Photo Shumi: Kinosaki - Old School Onsen Town

Took a road trip to Kinosaki with the wife for our 1st year anniversary, it's a beautiful little onsen (hot spring) in Hyogo prefecture. We stayed in a Ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) with it's own private onsen, free tickets to other bigger onsens and dinner/breakfast included. Not bad for $300 AUD for two people.

We arrived just after lunch time and went straight to the Kinosaki Marine World (Japanese) which was pretty cool. It had rained earlier in the morning and the day was still cold, windy and the seas were rough creating some nice coastal photos.

Pentax FA 28-105, f/11, ISO - 800, Shutter - 1/750, Focal Length - 50 mm (bleach bypass)

Pentax FA 28-105, f/11, ISO - 800, Shutter - 1/1000, Focal Length - 28 mm (b&w conversion)

Taking photos of the animals was a new experience for me, the easiest being the Penguins, the big ones that just stand there and look like their chatting about the weekend. The most difficult being anything indoors and moving, even with the Pentax M 50mm 1.7 attached although I did get a good shot of a Stingray.

Pentax M 50 mm 1.7, f/1.7, ISO - 560, Shutter - 1/90

Pentax M 50 mm 1.7, f/1.7, ISO - 560, Shutter - 1/250

Pentax M 50 mm 1.7, f/8 or 11, ISO - 560, Shutter - 1/2000

Pentax FA 28-105, f/4.5, ISO - 280, Shutter - 1/250, Focal Length - 105 mm

Pentax FA 28-105, f/16, ISO - 1100, Shutter - 1/20, Focal Length - 50 mm

Later that night as my wife was washing away the the last year of frustrations from her weary soul in the many onsens, I walked around the streets in my Yukata with a K10D armed with the Pentax M 50mm and the Tamron 35mm. I took a few photos with the M 50mm but as much as I like it, it sucks just as much as it lacks the A setting on the aperture or the Auto switch like the Tamron and my Takumar lenses, therefore I can't use the lens in AV (Aperture Priority) mode. So I changed to the Tamron 35mm 2.8 and although a 2.8, it performed better at night with ISO at 800.