Interview on Live w/ Katie Adler

Another exciting event that happened in February was that I was asked to be on Live w/ Katie Adler, a voice over artist in Tokyo, Japan, that works for NHK and many other clients.  I was really excited about talking with Katie about how I ended up in Japan, going from North Carolina, then Miami then to Tokyo and how I was able to turn some of my passions, photography, meeting new people and Japan, into what is basically my dream job:  guiding visitors around Japan to help them really experience and always remember Japan.

If you want to listen to the interview, you can click the link below to stream it or right click the link and choose “save link as” to download and listen at your convenience.  The entire interview about Japan and how I started giving private tours of Japan is about an hour long:

Evan Pike Live w/ Katie Adler

And just because it doesn’t feel right to write a post about Japan without showing a photo from Japan, here is a photo from Roppongi Hills Tower in Tokyo.

Special Deals on 2012 Summer Tours of Japan

Going to Japan in the summer of 2012?  Me too!  I will be traveling to Japan this summer in July to visit friends before they leave Japan and also to see family in Tokyo.  If you were to hire me for a custom tour of Japan, normally you would be charged my travel fees to fly to Japan, but I have racked up quite a bit of air miles, and since I am going to Japan anyway, this is a great chance to get a significant discount on custom tour of Japan.  Since  I will be in Japan anyway for personal reasons, I thought I would make myself available for some custom photography tours of Tokyo or Kyoto (or possibly other places) and also I will be available for portrait sessions in Tokyo or Kyoto. Tentative dates are the last two weeks of July of 2012, but I have a little flexibility on either side if contacted early enough.  Here are a few of the services I can provide this summer for you during your travels to Japan.

• Photography Tours of Japan —  Helping to navigate to around Tokyo, Kyoto or possibly other areas of Japan with photography in mind. 2 day minimum of guidance around Japan.
• Tokyo Food Tour  —  Some of the best (and worst) experiences of my life have been eating around Tokyo.  Everything from hole in the wall, to restaurants with Iron Chefs, I’ve done my fair share of eating around Tokyo.   With so many food choices in Tokyo, to say it is overwhelming is an understatement!  I will help create the ultimate foodie tour with you around Tokyo and of course helping to navigate Tokyo.  Whether you are in search of sweet, spicy, sushi, fried, vegetarian, upscale or food-carts, I can make it happen!  Minium of 6 hours.
• Tokyo or Kyoto Portrait Session —  Don’t really need a guide but want to get some photos to document your wonderful trip in Japan?  I will be available for portrait or family portrait sessions in Tokyo or Kyoto.
• Need help with something else while in Japan?  Chances are I can help you make the most of your trip to Japan!

Since I am going for some vacation as well, I am accepting a very limited number of bookings for Japan this summer, so contact me ASAP to get your Japan experience started!

13 Day Photo Tour of Japan | Few of My Favorite Photos of Japan

You have probably already seen some photos from my most recent photo tour of Japan when I guided a lovely couple from Turkey from Tokyo to Hiroshima and back, but here are a few more of my favorites from the trip.  Actually to be more specific, our photography tour of Japan took us from Tokyo to Hakone to Kyoto to Nara to Hiroshima to Miyajima to Koyasan and then back to Tokyo!  Really was an amazing trip and even I got to see some new places in Japan.  I’m already looking forward to the next guided tour of Japan in the Summer or Fall, but space/time is limited, so go ahead and contact me if you are interested in traveling to Japan with a professional photographer!

13 Day Photo Tour of Japan | Street Photography in Japan

In November I was lucky enough to lead another private photography tour of Japan.  This time, I was with a couple from Turkey, Kurt and Serap, who had always dreamed of coming to Japan.  After learning a little more about them, their interests and reasons for wanting to visit Japan, I planned a 13 day photo tour of Japan creating experiences that I know we will always remember!  This guided tour of Japan included Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Nara, Arashiyama, Hiroshima, Miyajima and Koyasan.  We certainly visited a lot of places in Japan in a short amount of time, but Japan’s awesome (and complex) network of public transportation, mainly trains, makes traveling around Japan convenient, fun and scenic… assuming you know which trains to take!

As you can imagine, a 13 day tour of Japan certain calls for a few blog posts, so I decided to break it down in a few different parts.  Both Kurt and Serap are really into street photography (I can’t wait to show you a few of their awesome photos from Japan) so I wanted to share a few of my own from the tour around Japan.  Street photography is a fairly broad term and in a city like Tokyo, where there is so much going visually, it can be overwhelming to take photos or even decide what to focus on.  I recommend having a purpose or goal when photographing around Tokyo to avoid being overwhelmed by all the visual stimulation.  My goal, in regards to street photography on this photo tour of Japan, was to leave as much of “the story” up to the viewer’s imagination as possible.  Which is why in almost all of these photos you won’t see faces and usually people cut in half.  Another important aspect to street photography is patience.  I recommend finding a place you like, for example these awesome blue stairs, and waiting for the moment to come to you!

Here are a few more of my favorite photos from my latest photography tour in Japan (although there are many more coming soon):

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