2015 Fall Photo Tour of Japan | Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

Feb 19 | Evan | No Comments |

Much like when I visit and make photographs at Fushimi Inari Taisha in Southern Kyoto, visiting the bamboo groves in Arashiyama allows me visit and photograph the same subject looking for some new angles. Or like the photo above and below, some random techniques with the bamboo. This time in the bamboo grove in Arashiyama I was making photographs with long exposures, all at least 20 seconds.

I was hoping to capture more movement at the top as the lighter tops of the bamboo move much more than the sturdier bases. I’m happy with the way the photos of the bamboo came out this time but I’m already trying to think about what I will try differently next time I visit the bamboo grove in Arashiyama with the 2016 cherry blossom tour of Japan! Any suggestions?

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!

2015 Fall Photo Tour of Japan | Maiko Portrait Session

Feb 18 | Evan | No Comments |

The last few times I’ve escorted tours to Kyoto, I’ve been able to arrange portrait sessions with a real maiko (geiko apprentice, “geiko” is how geisha are referred to in Kyoto). It’s always a a lot of fun to take portraits of a real maiko though I have to admit, with how beautiful they are and amazing the colors in the kimono are, it’s almost too easy and hard to take a bad portrait of a maiko. I’m only half serious, but still, I think you know what I mean!

Actually the most difficult part about hiring a maiko as a model is really keep the other visitors (and sometime locals of Kyoto even) from crowding her. While it’s very exciting to see a real maiko or geiko in Kyoto, it’s very important to show good manners and not to chase, crowd or trap them. It can be quite scary to have many people aggressively following you and taking portraits of you, especially if there is a language barrier. Okay, small public service announcement is over, enjoy a few more portraits of the maiko!

Japan Photo Guide Maiko 002

2015 Fall Photo Tour of Japan | Kiyomizu Temple & Shinnyodo Temple

Feb 17 | Evan | No Comments |

At this point in our tour we had learned colder than normal weather, followed by drought, followed by warmer than normal weather, had split the vast majority of maples into three groups, turned color early, dried up and died early, or turning color late. Our tour of Japan must go on, though it meant now we were hunting for the best trees in each location, sometimes not having so many to choices! Even with the explanation of why the fall leaves weren’t out in full force in Kyoto, we were still able to make some great art and photographs in Kyoto. In this post I’m combining 2 places that are quite different but both are nice to visit in Kyoto in Autumn. First is Kiyomizu Temple and second is Shinnyodo Temple. Kiyomizu Temple is in South Eastern Kyoto in the area called Higashiyama.

Japan Photo Guide Kiyomizu 010

Kiyomizu dera is probably one of, if not the most famous temples in Japan. There are almost always crowds and thus if you are taking photos, I’d highly recommend going early in the morning as it opens at 6am. Hopefully, you will get a nice sunrise (which we didn’t get so much) or fantastic moon setting over Kyoto (which we did)!

Later in the day we would make our way over to Shinnyodo Temple, a much lessor known temple and often passed over by visiting tourists. Not because it isn’t great, but because there are so many other wonderful places to visit and experiences to do in Kyoto. Being slightly overlooked though is part of what makes Shinnyodo Temple great to visit as crowds tend to be much less but there are still some great fall leaves to be found here!

2015 Fall Photo Tour of Japan | Tofukuji

Feb 16 | Evan | No Comments |

After spending time strolling through and photographing Fushimi Inari Taisha, we headed a little north to Tofukuji, a large temple complex famous for Fall Leaves. If you aren’t great with crowds, you might want to avoid Tofukuji in the Fall though as at some parts it’s just a huge mob in what seems to be limited space, but actually it’s really not that small, just really, really, really, REALLY crowded! Before going into the main complex of Tofukuji, we stopped by one of the gardens along the way, Fundain, certainly the calm before the storm that we were approaching…

After our moments of zen in Fundain, we headed up to check out and take photos of the Autumn leaves at Tofukuji by inching along with the hoards of visitors also excited to see the famed leaves at this temple. As much as I love adding people in my photographs, crowds of people wasn’t exactly the look I was going for.There is a route to follow at Tofukuji, so be focusing up and out from the crowds, you would never know how packed Tofukuji was!