2015 Rice Terrace Tour of Japan | Warabino and Mikaeri Falls

Jun 14 | Evan | No Comments |

On our last day in Karatsu and before heading to Nagasaki, we had light rain and mostly cloudy weather. We decided to go to Mikaeri Falls, which is about 30 minutes from Karatsu. I had visited Mikaeri Falls last year during the hydrangea festival, which was beautiful, but too crowded! This time, because of the weather and being too early for hydrangeas, our group touring Japan basically had the waterfall to ourselves to take photos of.

Close to Mikaeri Falls is another rice terrace, Warabino Tanada. Since we were close by, maybe 10 or 15 minutes by car, we decided to scout out Warabino Rice Terrace to see the water situation. Each rice terrace has a slightly different planting and water filling schedule, so sometimes its difficult to know the water situation without actually visiting. Warabino is a HUGE rice terrace and there were still many that had not been filled. Even with many of the rice terraces not filled with water yet, we were able to find enough for taking some nice photos given the conditions that day!

For the 2015 Rice Terrace Photo Tour of Japan, we also visited Doya Tanada, Hamanoura Tanada, Oura Tanada, Nijinomatsubara, Jufukuji, Ishidake Observatory for Kujukushima and Yumiharidake Observatory for Kujukushima. Interested in joining a future Tanada Tour of Japan? Contact me today to start your experience for Japan!

2015 Rice Terrace Tour of Japan | Niji no Matsubara Beach and Forest

Jun 13 | Evan | No Comments |

The hotel the group tour stayed in was just a short walk across the street from the famous beach in Karatsu, Nijo no Matsubara. In addition to a nice beach with islands in the ocean and mountains to the sides, there is a forest of pine trees just off the beach that is worth exploring as well.

We started taking photos on the beach for sunrise and then made our way back through the forest to take more photos.

After the sunrise photo session, the group went back to the hotel for some breakfast and rest before sightseeing around Karatsu. We went to Karatsu Castle and also to Takatori House. Takatori house was spectacular but doesn’t allow taking photos inside. Takatori House does include a guide with admission so if you have any flexibility in your schedule, I’d recommend calling the Takatori House to see if the English speaking guide is available. There are so many interesting facts, art, details and more that we would have missed without our guide. The inside of Karatsu Castle is a museum with details from history of the Karatsu area. It’s fairly interesting but my favorite part was the view from the top!

For the 2015 Rice Terrace Photo Tour of Japan, we also visited Doya Tanada, Hamanoura Tanada, Oura Tanada, Warabino Tanada and Mikaeri Falls, Jufukuji, Ishidake Observatory for Kujukushima and Yumiharidake Observatory for Kujukushima. Interested in joining a future Tanada Tour of Japan? Contact me today to start your experience for Japan!

2015 Rice Terrace Tour of Japan | Oura Tanada

Jun 12 | Evan | No Comments |

Another day with the group touring Japan and another rice terrace to take photographs of! In the morning we went to Hamanoura Tanada and for sunset, we went to Oura Tanada. It should be noted that you cannot actually see the sun setting at Oura Rice Terrace, but the plan was that since the weather was suppose to be cloudy, it wouldn’t matter as much. It turned out to be one of the nicer sunsets of our trip and in hindsight I wished we had switched Hamanoura and Oura Rice Terraces, but we still made some nice photos at Oura as the sky did get some nice color and clouds, even the with sun not being there.

Earlier that day, before taking photos at Oura Rice Terrace, we had a fantastic lunch at Caravan Steakhouse in Karatsu City. Not only was the food very delicious but Chef Kawakami was incredibly kind and accommodating to the eating restrictions and allergies that some of the members of our group have. We all loved it so much that after we finished our meal, we made a reservation for the next day’s dinner! Take a look at the delicious food below and our group with the chef afterwards.

For the 2015 Rice Terrace Photo Tour of Japan, we also visited Doya Tanada, Hamanoura Tanada, Warabino Tanada and Mikaeri Falls, Nijinomatsubara, Jufukuji, Ishidake Observatory for Kujukushima and Yumiharidake Observatory for Kujukushima. Interested in joining a future Tanada Tour of Japan? Contact me today to start your experience for Japan!

2015 Rice Terrace Tour of Japan | Hamanoura Tanada

Jun 11 | Evan | No Comments |

After a good start at Doya Rice Terrace in Nagasaki, the next morning I escorted our group of photographers to Hamanoura Tanada. The best time to go to Hamanoura is really for sunset, but the weather was looking gloomy later in Saga Prefecture, and sometimes there can be some nice light and colors opposite the sunrise, so we went here in the morning. There were some interesting clouds for part of the morning and also there wasn’t much rice growing from the rice terraces yet so we were able to make some good photos.

I’m still trying to work on my HDR technique for landscapes and I think comparing with last year’s attempt with rice terrace photos of Japan, I am improving, but still want to learn more. I love my work as a portrait photographer, but the group tours to Japan are so much fun for the obvious reasons of enjoying Japan and making new friends, but also gives me a chance to work on some photography techniques that I normally don’t have a chance to use. Next time, instead of HDR, I think I will try the graduated neutral density filters for landscapes of Japan!