2019 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour | Tokyo Portrait Session

Jun 14 | Evan | No Comments |

During my cherry blossom tours of Japan, we almost always have a portrait session in Kyoto with a real maiko or geiko but during the 2019 cherry blossom photography tour we also had a portrait session in Tokyo with a model living in Tokyo. Last summer in Tokyo I photographed the same model so it was good to work together with her again and everyone created some nice portraits in Tokyo.

The two photos above are courtesy of and created by one of our group’s photographers, Daniel Leffel. Take a look at Daniel’s website for more excellent photography not only of Japan but all over the word.

During our portrait session in Tokyo we started with some street photography in the Harajuku area and then moved to Yoyogi Park for cherry blossoms in the background.

The 2019 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour took a small group of photographers to Japan. We started in Tokyo and continued to Hiroshima, Miyajima, Himeji Castle, Kyoto and Mt. Fuji from Shizuoka and from Fuji Five Lakes. Here is the trip report from the 2019 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan and the 2018 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour of Japan. The 2020 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour of Japan is already planned and live! Limited spots are available for the 2020 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan, with first booking already reserved!

See the gallery below for more portraits of our model portrait session in Tokyo during cherry blossom season.

2018 Summer Tour of Japan | Portraits in Tokyo

Aug 12 | Evan | No Comments |

While most of my work in the USA is portraiture, while on the photography tours of Japan I tend to take more landscapes or wildlife photos.  At the end of my 2018 summer tour of Japan I had a some for a few portrait sessions in Tokyo.  The heat was miserable but somehow the two models I worked with kept cool!

Both were very professional and needed very little guidance from me, making my job easy!  First was some street photography portraits in Tokyo around Ometesando and then I headed over to Shibuya for more portraits in Tokyo.  Once the sunset in Tokyo, we moved into Shibuya Scramble for the rest portrait session.  

All of these portraits in Shibuya Scramble were handheld with the Olympus OMD EM1MII at 1/20th of a second or less.  Thanks to the great in body image stabilization (IBIS) of the camera and the 12-100 f4 pro lens, it was easy to capture the movement and organized chaos of the scramble that goes on every few minutes in Shibuya.  Check out the gallery below for more portraits in Tokyo or find me on instagram @japanphotoguide!

 

2016 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan | Portrait Session in Kyoto and Tokyo

May 28 | Evan | No Comments |

While in the USA, my main business is small boutique portrait photography studio, so while on these photo tours of Japan, I always enjoy working in a portrait session or two if the other photographers are interested.  For the 2016 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan, we not only had a portrait session with a real maiko like in previous trips to Japan, but also had a few opportunities to take portraits while visiting both Kyoto and Tokyo.

In Kyoto, two members of our group decided they wanted to explore Kyoto wearing traditional Japanese clothes.  After arranging for them to each rent a kimono, we went off into Kyoto for a portrait session.  Kyoto is literally a picture perfect place for portraits, especially during cherry blossom season in Japan.

Once we returned back to Tokyo we also had a portrait session in Tokyo with a model in and around the Yoyogi Park area.  It was a lot of fun taking portraits both in Yoyogi Park and also with Omotesando as the backdrop for some city portraiture in Tokyo.

With Tokyo, Hiroshima, Miyajima and Himeji Castle already visited, next up for the 2016 cherry blossom tour was Kyoto, my favorite city in Japan!  After Kyoto we would continue our tour of Japan to photography Mt. Fuji and the Fuji Five Lakes, still chasing and photographing the cherry blossoms around Japan!  Interested in joining the 2017 cherry blossom tour?  Please contact me today to start your trip to Japan during cherry blossom season or any other time you’d like!

2015 Cherry Blossom Group Tour of Japan | Tokyo

Apr 25 | Evan | No Comments |

Before evening returning from the the 2015 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan, I received a few inquiries about the 2016 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan!  If you are looking for that information, the details of the 2016 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan can be found here.

Like every trip to Japan, the 2015 Cherry Blossom Tour went by too fast! Even though the weather was not great for traveling around Japan (I think in 2 weeks I saw the sun on 3 days at best and somebody forgot to tell Japan that it was Spring and not still Winter)…. and in some cities the cherry blossoms bloomed too early for us to catch the peak bloom of the sakura, we had a great time, made new friends, ate delicious (and too much) Japanese food, experienced the culture and we were able to make some nice photos!

This guided tour of Japan started out in Tokyo, with the tour participants flying into Japan from 4 different countries on 3 different days. Tokyo was the perfect place to meet and wait while the entire group was getting settled in Japan. I arrived in Tokyo first, just as the cherry blossoms had hit their peak, only to see the next two days bring rain and extreme winds which are both devastating to the fragile cherry blossoms…sigh… But that didn’t stop us having a portrait session in Shinjuku Gyoen with Manami in her kimono! It was a great portrait session in Tokyo, but she was too popular with everyone else in the park as well! She was great about it and so kind to let every take her photo!

Due to cherry blossoms blooming a few days earlier than the average and the weather not cooperating, we didn’t get too many cherry blossom photos in Tokyo, but still managed to get some photos close to peak around Tokyo!  Also, as the sakura petals are falling off, the cherry blossom petals can make for some quite beautiful photos as well!

The first night we were all together, I had arranged with a friend of mine in Tokyo to introduce some Japanese families to our group! We had dinner together in a (really dark-sorry photo is so as well) restaurant in Shibuya and it was a great cultural exchange for our group visiting Japan and for the Japanese friends to meet travelers. If you are visiting Tokyo and want to make some Japanese friends over a meal, here is the facebook page my friend started for cultural exchange in Tokyo.

Other highlights of our days in Tokyo were a cooking lesson in a Japanese home and visiting an early morning sumo practice! All really great experiences in Tokyo for some nice memories!

Want to see more photos from the 2015 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan?  The group tour also went to Miyajima, Hiroshima, Himeji, Kyoto and some of us to The Fuji Five Lakes close to Mt. Fuji.  Stay tuned for more photos from the escorted tour of Japan!

 

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