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- Concluding our Photo Tour: Cherry Blossoms and Mt. Fuji at Fuji Five Lakes
- The Old Capital in Bloom: Experiencing Kyoto during Cherry Blossom Season 2023
- Capturing the Ethereal Beauty of Himeji Castle with Adobe Photoshop’s AI Generative Fill
- A Castle in the Blossoms: Capturing Himeji Castle in Cherry Blossom Season 2023
- Island Life and Urban Reflections: Cherry Blossoms in Miyajima and Hiroshima 2023
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Tour of Japan | Cary Academy Goes to Japan 2018 – Souvenirs and Shopping
Sep 26 | Evan | No Comments |This summer, Japan Photo Guide by Evan Pike was once again able to offer a spectacular trip to Japan just for Cary Academy students. Katie Taylor, 6th grade Language Arts teacher and Japan enthusiast, co-led the group with Evan. We began our trip in Tokyo, then traveled to Nagoya, Hiroshima, and Kyoto before returning home from Osaka. This post is written by Katie Taylor, a 6th grade teacher at Cary Academy and Japan enthusiast.
Read about our 2016 trip to Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Kyoto or see all reports from the 2018 tour of Japan.
Shopping could probably be considered a national pastime in Japan. Many foreign tourists visit Japan just for the shopping, and Japan is one of the world’s top markets for luxury brands. This includes high-end purses, perfumes, designer clothing, and watches! Of course, we didn’t do too much luxury shopping since we were traveling with teenagers, but we did our fair share of shopping just the same!
Shoes were an especially popular purchase on this trip. Japan is a sneakerhead’s paradise. Many styles are only available in Japan, or available there early.
Another popular souvenir for our travelers was what I like to call “backpack swag.” Pins, keychains, and stuffed animals all ended up decorating backpacks. Disney bears, Totoro-shaped giant change purses, Toyota pins, tiny golden Buddhas, you name it—we have it on a backpack or purse.
One student was excited to find a wallet that was made out of leather using no sewing or metal fixtures. It was basically an origami wallet and was handmade in a shop in Nagoya. The Osu shopping street area in Nagoya had quite a few interesting shops. “Alice on Wednesday” even had a line out front like an exclusive club!
Some of our favorite souvenirs we made ourselves! At Orgiami Kaikan, we made bookmarks and “beating” hearts, which Japanese school children use to share a secret crush! We also found lots of neat shards of pottery on the beach at Miyajima, which we plan to make into jewelry someday!
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!
2018 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour of Japan | Maiko Portrait Session in Kyoto
Jun 01 | Evan | No Comments |
I’ve been photographing this maiko san since 2014 and this past photography tour will be the last time I photograph her as a maiko as she is finished her apprenticeship and became a geiko (geisha are called geiko in Kyoto) in May! A portrait session with a real maiko is always a popular request from photographers visiting Japan with me on the photography tours.
I’ve really enjoyed the portrait sessions with her in Kyoto over the years and it’s been fun to see her grow and become a fantastic model to work with. At this point, I don’t have say anything to her until I’m ready to move to the next location or pose. I’ve also grown and improved as a photographer myself, so it’s been fun working with her multiples times on the photography tours of Japan.
I’m already looking forward to next portrait session in Kyoto with her as a geiko san which will include a lot of changes in her style and appearance! I will have to put together a book for her as a gift with some of my favorite portraits of her in Kyoto over the years!
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 more photos from our maiko portrait session in Kyoto.
2018 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour of Japan | Mt. Fuji
May 25 | Evan | No Comments |
In previous photography tours of Japan, I’ve spent a lot of time photographing Mt. Fuji from the Fuji Five Lakes, but for the 2018 photo tour of Japan in cherry blossom season we spent most of our time photographing Mt. Fuji from the Shizuoka side. One thing that really interested me about photographing Fujisan from Shizuoka was the idea of being able to get more city elements included with the mountain.
Mt. Fuji, perhaps Japan’s most iconic symbol, has a bad reputation for being too shy, often hiding behind layers of clouds. I usually tell the photographers on the photo tours of Japan that I will feel lucky if we have a clear view of Mount Fuji 1 out of 3 days. The 2018 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan set a new record for me though! On my previous photo tours of Japan, I’ve never had two days in row where we could see a clear view of the entire mountain, but for this year’s photo tour, we had a clear view of Mt. Fuji for at least part of the day, three days in a row. On the second day, it was so clear that if there was anyone hiking on the mountain, I’d know if they were a friend of mine or not!
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 time spent making photos of Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji.
