davidtan
Established
I attended the Sakura Matsuri at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden earlier this week. I've been going there since I was a kid, and it's always great fun.
This year's event started with a low note; the unusually warm winter had pushed the cherry blossom bloom a full 2 weeks early. There were no blossoms to be seen, but it was still a very lively festival.
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The festival's a good opportunity for visitors to dress up in Japanese-style clothing. In recent years, you see mostly young people cosplaying as cartoon/comic/game characters. But you still see a few families (usually actual Japanese visitors) coming in yukata:
The BBG itself hosts a variety of events during this two-day festival, including traditional Japanese dancing and singing. These two performers are getting a lift around the garden before their event.
I missed the NY Japanese Folk Dance Institute's hanagasa (flower hat) dance, but I did spot these two performers admiring the bluebells afterwards.
The majority of visitors that day carried a camera.
The festival is a good way for the BBG to get some money; here there is a souvenir booth set up selling Japanese goods.
The BBG was also selling boxed lunches, or bento. I asked this visitor to let me see some of the contents of the lunch.
More dressed-up visitors (though I doubt cogwheels are part of the traditional Japanese decor).
Some patrons set up their own entertainment; this group organized a series of mock swordfights among themselves.
I saw this exact same person last week at Coney Island! Here he has a Fuji GS645S. Maybe he's an RFFer.
Spotted this lady shooting with a Pentacon Six TL.
There was a booth from a local music institute that was letting kids try out various instruments, like this violin.
Some patrons get to go around in a golf cart. It's not a very large garden though.
There was a instructional booth on the game of Japanese Chess, or Shogi.
The booth on the Go boardgame was particularly popular.
An art display by Patrick Dougherty.
This year's event started with a low note; the unusually warm winter had pushed the cherry blossom bloom a full 2 weeks early. There were no blossoms to be seen, but it was still a very lively festival.
----------------------------------------
The festival's a good opportunity for visitors to dress up in Japanese-style clothing. In recent years, you see mostly young people cosplaying as cartoon/comic/game characters. But you still see a few families (usually actual Japanese visitors) coming in yukata:
The BBG itself hosts a variety of events during this two-day festival, including traditional Japanese dancing and singing. These two performers are getting a lift around the garden before their event.
I missed the NY Japanese Folk Dance Institute's hanagasa (flower hat) dance, but I did spot these two performers admiring the bluebells afterwards.
The majority of visitors that day carried a camera.
The festival is a good way for the BBG to get some money; here there is a souvenir booth set up selling Japanese goods.
The BBG was also selling boxed lunches, or bento. I asked this visitor to let me see some of the contents of the lunch.
More dressed-up visitors (though I doubt cogwheels are part of the traditional Japanese decor).
Some patrons set up their own entertainment; this group organized a series of mock swordfights among themselves.
I saw this exact same person last week at Coney Island! Here he has a Fuji GS645S. Maybe he's an RFFer.
Spotted this lady shooting with a Pentacon Six TL.
There was a booth from a local music institute that was letting kids try out various instruments, like this violin.
Some patrons get to go around in a golf cart. It's not a very large garden though.
There was a instructional booth on the game of Japanese Chess, or Shogi.
The booth on the Go boardgame was particularly popular.
An art display by Patrick Dougherty.
davidtan
Established
One of the highlights of the BBG is a Japanese Pond and Garden. The pond has a very nice viewing pavilion, as shown here.
The pond itself is home to ducks, turtles and ravenous koi fish.
Met a guy carrying some Lomography cameras, an LC-A and a Holga 135BC.
He was with his girlfriend who was rocking out some autofocus SLR and a Pentax ME Super.
Here they are together.
Drawings done by child visitors.
In all, it was a very nice day. The weather was mostly cloudy with some spots of sun.
All photos shot on Kodak Ektar 100 with a Konica Autoreflex T3 and a Konica Hexanon 50mm 1:1.4 lens.
The pond itself is home to ducks, turtles and ravenous koi fish.
Met a guy carrying some Lomography cameras, an LC-A and a Holga 135BC.
He was with his girlfriend who was rocking out some autofocus SLR and a Pentax ME Super.
Here they are together.
Drawings done by child visitors.
In all, it was a very nice day. The weather was mostly cloudy with some spots of sun.
All photos shot on Kodak Ektar 100 with a Konica Autoreflex T3 and a Konica Hexanon 50mm 1:1.4 lens.
Lax Jought
Well-known
Very nice set! I enjoyed that and the commentary.
I don't have the courage to talk to people, but clearly you do and you get some great photos of them as they pose for you.
I don't have the courage to talk to people, but clearly you do and you get some great photos of them as they pose for you.
davidtan
Established
Just a simple "Hi, mind if I take your picture?" is usually enough. Of course, if I can get a nice shot without being noticed, I'll take it too.