2016 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan | Portrait Session in Kyoto and Tokyo

May 28 | Evan | No Comments |

Photo created by and courtesy of Kel Blake Photography

While in the USA, my main business is small boutique portrait photography studio, so while on these photo tours of Japan, I always enjoy working in a portrait session or two if the other photographers are interested. For the 2016 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan, we not only had a portrait session with a real maiko like in previous trips to Japan, but also had a few opportunities to take portraits while visiting both Kyoto and Tokyo.

In Kyoto, two members of our group decided they wanted to explore Kyoto wearing traditional Japanese clothes. After arranging for them to each rent a kimono, we went off into Kyoto for a portrait session. Kyoto is literally a picture perfect place for portraits, especially during cherry blossom season in Japan.

Once we returned back to Tokyo we also had a portrait session in Tokyo with a model in and around the Yoyogi Park area. It was a lot of fun taking portraits both in Yoyogi Park and also with Omotesando as the backdrop for some city portraiture in Tokyo.

With Tokyo, Hiroshima, Miyajima and Himeji Castle already visited, next up for the 2016 cherry blossom tour was Kyoto, my favorite city in Japan! After Kyoto we would continue our tour of Japan to photography Mt. Fuji and the Fuji Five Lakes, still chasing and photographing the cherry blossoms around Japan! Interested in joining the 2017 cherry blossom tour? Please contact me today to start your trip to Japan during cherry blossom season or any other time you’d like!

2016 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan | Arashiyama and Kenninji

May 27 | Evan | No Comments |

Even when visiting the same cities in Japan, every photography tour of Japan has some locations that I’m returning to and some locations that are new. When visiting Kyoto, Fushimi Inari is always one that photographers want to visit along with the bamboo forest in Arashiyama. One location in Kyoto that isn’t always on my list of places it visit is Kenninji in Gion.

Kenninji and Arashiyama are not close to each other, Kenninji is in Gion and Arashiyama is Western Kyoto, but I’m including them both in this post just go along with the some places I return to and others are visited depending on what mother nature in Japan gives us!

Kenninji a lovely temple and especially a nice place to visit if it’s raining like it was one of our days touring Kyoto. Kenninji has covered walkways around the edges so you can still appreciate the gardens but also allows photography inside most areas of the Temple.

2016 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan | Fushimi Inari Taisha

May 25 | Evan | No Comments |

Fushimi Inari Shrine in south eastern Kyoto is always a popular place to visit for photography tours of Kyoto or just as a normal tourist visiting Japan. Like the bamboo forest in Arashiyama though, if you don’t go early in the morning, good luck with getting photos without lot’s and lot’s of fellow tourists in the photos!

There are not too many places open early in Kyoto before sunrise, but Fushimi Inari Shrine never closes. Photography wise, I’d recommend visiting Fushimi Inari as close to sunrise as possible. If you can visit Fushimi Inari before sunrise, the small lanterns in the gates should be on like the first of the two photos below.

Photo courtesy of and created by Barna Photo

2016 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan | Himeji Castle

May 15 | Evan | No Comments |

Himeji Castle is a great place to visit anytime of the year when traveling to Japan, but the best time to visit Himeji Castle to take photographs is probably during cherry blossom season. Japan’s most spectacular castle is also perhaps one of the top 2 or 3 spots to view and take photos of cherry blossoms. Lucky for our group traveling to Japan, we had nice weather and perfect timing in regards to the cherry blossoms blooming.

Photo created by and courtesy of Kel Blake Photography.

There is no question that Himeji Castle is the star of the show in the city of Himeji, so finding interesting views to take photos of Himeji Castle is always fun as well. I’m always looking for a better or the best view to take photos of Himeji Castle Below, but not sure I have found it yet! Below is a photo of members of our group tour Japan, taking the photo and then the type of photo we could create from this observatory for a view of the city and Himeji Castle.

Photo created by and courtesy of Patricia Pomerleau.

The next morning we went up to a park to try and make some photos of Himeji Castle at sunrise. While we would have liked a little more color and perhaps moving the sunrise a little to the right, we still had a better sunrise than last year’s group visiting Japan!

Japan Photo Guide Himeji 065