2018 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan | Steller’s Eagles On Ice

Apr 01 | Evan | No Comments |

Along with Chris Weston, I escorted a small group of wildlife photographers in Japan in search of Japan’s Winter Wildlife. View the 2018 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan Trip Report to see photos of Japanese Snow Monkeys, Red Crowned Crane, Swan, Steller’s Sea Eagles and whatever else we could find! This is the third of 3 posts about Steller’s Sea Eagles, next are the Whooper Swans in Kawayu onsen!

Compared to last year, the drift ice that usually comes into Rausu was nonexistent! Apparently the captain told me that there had been very little drift ice this year due to direction of the wind and other conditions. At least we found one spot close to the shore where the water was calm enough that it had a thin layer of ice above the sea for the Steller’s Sea Eagles to land on.

For me, this worked out great and I felt I could see more personality from the eagles for some reason. Perhaps it was just because the eagles actually stayed in place for a few seconds rather than flying in and flying off! Also the reflection on the ice was quite nice.

2018 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan | Steller’s Eagles Catching Fish

Mar 29 | Evan | No Comments |

Along with Chris Weston, I escorted a small group of wildlife photographers in Japan in search of Japan’s Winter Wildlife. View the 2018 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan Trip Report to see photos of Japanese Snow Monkeys, Red Crowned Crane, Swan, Steller’s Sea Eagles and whatever else we could find! This is the second of 3 posts about Steller’s Sea Eagles, one more about the eagles in Japan and then off to the Whooper Swans!

I mentioned in my previous post about the eagles how I love to watch them fly. Their attack and capture is quite impressive as well! The Steller’s Sea Eagles approach is fast and efficient. Even though I knew and could anticipate what they were going to do to some extent, photographing the eagles was not easy due to their speed and agility. Luckily we had enough boat rides and time with the eagles in Rausu for me to come away with a few images I was happy with!

2018 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan | Steller’s Eagles Flying

Feb 26 | Evan | No Comments |

After a wonderful (but freezing) time in the 2017 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan, I planned another tour along with Chris Weston Photography. While the places were mainly the same as last year, we changed the order a little to start with Steller’s Sea Eagles. Chris is a fantastic wildlife photographer and I was really excited to partner with him again for another trip. He actually just launched an online master class, I’d recommend taking a look as he is a great teacher and I always learn something from him even if I’m with him for just a few minutes.

Back to our 2018 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan tour though! The previous year we ended with the Steller’s Sea Eagles but this year we were starting with them. I love the eagles and the way they fly, sharply turn and perform acrobatics in the air.

In addition to the eagles, there were plenty of seagulls which I also find beautiful in their own way. Not as dynamic as the eagles in Japan, but I find something about them quite calming and photogenic. Along with Chris Weston, I escorted a small group of wildlife photographers in Japan in search of Japan’s Winter Wildlife. View the 2018 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan Trip Report to see photos of Japanese Snow Monkeys, Red Crowned Crane, Swan, Steller’s Sea Eagles and whatever else we could find! This is the first post of a few for the Steller’s Sea Eagles, see more in the gallery below!

2017 Private Summer Tour of Japan | Portraits and Tea Ceremony with Maiko

Aug 19 | Evan | No Comments |

While traveling to Kyoto for the private and custom tour of Japan, I arranged for a tea ceremony and private portrait session with a real maiko (geiko apprentice) in Kyoto. I’ve taken her portraits many times before and she is almost finished with her apprenticeship and will be a geiko soon, I think by the time I see her again in the 2018 cherry blossom season in Japan! It’s been a wonderful experience working with her over the years and seeing her progression through the maiko/geiko culture and profession in Kyoto.

We met our maiko at her tea house for a short tea ceremony and dance performance. After chatting a little we went to a temple in Kyoto for our portrait session. Having photographed her before in Kyoto at this temple, I knew some of the poses I wanted to try again and some new poses I wanted to try. In this sense, photography locations for me can be similar to returning to a restaurant I like in that I know what menu items I already had and enjoyed but interesting in trying something new.

Taking a step back with restaurants in general, even more so when I do tours in Tokyo and Kyoto as I know my favorite restaurants to eat in Japan but there is always a new place I want to try and visit! Back to photography though! Luckily, with photography, especially now it’s digital, I can try as many poses as time permits and get the instant feedback on how the portraits are coming out. In this case, working with a professional model, our maiko made it hard for us to take bad portraits!

This was actually my first entire portrait session using only my Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and no nikon gear. After editing in raw and comparing to my portraits of our maiko from the same location last year with my Nikon D750, I’m very pleased with the results!