2018 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan | Steller’s Eagles Flying

Feb 26 | Evan | No Comments |

After a wonderful (but freezing) time in the 2017 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan, I planned another tour along with Chris Weston Photography.  While the places were mainly the same as last year, we changed the order a little to start with Steller’s Sea Eagles.  Chris is a fantastic wildlife photographer and I was really excited to partner with him again for another trip.  He actually just launched an online master class, I’d recommend taking a look as he is a great teacher and I always learn something from him even if I’m with him for just a few minutes.

Back to our 2018 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan tour though!  The previous year we ended with the Steller’s Sea Eagles but this year we were starting with them.  I love the eagles and the way they fly, sharply turn and perform acrobatics in the air.

In addition to the eagles, there were plenty of seagulls which I also find beautiful in their own way.  Not as dynamic as the eagles in Japan, but I find something about them quite calming and photogenic. Along with Chris Weston, I escorted a small group of wildlife photographers in Japan in search of Japan’s Winter Wildlife. View the 2018 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan Trip Report to see photos of Japanese Snow Monkeys, Red Crowned Crane, Swan, Steller’s Sea Eagles and whatever else we could find!  This is the first post of a few for the Steller’s Sea Eagles, see more in the gallery below!

 

2017 Private Summer Tour of Japan | Portraits and Tea Ceremony with Maiko

Aug 19 | Evan | No Comments |

While traveling to Kyoto for the private and custom tour of Japan, I arranged for a tea ceremony and private portrait session with a real maiko (geiko apprentice) in Kyoto.  I’ve taken her portraits many times before and she is almost finished with her apprenticeship and will be a geiko soon, I think by the time I see her again in the 2018 cherry blossom season in Japan!  It’s been a wonderful experience working with her over the years and seeing her progression through the maiko/geiko culture and profession in Kyoto.

We met our maiko at her tea house for a short tea ceremony and dance performance.  After chatting a little we went to a temple in Kyoto for our portrait session.  Having photographed her before in Kyoto at this temple, I knew some of the poses I wanted to try again and some new poses I wanted to try.  In this sense, photography locations for me can be similar to returning to a restaurant I like in that I know what menu items I already had and enjoyed but interesting in trying something new.

Taking a step back with restaurants in general, even more so when I do tours in Tokyo and Kyoto as I know my favorite restaurants to eat in Japan but there is always a new place I want to try and visit! Back to photography though! Luckily, with photography, especially now it’s digital, I can try as many poses as time permits and get the instant feedback on how the portraits are coming out.  In this case, working with a professional model, our maiko made it hard for us to take bad portraits!

This was actually my first entire portrait session using only my Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and no nikon gear.  After editing in raw and comparing to my portraits of our maiko from the same location last year with my Nikon D750, I’m very pleased with the results!

See more photos below or the full report to see more posts from the custom and private photography tour of Japan.

2017 Private Summer Tour of Japan | Kyoto

Aug 16 | Evan | No Comments |

Kyoto. More than 30 trips to Kyoto since 2004 and I’m still amazed every time I travel to Japan’s old capital.  The mix between modern and traditional Japan is is probably the main reason why Kyoto is my favorite city in the world though it’s always exciting to see what first time visitors to Kyoto will fall in love with.  Everyone comes to Kyoto with high expectations, but somehow tours in Kyoto never disappoint!

Whether it’s the temples and shrines themselves like Golden Pavilion, Nanzenji or Fushimi Inari Taisha, or the nature/gardens within or the food and shopping of Kyoto or the Kyoto arts and crafts or the old style buildings like in Ishibei Koji or Ninenzaka or the bamboo forest in Arashiyama, Kyoto has it all.  Of course then there is Kyoto for photographers….

 

Photographers tend to move at a different pace than normal tourists.  We look at things differently and for longer periods of time and then want to go back to some places for more sometimes!  For a photographer, Kyoto is almost like shooting fish in a barrel.  There are almost too many great opportunities which can be overwhelming at first because there are so many sights to see in a limited time.  While Kyoto does have an extensive bus network and a subway, for efficiency, hiring a car is my preferred way to get around Kyoto and having a car this time certainly helped us to get in as much as possible.  We had four nights in Kyoto, but no matter how many nights in Kyoto, it’s never enough and already looking forward to the next chance I have to spend time photographing and exploring this magical city!

Even after experiencing it a few times, I’m still amazed with the image stabilization on my Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II.  The first two photos in the gallery below of the waterfall were taken at 1/6th of a second and 1/4th of a second, handheld!

See more photos below or the full report to see more posts from the custom and private photography tour of Japan.

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.

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!

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