Ryoanji is a Zen temple in northwest Kyoto famous for its dry landscape rock garden. The last time I  visited and took photos was nearly nine years ago. This meant the old images I had of Ryoanji were all shot on 35mm film, and simply not of high enough quality. On this trip, it felt like a good time to return to the temple and see what the big old Pentax could do.

One interesting point for photographers is that at Ryoanji you are not allowed to use tripods, and just to make sure, staff ask you to leave your tripods with them at the entrance.  I found however that by placing the camera on the raised wooden flooring I was still able to frame the image and use a slow enough shutter speed for it to be in focus front to back.

Ryoanji Zen temple, Kyoto - dry landscape rock garden