The Old Capital

Kyoto hits you differently than Tokyo. Where Tokyo feels like the future constantly arriving, Kyoto feels like the past perfectly preserved. This is Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, reflected in its surrounding pond on a cloudy afternoon that somehow made the gold leaf exterior glow even more dramatically than it would have in bright sunshine. Sometimes the best light isn’t the light you expect.

I spent three days in Kyoto during my Japan trip, and every temple visit felt like stepping into a different century. The Golden Pavilion is probably the most photographed temple in Japan, which usually makes me want to avoid it entirely. But there’s a reason some places become iconic. When you see this building in person, surrounded by these carefully maintained gardens, with that perfect reflection in still water, you understand why people have been trying to capture it for centuries.

The Forests of Sweden

I used to think forests were just backgrounds for other photographs, something pretty to have in the distance behind a subject or a building. But spending a week in central Sweden completely changed my perspective on what wilderness photography could be. This aerial shot, taken from a drone about 300 feet above an unnamed road cutting through seemingly endless pine and spruce, captures something I’d never experienced before: the sheer scale of untouched forest that still exists in Northern Europe.

The road itself becomes almost insignificant from this height, just a thin line of human presence cutting through what looks like an ocean of green. From ground level, that road felt like the most important thing in the landscape, the lifeline connecting small towns through otherwise impenetrable woods. But from above, you realize how small our impact really is compared to the vast wilderness that surrounds it.

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