2019 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour | Tokyo

May 24 | Evan | No Comments |

The 2019 cherry blossom season in Japan was an interesting one in terms of cherry blossom timing. A warm winter had the cherry blossoms start blooming earlier than normal in most places in Japan, including cherry blossoms in Tokyo, but a sudden cold spell had spring closer to winter temperatures and paused the cherry blossoms throughout the country. The sudden cold weather in Japan along little rain meant that cherry blossom season was extended in 2019, perfect for visitors traveling in Japan hoping to see and photograph cherry blossoms in Japan!

The 2019 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan was limited to 6 travelers including me. Keeping the group size smaller gives us more flexibility traveling in Japan and customizing the trip towards each member’s preferences and interests in Japan and interests in photography in Japan.

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.

The photography group only stayed 2 nights in Tokyo but total we spent 14 nights and 15 days traveling around Japan, photographing Japan, experiencing Japan and of course, eating lot’s of Japanese food! While the 2019 cherry blossom season was wonderful, I hope the 2020 cherry blossom season in Japan is a little warmer!

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 photos taken in Tokyo during our cherry blossom photography tour of Japan.

2018 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour of Japan | Tokyo

Apr 30 | Evan | No Comments |

Either as a photographer to take photos or just view the cherry blossoms, Japanese and tourists are always excited for cherry blossom season.  The 2018 the cherry blossoms couldn’t wait either.  Compared to an average year, the cherry blossoms in Japan bloomed earlier than normal and in some places in Japan even 10 -14 days earlier than normal!  Luckily, for just about all of our locations for the 2018 cherry blossom photography tour, we still could see the tail end of the cherry blossoms.

Our first destination on the 2018 cherry blossom photography tour of Japan was Tokyo.  This year’s group of 6 including me, all arrived earlier than the official start date of the photo tour to settle in and experience more of Japan’s largest city.  Our first day of the tour was probably the last full bloom day in Tokyo as the cherry blossoms were starting to fall to the ground.  Photographing the cherry blossoms falling can also be beautiful, so if I have a preference, I’d prefer to be slightly late than early to photograph the cherry blossoms in Japan!

Our photography tour stayed in Tokyo for 2 nights and by the morning of our departure to Hiroshima, there was a lot more green in the cherry blossoms than I would have liked to photograph but still beautiful spots to be found!

 

The 2018 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.  Here is the trip report from the 2018 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan. The 2019 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour of Japan is already planned and live!  Limited spots are available for the 2019 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan, with first booking already reserved!  Below is a gallery of cherry blossom photos from our days in Tokyo.

13 Day Photo Tour of Japan | Street Photography in Japan

Dec 14 | Evan | No Comments |

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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