Fujifilm X-T4 + XF16mm f/1.4 R WR: 1/2000s, f/2.8, ISO800

The Kyushu tour was primarily traversed by bus. So Day 2 took us away from Fukuoka prefecture and into Sasebo before I could get a proper bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen 😭! Before I get into it, though, I’ll pad this introduction to mention that I think I’ll do a supplemental post of just cellphone photos I took while on the trip and a quick description of where they fit into the structured blog timeline so look forward to that!

Fujifilm X-T4 + XF16mm f/1.4 R WR: 1/2000s, f/8, ISO800

The first stop on the way to Sasebo was the Fujii Apiary that both produces its own honey as well as imports honey from around the world. The tour group was split into two, and our group visited the museum and demonstration section. Fortunately for our half, although we did not have our designated tour group translator, one of the tour members was quite fluent in Japanese and was able to distill what the bee farmer was explaining to us lay folks. She couldn’t get all of the technical stuff, but it was enough to understand the general bits.

Here is the barehanded bee-keeper showing us some of the bees. (we’re behind a glass window for safety of course. One tip when shooting through glass (like windows) is to either have a giant rubber hood attached the front of the lens or press the lens gently onto the glass to seal out as much of the reflections (almost like using the window as the lens filter). This reduces unwanted glare/flare/reflections.

Fujifilm X-T4 + XF16mm f/1.4 R WR: 1/500s, f/2.5, ISO800

After the demonstration half, we switched places with the other half to the tour group and saw and got an explanation of the manufacturing side of the honey plant. Here’s an example of the glare/reflections when attempting to shoot through glass. Using a polarizing filter can also help reduce unwanted reflections. Of course, at the end we were released into the gift shop to support the local business. I mentioned earlier that the import honey too, and they even had some from Hawaii! I picked a cute hand-made bee key fob from here.

One of my failures as a photographer on this trip was to document the many lovely meals we were treated to on the tour. This was one where I actually did my job. Lunch and dessert. One thing I did well with, though, is I ate just about everything that was served, even when the lunches were far too large and even when I didn’t know what everything was!

Then it was a long bus ride through Saga city, which I had hoped to see a bit of, me being a big fan of the Zombieland Saga anime that takes place in the region, but the next stop pushed us through to Huis Ten Bosch, a theme park recreating a 17th century Dutch Town. This was easily the best hotel we stayed at, and the view from the room balcony was spectacular! T’was not tulip season for us, but I imagine it’s even more spectacular during that season! There was much to explore at the park which could be walked, or ferried or trolleyed. There were shops and rides and theater shows (which didn't permit photography) including an all-female revue show that I didn’t totally understand, but enjoyed none-the-less. In the evening a group of us returned to the park to see the fountain light show and projection mapping show. It’s good to see once, I think, but I was a bit underwhelmed. And that concludes day 2!

Kyushu Tour Day 2