Buying a stairway to Heaven I enjoy visiting Hakone Estate and Gardens, a Japanese-style garden located in Saratoga, California, not far from my home. Recently, the garden opened for evening hours during Hanami, the traditional Japanese celebration of cherry blossoms. The trails in the garden were nicely lit, creating an inviting atmosphere. -- ƒ/4.0, 12 mm, 1/10, 0.5, 2 sec, ISO 800, Sony A7 II, Rokinon 12mm F2.8, HDR, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © 2025 Peter Thoeny, @Quality HDR Photography

Buying a stairway to Heaven

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © 2025 Peter Thoeny, QualityHDR.com

#photography #art #FineArt #monochrome #BlackAndWhite #night #lights #stairway #Japanese #garden #HakoneGardens #Saratoga #SanJose #SiliconValley #SFBay #SanFrancisco #California #USA @bskyphotos.bsky.social

Cross the pond where Silicon Valley meets Edo period I enjoy visiting Hakone Estate and Gardens, a Japanese-style garden located in Saratoga, California, not far from my home. Recently, the garden opened for evening hours during Hanami, the traditional Japanese celebration of cherry blossoms. Visible across the pond is the Upper House, which served as the residence for the estate's original owners a century ago. -- ƒ/6.3, 16 mm, 0.4, 1.6, 6, 25 sec, ISO 400, Sony A6400, SEL-P1650, HDR, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © 2025 Peter Thoeny, @Quality HDR Photography

Cross the pond where Silicon Valley meets Edo period

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © 2025 Peter Thoeny, QualityHDR.com

#photography #art #FineArt #monochrome #BlackAndWhite #Japanese #garden #HakoneGardens #Saratoga #SanJose #SiliconValley #SFBay #SanFrancisco #California #USA @bskyphotos.bsky.social

Escape into Silicon Valley's most successful time machine I like to visit nearby Hakone Estate and Gardens, a Japanese garden in Saratoga, California. The garden was open at night recently for Hanami, the Japanese tradition to view the cherry blossoms. I took a photo of the stone garden, also called dry garden at twilight. The white gravel is raked in circular patterns to give the appearance of waves around the rocks. -- ƒ/8.0, 16 mm, 1/10, 1/40, 0.4 sec, ISO 1600, Sony A6400, SEL-P1650, HDR, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © 2025 Peter Thoeny, @Quality HDR Photography

Escape into Silicon Valley's most successful time machine

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © 2025 Peter Thoeny, QualityHDR.com

#photography #art #FineArt #StoneGarden #Japanese #garden #dreamy #HakoneGardens #Saratoga #SanJose #SiliconValley #SFBay #SanFrancisco #California #USA @bskyphotos.bsky.social

Explore where focus goes on spring break I enjoy visiting the nearby Hakone Estate and Gardens, a Japanese retreat tucked away in Saratoga, at the heart of California's Silicon Valley. The garden was open in the evening for a few weeks in March and April. We went there last week. This image captures delicate cherry blossom flowers, photographed using a rare vintage X-ray lens by JML Optical with an exceptional f/0.85 aperture. The extremely shallow depth of field of a few millimeters brings the flower into sharp focus while surrounding them with a dreamy background. -- ƒ/0.85, 64 mm, 1/350 sec, ISO 800, Sony A7 II, JML 64mm f/0.85, HDR, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © 2025 Peter Thoeny, @Quality HDR Photography

Explore where focus goes on spring break

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © 2025 Peter Thoeny, QualityHDR.com

#photography #art #FineArt #f0.85 #FastLens #Cherry #blossom #dreamy #HakoneGardens #Saratoga #SanJose #SiliconValley #SFBay #SanFrancisco #California #USA @bskyphotos.bsky.social

Enter a century of cherry blossom dreams I like to visit nearby Hakone Estate and Gardens, a Japanese garden in Saratoga, California. The garden is currently open at night for Haname, the Japanese tradition to view the cherry blossoms. This is the main gate to the garden, which was built as a private residence over 100 years ago. -- ƒ/8.0, 16 mm, 5, 15 sec, ISO 800, Sony A6400, SEL-P1650, HDR, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © 2025 Peter Thoeny, @Quality HDR Photography

Enter a century of cherry blossom dreams

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © 2025 Peter Thoeny, QualityHDR.com

#photography #art #FineArt #Cherry #blossom #gate #dreamy #HakoneGardens #Saratoga #SanJose #SiliconValley #SFBay #SanFrancisco #California #USA #Japan @bskyphotos.bsky.social

Hakone Waterfall by Suzanne Luft Hakone Waterfall by Suzanne Luft

suzanne-luft.pixels.com/featured/hak... #hakonegardens #japanesegarden #waterfall #California #photography

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#HakoneEstateandGardens #hakonegardens #explore #plants #beauty #walks #nature #outdoors #gardens #stressfree #gay #hakone

It's a small gnarly world Until a few years ago I joined a Zen meditation class at Hakone Gardens, a beautiful Japanese garden in Saratoga, California. We went to visit this inviting garden again. I held my camera with a 210° angle fisheye lens attached inside a small tree. It looks almost like being inside a tent that has a gnarly support structure. -- ƒ/8.0, 4 mm, 1/50, 1/400, 1/3200 sec, ISO 800, Sony A6000, Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye, HDR, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © 2020 Peter Thoeny, @Quality HDR Photography

It's a small gnarly world

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © 2020 Peter Thoeny, @Quality HDR Photography

#photography #art #fisheye #monochrome #BlackAndWhite #HakoneGardens #Saratoga #SiliconValley #California

Azaleas in the Hakone Museum of Art gardens #hakonegardens @ 箱根ガラスの森美術館 www.instagram.com/p/BxpRMijlJvh/

Gora in the rain is very scenic. It's less that it's overcast and more that we're in the clouds. #hakonegardens @ Hakone Gora Onsen Aoiso www.instagram.com/p/BxpQ3Agl_iq/