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Tea Garden
Posted October 29, 2010 / Taken October 15, 2010
These photographs were taken with an iPhone inside the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, on October 15, 2010 (the same day as the photos in Conservatory of Flowers; hence, the iPhone).
I love Japanese gardens (and many other things Japanese!) for their minimalistic, subdued beauty. They aren’t bombastic or overstated. They just are. This may come across as austere to some, but I adore this kind of asthetic.
Contributing to that ‘austere’ effect, on this particular day, was the fact that it was freezing cold, and cloudy. These pictures look cold to me, but maybe it’s just because they remind me of being here on the coldest day of my life.
I’m pretty sure these stone things scattered everywhere were lanterns, but not positive. Anyway, it was such a gloomy day; they really needed to be lit! I photographed several of them standing alone to try and recreate this ‘austere’ effect. I can’t decide if it works here or not. But the flora, at least, looks like the dead of winter.
Unlike at the conservatory, my iPhone wasn’t the thing driving me crazy here. Instead I ended up taking these wide angle-esque shots and having to wait on tourists to move off of the paths.. or sometimes, not. Here, for instance, you can see an elderly couple on the upper left. They add some scale, though, so I don’t mind them as much as, say, the woman in the bright blue jacket in the next shot who was especially determined to ruin me.
I took several photos here, trying to get one where she was behind a tree, but to no avail. It was cold as crap just standing there, and I gave up. I shouldn’t have as I’m pretty sure that lantern was placed there specifically so the arch of that tree would frame it. Have I mentioned I love Japanese gardens?
All photos were tweaked using Photoshop’s Auto Levels, Color, and Contrast tools during resizing.