Photo Tour of Japan | Portrait Session in Kyoto

Jan 23 | Evan | No Comments |

I am going a little out of order from my recent photography tour in Japan with this post here, but this portrait session was such a huge hit with the group, I wanted to go ahead and share it.  After Tokyo and Hokkaido our group travelled to Kyoto.  While the main purpose of this photo tour of Japan was focused around landscapes and nature photography in Japan, I had arranged for two models to wear Kimono clothes and spend some time with us in Kyoto.  The girls rented the clothes from one shop I had used before called Yume Kyoto.  From my past experience, I knew the staff at Yume Kyoto was super friendly and helpful, so it was an easy decision to return to their shop.  Also, I should mention that their shop is conveniently located on the edge of Gion, across the street from Yasaka Shrine.  Yume Kyoto also can do hair and have other options to return the clothes the next day or to your hotel.

For the portrait session, we started out in Maruyama Park then went to Yasaka Shrine before crossing the street over to Gion.  We had a little time left, and with the idea to avoid the crowds that had been joining in on the photos and following us, we went to a small shrine off the Path of Philosophy in Kyoto called Honen-in.  Everyone had a great time and I’m sure next time I plan a group trip to Japan or maybe even for a private custom tour of Japan, I will try to arrange something like this again!

More from this photo tour of Japan is coming soon!  Here is the list of the places we visited and photographed in Japan.

• Shiretoko Five Lakes
• Shiretoko Pass
• Utoro Sunsets
• Furepe Waterfall
• Oshinkoshin Waterfall
• Lake Akan
• Lake Mashu
• Lake Onneto
• Sounkyo Onsen
• Kamikawa Angus Farm
• Ginga Waterfall
• Lake Daisetsuko
• Sounkyo Ropeway
• Oobako
• Blue Pond (Aoi Ikke)
• Shirogane Falls
• Moss Garden Temple (Kokedera)
• Bamboo Forrest in Arashiyama
• Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji)
• Nanzenji
• Fushimi Inari Shrine
• Portrait session with models in kimonos –  You are here!

Interested in your own custom photo tour and experiences in Japan?  Contact Japan Photo Guide today to start your adventure!

Photo Tour of Japan | Shiretoko Five Lakes

Jan 22 | Evan | No Comments |

In September and October of 2013, Japan Photo Guide and PhotoSafari.ru worked together to prepare a tour for photographers from Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania and of course myself from USA.  Including myself, we had 15 photographers touring Japan from Tokyo to Hokkaido to Kyoto.  After spending a few days in Tokyo, our first stop on our trip to Japan was up to the northern island of Hokkaido, Shiretoko Five Lakes, which is part of Shiretoko National Park.  Our group took a flight from Tokyo to Memanbetsu and then bus to Utoro, a small town just outside of Shiretoko National Park on the Shiretoko Peninsula.  We spent a few days at the Shiretoko Grand Hotel in Utoro and overall I was very pleased with the hotel.   Staff was friendly and helpful, rooms were comfortable and convenient and food was good.  No complaints at all for the hotel we stayed in for our base for Shiretoko National Park…

The weather on the other hand, I had a few complaints!  During our first few days, it was mostly rainy and dreary or cloudy.  That being said, we still had a few nice moments of light to create some great landscapes of the Shiretoko area.  In this post I am sharing photos of Shiretoko Five lakes.  The first lake can always be accessed via a raised walkway no matter when you visit, but other lakes have some restrictions, depending mostly on bear sightings and the season.  That is why, before visiting Shiretoko Goko, it is important that you read their information site as depending on the season, there are different procedures for visiting.  For us, we had to attend a short information session before entering the walkway around most of the lakes.

Weather permitting, each lake provides views of Shiretoko Mountain Range.  I have been here twice, once in the summer when ground path was closed due to bear sighting and once in early October where the ground path around the lakes were open to walk.  Unfortunately, the weather was nicer when the ground path was closed, so I only got to visit the first lake that summer day.

More from this photo tour of Japan is coming soon!  Here is the list of the places we visited and photographed in Japan.

• Shiretoko Five Lakes – You are here!
• Shiretoko Pass
• Utoro Sunsets
• Furepe Waterfall
• Oshinkoshin Waterfall
• Lake Akan
• Lake Mashu
• Lake Onneto
• Sounkyo Onsen
• Kamikawa Angus Farm
• Ginga Waterfall
• Lake Daisetsuko
• Sounkyo Ropeway
• Oobako
• Blue Pond (Aoi Ikke)
• Shirogane Falls
• Moss Garden Temple (Kokedera)
• Bamboo Forrest in Arashiyama
• Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji)
• Nanzenji
• Fushimi Inari Shrine
• Portrait session with models in kimonos

Interested in your own custom photo tour and experiences in Japan?  Contact Japan Photo Guide today to start your adventure!

Interview on Live w/ Katie Adler

Mar 03 | Evan | No Comments |

Another exciting event that happened in February was that I was asked to be on Live w/ Katie Adler, a voice over artist in Tokyo, Japan, that works for NHK and many other clients.  I was really excited about talking with Katie about how I ended up in Japan, going from North Carolina, then Miami then to Tokyo and how I was able to turn some of my passions, photography, meeting new people and Japan, into what is basically my dream job:  guiding visitors around Japan to help them really experience and always remember Japan.

If you want to listen to the interview, you can click the link below to stream it or right click the link and choose “save link as” to download and listen at your convenience.  The entire interview about Japan and how I started giving private tours of Japan is about an hour long:

Evan Pike Live w/ Katie Adler

And just because it doesn’t feel right to write a post about Japan without showing a photo from Japan, here is a photo from Roppongi Hills Tower in Tokyo.

2013 Cherry Blossom Forecast

Mar 02 | Evan | No Comments |

Every February brings (at least) 2 great things related to traveling to Japan:  The Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido and the first sakura (or cherry blossom) forecast for Japan.  If you plan on visiting Japan during cherry blossom season, head over to the Japanese National Tourism Organization (JNTO) site for some great information.

Like the with the weather, predicting when the cherry blossom trees will be in full bloom is not 100% accurate, but usually it is within a few days.  Once the cherry blossoms are out, typically they can about a week or so, depending on the type of cherry blossom tree, size, location and weather during bloom.  After the sakura start to bloom, one strong windy and rainy day can shorten the length the cherry trees are in “full bloom.”  In any case, check out this graphic from the JNTO website or if you can read Japanse, you can go to tenki.jp directly where the JNTO gets their forecast.

JNTO’s Cherry Blossom Forecast:

Have vacation in March?  Let’s go to Japan!

 

There is still some space for a private custom tour of Japan with Japan Photo Guide!  Wanna take a last minute trip or hire me to come along on your already planned trip?  Contact me today!

Can’t make it to Japan to see the cherry blossoms?  For information about the cherry blossom forecast in Washington DC, here is a great place to get some information about the cherry blossom trees there.

 

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