Ashinoko & Fujisan
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Still Waters, Moving Clouds: Fuji’s Late Afternoon Reveal
雲間に現れた富士山：芦ノ湖での静寂なひととき
All day, Mt. Fuji remained hidden, shrouded in thick clouds as if she were reluctant to reveal herself. Morning and afternoon passed without even a glimpse of the iconic peak during my photowalk.
As I walked back to my car along the southeastern shore, ready to head home, Mt. Fuji finally emerged from behind the clouds—a fleeting but magical moment. Determined not to leave without capturing the famous peak, I quickly set up my gear.
Late afternoon on a partly cloudy day is not my usual choice for landscape photography, especially in such a bustling spot. The lake was alive with hundreds of tourists boarding ships traveling between its southern and northern shores, making it challenging to find a moment of stillness.
After waiting for over an hour, I finally managed to capture a tranquil scene of Lake Ashi (Ashinoko), free of tourist watercraft crisscrossing the view, just before the peak disappeared once more behind the shifting clouds.
Using a 10-stop ND filter combined with a circular polarizer, I aimed to create a serene, minimalist composition. I used a 160-second exposure to soften the lake’s surface and blur the movement of clouds with the hope of drawing the eye directly to Mt. Fuji in the distance, framed by tranquil water and shadowed mountains.
Location: Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Timestamp: 15:56・2024/10/15
Pentax K-1 II + DFA 28-105mm F3.5-5.6 + CP + 10-stop ND filter
80 mm ISO 100 for 160.0 sec. at ƒ/11
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