-meter-wide waterfall with a vertical drop of 20 meters. Putting on a pair of high rubber boots and wading in, I stood in the misty spray, shooting pictures and breathing deeply of the negative ions.
At Otome no Taki ("Young Girl's Falls"), the plunging water and the clear stream flowing among rain-wet riverbed stones created an elegantly profound atmosphere in the midst of a misty drizzle. Nanatsu Iwa ("Seven Rocks") is a section of the Hokigawa River, which flows through the Shiobara hot spring area. There I found much beauty in the clear water flowing between the huge rocks lining the riverbed.
To visit a tranquil and beautiful corner of nature and to capture the very image sought is a surpassing joy for a photographer.
Feedback on having used 18-270mm (Model B008)
The small, lightweight Tamron 18-270 mm lens is not just extremely compact and convenient for carrying, it is also a lens of superior imaging power. The hand-motion blur prevention function can be an effective tool for snapshots, but for these images I wanted more precise framing, so I used a tripod.
