2018 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour of Japan | Himeji

May 16 | Evan | No Comments |

After 3 wonderful days photographing the cherry blossoms of Miyajima, the 2018 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour continued North East to Himeji, home of Japan’s most spectacular castle, Himeji Castle. Like most of the locations I choose for the photography tour of Japan during cherry blossom season, the castle has fantastic cherry blossoms, but also there are many views of the castle that we can create photographs of if they cherry blossom timing is off or if we are cherry blossomed out!

Like Mt. Fuji though, I believe Himeji Castle is most beautiful from a far, sometimes even as an item in the background. Perhaps I’m falling under the influence of Katsushika Hokusai where in a lot of his works of art of Mt. Fuji, it’s just a small point in the background of the image.

Of course sometimes you just have to give credit where credit is due for certain subjects, like Himeji Castle or photos of cherry blossoms themselves. Neither the cherry blossoms or Himeji Castle disappointed our photography tour!

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 photographing the area around Himeji Castle in Japan.

2018 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour of Japan | Miyajima

May 13 | Evan | No Comments |

The 2018 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour departed Tokyo to travel to Hiroshima by bullet train, then took a chartered van to Miyajima Port and finally a ferry to reach Miyajima. It’s a long journey but our small photography group arrived in Miyajima at perfect time to photograph the cherry blossoms. When one thinks of Miyajima, most people think about the torii gate that floats in the water when the tide is in, but there are many photogenic spots on the island of Miyajima, especially during cherry blossom season.

For me, it’s really important to stay on the island when visiting Miyajima as it gets overcrowded with tourists during the day, early morning and dusk are much more pleasant not only for obvious lighting reasons but also just to enjoy the atmosphere of the island. Besides the pagodas, torii gate, temples and shrines, the deer always are fun photograph and observe in Miyajima, especially when they pose with cherry blossoms!

And yes, there is the great torii gate which even when the tide is out, provides lot’s of photographic opportunities to create art in Miyajima. It’s said that Miyajima is one of Japan’s 3 most scenic places in Japan and having traveled and photographed many places in Japan, it’s hard to disagree!

2018 Cherry Blossom Photo Tour of Japan | Tokyo

Apr 30 | Evan | No Comments |

Either as a photographer to take photos or just view the cherry blossoms, Japanese and tourists are always excited for cherry blossom season. The 2018 the cherry blossoms couldn’t wait either. Compared to an average year, the cherry blossoms in Japan bloomed earlier than normal and in some places in Japan even 10 -14 days earlier than normal! Luckily, for just about all of our locations for the 2018 cherry blossom photography tour, we still could see the tail end of the cherry blossoms.

Our first destination on the 2018 cherry blossom photography tour of Japan was Tokyo. This year’s group of 6 including me, all arrived earlier than the official start date of the photo tour to settle in and experience more of Japan’s largest city. Our first day of the tour was probably the last full bloom day in Tokyo as the cherry blossoms were starting to fall to the ground. Photographing the cherry blossoms falling can also be beautiful, so if I have a preference, I’d prefer to be slightly late than early to photograph the cherry blossoms in Japan!

Our photography tour stayed in Tokyo for 2 nights and by the morning of our departure to Hiroshima, there was a lot more green in the cherry blossoms than I would have liked to photograph but still beautiful spots to be found!

2017 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan | Fuji Five Lakes

Jun 01 | Evan | No Comments |

The last stop for our group of photographers visiting Japan before returning to Tokyo was Fuji Kawaguchiko. Lake Kawaguchiko is one of the Fuji Five Lakes and offers stunning views of Mt. Fuji no matter what time of year. Thankfully this is the case as we were early for cherry blossoms this year. Though we did manage to find perhaps the one single cherry blossom “tree” in full bloom at the time.

Besides Lake Kawaguchi, we also visited neighboring Lake Shoji and also Lake Yamanaka. Throughout most of our stay in the Fuji Five Lakes we could see Japan’s famously shy mountain, though often with cloudy skies behind and above Mt. Fuji.

Also, the Kubota Itchiku Art Museum gave me another chance to test out my Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II’s in body image stabilization. The in body image stabilization (IBIS) combined with the the M.Zuiko ED 12-100mm f4.0 IS PRO is suppose to give me 6.5 stops of image stabilization. Once again, I was quite impressed with the results as the photos below are 1 second handheld and 8/10 of a second handheld.

1 second handheld

8/10th of a second handheld

The 2017 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan took our small group of photographers to Tokyo, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Kyoto, Wazuka and Fuji Five Lakes. Take a look at the 2017 Cherry Blossom Tour Trip report to see more from our tour of Japan during cherry blossom season. Want to visit Japan during cherry blossom season with Japan Photo Guide? The 2018 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan for photographers has limited spaces available, book now!