2017 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan | Fuji Five Lakes

Jun 01 | Evan | No Comments |

The last stop for our group of photographers visiting Japan before returning to Tokyo was Fuji Kawaguchiko. Lake Kawaguchiko is one of the Fuji Five Lakes and offers stunning views of Mt. Fuji no matter what time of year. Thankfully this is the case as we were early for cherry blossoms this year. Though we did manage to find perhaps the one single cherry blossom “tree” in full bloom at the time.

Besides Lake Kawaguchi, we also visited neighboring Lake Shoji and also Lake Yamanaka. Throughout most of our stay in the Fuji Five Lakes we could see Japan’s famously shy mountain, though often with cloudy skies behind and above Mt. Fuji.

Also, the Kubota Itchiku Art Museum gave me another chance to test out my Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II’s in body image stabilization. The in body image stabilization (IBIS) combined with the the M.Zuiko ED 12-100mm f4.0 IS PRO is suppose to give me 6.5 stops of image stabilization. Once again, I was quite impressed with the results as the photos below are 1 second handheld and 8/10 of a second handheld.

1 second handheld

8/10th of a second handheld

The 2017 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan took our small group of photographers to Tokyo, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Kyoto, Wazuka and Fuji Five Lakes. Take a look at the 2017 Cherry Blossom Tour Trip report to see more from our tour of Japan during cherry blossom season. Want to visit Japan during cherry blossom season with Japan Photo Guide? The 2018 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan for photographers has limited spaces available, book now!

: Created and Courtesy of Tim Durham

: Created and Courtesy of Tim Durham

: 1 second handheld

: 8/10th of a second handheld

2017 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan | Tea Fields of Wazuka

May 28 | Evan | No Comments |

After a few days in Kyoto, the small group of photographers on the 2017 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan headed to the outskirts of Kyoto to Wazuka. Wazuka is a green tea farming town, considered by many to grow some of the finest, if not the finest, green tea in Japan, which means the world most would argue. For our stay in Wazuka we stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast literally in the tea fields, The Blodge Lodge. While the cherry blossoms had caught up to us in Kyoto, here in Wazuka the cherry blossoms were a few days behind for the most part and unfortunately, we had mostly rainy and misty weather for the 2 nights we stayed in Wazuka.

Even with less than ideal weather, it was easy to see that our photography tour was in for a treat. First and foremost, the couple running the bed and breakfast, Michael and Ikuko are wonderful and went above and beyond our expectations. Also the meals we had there were wonderful as Ikuko is a wonderful cook. In hindsight, I wish I had done some food photography of the food she prepared and of the tea tasting experience she provided for us. Guess that means I need to go back!

Photography wise, the weather and lack of light impacted what we could do with the tea fields as I really wanted more contrast in the lines between the tea trees, but I still came away with quite a few good photographs. Though the clouds did sometimes make for some cool photos, I was still wishing for some more light and more cherry blossoms! Again, it only means I have to go back!

: Created by and courtesy of Tim Durham

2017 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan | Kyoto

May 24 | Evan | No Comments |

After visiting Tokyo, Hiroshima, Miyajima and Himeji, the 2017 Cherry Blossom tour of Japan headed north again to Kyoto. I’ve said it many times before, Kyoto is my favorite city in Japan and perhaps in the world. The mix of modern and traditional Japan is fantastic and there are always opportunities for photographers visiting Kyoto.

For our group of photographers touring Japan in cherry blossom season, the cherry blossoms had momentarily caught up with us and cherry blossoms were in full bloom in Kyoto! Though cherry blossoms in Kyoto are spectacular, there are many other places that regardless of the cherry blossoms are wonderful for photography. Kyoto is extremely crowded during this peak season for cherry blossoms, so some of these other place that don’t have cherry blossoms or aren’t famous for their cherry blossoms can be a nice place to take a break from the crowds of tourists visiting Kyoto.

No matter how many days you stay in Kyoto, it would be hard to run out of photography opportunities. No matter what time of year, there are always a few places I love returning to like the Golden Pavilion (photo at top of this post), Bamboo Forest of Arashiyama and Fushimi Inari Shrine.

Before the gallery I also wanted to touch up on one feature of my new Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II. There are quite a few things I love about my new mirrorless camera, size and weight is obvious and then there is the amazing image stabilization. I found that quite a lot of times during my trip I was trying to push the limits of the in body image stabilization (IBIS) which is suppose to have 5.5 stops of stabilization and also combined it with the M.Zuiko ED 12-100mm f4.0 IS PRO for an extra stop. Take a look at a few examples below, first two were hand held with a little body bracing at 1 second. Yes, a full second! The cherry blossom one was done with me holding the camera up above my head using flipped screen to compose, not super sharp because there was some wind but still quite amazing for what I was doing.

1 second handheld

1/10 of a second handheld

: Created by and courtesy of Tim Durham

: Created by and courtesy of Tim Durham

2017 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan | Tokyo

May 17 | Evan | No Comments |

The 2017 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan was shaping up to be quite a large group of photographers visiting Japan but suddenly some members had to drop out for personal reasons. In January I had pretty much accepted that the 2017 Cherry Blossom Tour was not going to happen when just as suddenly as the original group fell apart, 4 new members inquired about joining me on an escorted tour of Japan during cherry blossom season. Leading a smaller group of photographers through Japan certainly has it’s benefits and allowed us to do a couple of things that aren’t possible, or much more difficult, with a larger group. One of which was a fantastic home stay in the tea plantations in the outskirts of Kyoto, Japan (more on that to come).

As you can see by the photo of Chidorigafuchi above, even though the dates of this tour of Japan during cherry blossom season were almost identical to the 2016 cherry blossom tour of Japan, we were slightly early for full bloom of the cherry blossoms when the trip started in Tokyo. Not an issue though as it was easy to isolate some cherry blossoms in bloom or ignore the blossoms completely with many of the interesting subjects Tokyo has to offer for photographers, for example the “Shibuya Scramble” in Shibuya.

Of course street photography is as easy as it comes in Tokyo with opportunity after opportunity if you are patient and look for it. After meeting one couple at the airport in Tokyo, on the transfer into the Tokyo, I was asked to dial up a wedding to take photos of in Tokyo and wouldn’t you know it, the next day walking around during their free time, they found the wedding shoot I “arranged” like last summer in Himeji!

Created by and courtesy of Tim Durham

While we were slightly too early for the first few days in Tokyo for cherry blossoms, by the time we made our way back, the cherry blossoms were still holding on a bit, just starting to fall off the trees but still quite beautiful. See the gallery at the end of this post for more photos from Tokyo during cherry blossom season and some night time shooting of Shibuya Scramble.