2019 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour | Miyajima and Hiroshima

Jul 15 | Evan | No Comments |

After spending 2 nights in Tokyo, the 2019 cherry blossom photo tour of Japan traveled by bullet train to Miyajima. While tour was without rain so far, colder than normal temperatures had Japan feeling more like Japan in the winter rather than Japan during cherry blossom season. For the most part, the cooler temperatures during cherry blossom season in Japan helped by slowing what started as an early blooming cherry blossom season and the cherry blossoms held their pose for us just a little longer!

The two photos above are courtesy of and created by one of our group’s photographers, Daniel Leffel. Take a look at Daniel’s website for more excellent photography not only of Japan but all over the word.

Miyajima is one of my favorite places to bring photographers in Japan. Actually, even for my less or non photography oriented tours of Japan, Miyajima and Hiroshima are always a pleasure to visit.

The 2019 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 from Shizuoka and from Fuji Five Lakes. Here is the trip report from the 2019 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan and the 2018 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour of Japan. The 2020 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour of Japan is already planned and live! Limited spots are available for the 2020 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan, with first booking already reserved!

Below is a gallery of cherry blossom photos from our days in Miyajima.

2019 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour | Tokyo Portrait Session

Jun 14 | Evan | No Comments |

During my cherry blossom tours of Japan, we almost always have a portrait session in Kyoto with a real maiko or geiko but during the 2019 cherry blossom photography tour we also had a portrait session in Tokyo with a model living in Tokyo. Last summer in Tokyo I photographed the same model so it was good to work together with her again and everyone created some nice portraits in Tokyo.

During our portrait session in Tokyo we started with some street photography in the Harajuku area and then moved to Yoyogi Park for cherry blossoms in the background.

See the gallery below for more portraits of our model portrait session in Tokyo during cherry blossom season.

2019 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour | Tokyo

May 24 | Evan | No Comments |

The 2019 cherry blossom season in Japan was an interesting one in terms of cherry blossom timing. A warm winter had the cherry blossoms start blooming earlier than normal in most places in Japan, including cherry blossoms in Tokyo, but a sudden cold spell had spring closer to winter temperatures and paused the cherry blossoms throughout the country. The sudden cold weather in Japan along little rain meant that cherry blossom season was extended in 2019, perfect for visitors traveling in Japan hoping to see and photograph cherry blossoms in Japan!

The 2019 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan was limited to 6 travelers including me. Keeping the group size smaller gives us more flexibility traveling in Japan and customizing the trip towards each member’s preferences and interests in Japan and interests in photography in Japan.

The photography group only stayed 2 nights in Tokyo but total we spent 14 nights and 15 days traveling around Japan, photographing Japan, experiencing Japan and of course, eating lot’s of Japanese food! While the 2019 cherry blossom season was wonderful, I hope the 2020 cherry blossom season in Japan is a little warmer!

See the gallery below for more photos taken in Tokyo during our cherry blossom photography tour of Japan.

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!