2015 Fall Photography Tour of Japan | Kanazawa and Kenrokuen

Jan 22 | Evan | No Comments |

The 2015 Fall Photography Tour of Japan started off with a short stay in Tokyo and then on to include Kanazawa, Okayama, Miyajima, Kyoto and then returning to Tokyo. The first evening started off with a rainy day in Tokyo and by the time we reached the city from the airport, it was dinner time. So on a rainy Tokyo evening, we head out to meet a group of Japanese friends for a welcome dinner at an izakaya (think Japanese tapas bar). After breakfast the next morning we headed north west along the new Japan Rail Hokuriku Shinkansen which extended all the way to Kanazawa in the Spring of 2015. This makes reaching Kanazawa much easier and quicker from Tokyo than in the past! So what’s to see in Kanazawa? Too much for our 3 days we would spend in the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture, but the most famous attraction is Kenrokuen, Japan’s most famous garden.

Our timing for the leaves was good as we could see some trees in the peak and others in the midst of changing, offering a variety of greens, yellows, oranges and reds, very nice! The weather could have been a little better though as we had fairly dreary days. Though with my recent luck with the weather, not having rain, or a typhoon, was certainly a plus! Back to Kanazawa and Kenrokuen though! It’s a beautifully landscaped garden that is big enough that you could spend all day walking around and finding interesting things to make photos of. The stone lantern in the first two photos is Kenrokuen’s iconic view and what you will see if you google Kenrokuen, but plenty of other great photography spots to be found!

There is small entrance fee to access the garden, but what’s great for photographers is that early in the morning, before sunrise you can enter for free until the normal access hours. The fact that Kenrokuen opens before sunrise is wonderful as that happening for gardens is very rare in Japan. These next few photos were taken early in the morning during the blue hour.

As you could guess, along with the benefit of having great light in the early morning, as Kenrokuen is the most famous garden in Japan, going early means you beat the mass crowds of tourists to come later in the day. Besides the iconic lantern in the first few images, Kenrokuen is famous for how they protect their trees from the heavy snow Kanazawa gets during the Winter called yukitsuri. During our time there, most of the ropes were setup already but we did get to see one being setup by a team in the garden. You can see the ropes in a cone shape on some of the trees below and then at the bottom some night time photos as during the fall leaves season, Kenrokuen lights up some of the trees.

The next three works of art were created by and courtesy of Charles Bowers, check out his site for more fantastic art from his international travels and information about upcoming shows!

The 2015 Fall Photography Tour of Japan included Tokyo, Kanazawa, Shirakawago, Okayama, Hiroshima, Miyajima and Kyoto! Interesting in joining your own escorted tour of Japan with Japan Photo Guide? Contact us to get the planning of your trip to Japan started or join one of the group tours of Japan!

Kushimoto and Hashigui Iwa

Aug 10 | Evan | No Comments |

Hashigui-Iwa-JapanPhotoGuide-004 The typhoon was getting closer but I still had much more to see in Wakayama and needed more time to try out the graduated ND filters along with the 10 stop ND filter! The next place was Kushimoto and Hashigui Iwa, a cool rock formation just off the coast of Kushimoto. It’s best to come here for sunrise, but it’s also quite nice during the afternoon when the late sun hits the rocks. Also, when the tide goes out, you can get quite close to the rocks.

When the water is calm you can get some great reflections from the rocks, but when it’s not, like when I was visiting Kushimoto, the 10 stop nd filter is great to get really smooth water! Hashigui Iwa is easy to access with parking lot just in front of the location.

About 20-30 minute drive from Hashigui Iwa is another great location for rock formations, Umikongo. I was there just hours before the typhoon would be coming and it made an normally windy place, too windy to hold my tripod and camera steady, but at least I could check out the area and take a few photos with my phone. You can see that with good light and good weather, Umikongo would certainly be a good place to take photos while visiting Wakayama.

Nachi Taisha of Kumano Kodo

Aug 10 | Evan | No Comments |

Instead of going directly from Shirahama to Kushimoto, we went inland a little to first check out one of the most famous shrines on the Kumano Kodo, Kumano Nachi Taisha. It’s not the easiest place to access without a car, but there are some bus you can take. If you do drive, there are a lot of parking lots, mostly at the bottom of the stairs, but if you don’t want to walk a lot of stairs, you can pay a small fee to park at the top. Having walked the stairs, it’s probably worth it to pay the fee!

As I mentioned before, my trip was cut short by soon to come typhoon, so I only spent about 30 minutes here, most of which was to photograph the pagoda with Nachi Falls, though there is plenty explore around the shrine grounds along with other shrines not too far by. Take a look at Japan-Guide for more information of the surrounding area. One place I didn’t see mentioned there though is an observatory, Nachisan Observatory (那智山見晴台) – though it literally translates to Nachisan Belvedere (did you know that a belvedere is a summerhouse or open-sided gallery, usually at rooftop level, commanding a fine view according to google?) that is just another 5 minute or so drive from Nachi Taisha. Would have loved to come here for a sunrise!

Engetsu Islet in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture

Aug 08 | Evan | No Comments |

This summer in Japan I had planned to spend a week exploring Wakayama Prefecture. Wakayama Prefecture, Southeast of Kyoto and Osaka, is most famous for Koyasan and The Kumano Kodo, but this trip I wanted to explore the beautiful coastline in the Kii Peninsula. As it turned out, a typhoon also wanted to visit Wakayama Prefecture at the exact same time, so my trip got cut from 7 days to 4 days! In any case, I still managed to see much of what I wanted, though most places weren’t at the time of day I would have liked to be there for. One place I could photograph as planned was Engetsu Islet in Shirahama. I ended up coming to Engetsu Islet for 2 sunsets and 1 sunrise, partly because I just liked the location but also because there are lot’s of points around the coast to photograph Engetsu Islet from.

Imagine the coastline in the shape of a “U” but on the right side, instead of a straight line, it’s an “S” and most of the U merged with and S coastline I walked trying to find location I liked to photograph from. This was also the first time I had attempted to use graduated neutral density filters and also a 10 stop ND filter (which is what makes the water look so creamy in some of these photos). I really enjoyed exploring the area and had fun learning about the new filters, though I still have a ways to go with them I suppose! Here is a comparison of with and without the 10 stop ND filter:

The last morning I was in Shirahama, I even got to see a rainbow along with Engetsu Islet which was kind of nice if not a little cliche of a photo though…