A spiritual walk at night through Okunoin Cemetery

Last spring we were invited by priests to visit Koyasan, the birthplace of Shingon Buddhism in Japan. We stayed overnight at a temple. Highlights of the visit were walking at night along the Okunoin Cemetery to the mausoleum of Kukai, the founder of Shingon, and participating in a Goma Ritual. Walking along the 2 km path through the cemetery was a spiritual experience, and not scary at all.

 

This cemetery is probably the oldest in Japan, with moss covered tombstones as old as 1200 years. It is a privilege to get buried here among the 300'000 graves, but if accepted it'll cost you at least US$1M.

 

I processed a paintery, a balanced and a photographic HDR photo from four RAW exposures, blended them selectively, carefully adjusted the color balance and curves, and desaturated the image. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

 

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-- ƒ/4.0, 50 mm, 0.8, 1.6, 8, 25 sec, ISO 400, Sony A7 II, Canon 50mm f0.95 "Dream Lens", HDR, 4 RAW exposures, _DSC5171_2_3_4_hdr4pai5bal1pho1h.jpg

-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © 2023 Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

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