Photographer in Japan | 日本の写真家

Pre-wedding photography in Tokyo

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:51 +0900

I am making a little time to go back over stuff I've shot in the past few months and get it online and in my portfolio. Sometimes it's hard to spend so much time doing this. Once the job is finished, it's on to the next one....

This was from a shoot I did with a couple from Hong Kong, who were in Tokyo for a trip around the time of their wedding. Lovely couple and we had a lot of fun travelling around various spots in town shooting photos.

It's something I get a fair few enquiries for a year, the pre-wedding photographs in Tokyo. Always good fun to get out on the streets and shoot with two willing models, especially when one has a wedding dress tucked up underneath her tracksuit... ready to whip out whenever necessary! :-)

Nikon D700
Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 AF-D

Mushroom-cloud over Tokyo

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 23:24 +0900

It's ok... it's just a mushroom-shaped cloud

"Controversial installation artist tampers with Tokyo sky to make a point about nuclear disarmament'.

Well, maybe not... but it sounded more interesting than 'clouds at sunset shot from my balcony'

Funny the stuff you see somedays. Reason 1 for always having a camera on me.

Nikon D700
Nikkor 20mm f/3.5 AiS
Landscape Picture Control
HDR from a single RAW, processed in Photomatix and then Photoshop.

Mambo fish, Tsukiji fishmarket, Tokyo

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:47 +0900

Had an early morning photowalk around Tsukiji with some buddies yesterday morning and this fella popped out and was just begging to have his photo taken.

The fish was about 3ft across and selling for 30,000Yen. Apparently it tastes like crap. Or at least it does to the Japanese palette, hence the price.

Tsukiji was a nightmare yesterday; full of tourists who obviously don't read the rules of the place or have any common-sense whatsoever. No wonder they try and ban people from time to time. I would.

It's why I always wear a prominent, Japanese badge that says I am a professional photographer. It separates me out from the hoardes of dickheads who dont respect the place.

Notes for tourists:

Engage brain.
Look over your shoulder 100% of the time or you will either get run over or be in someone's way.
This is a working market not a theme-park.
Dont touch anything, even the stuff in the bins. Everything gets used for food.
Dont bring suitcases and then wheel them around narrow aisles. Find a locker at the station and leave them there, like normal people do.
Remember that you are in the workers' 'office'. Just try and imagine what it would be like to have thousands of disrespectful tourists gawking at you doing your work and then you will begin to understand what the people at Tsukiji have to put up with.
Learn the Japanese for 'can I take a photo please?', hello, good-morning and some other basic pleasantries. It will go a long way to warming the people up when you are there.

End of lecture.

Nikon D700
High Contrast Colour 1 picture control
Three separate shots.
Tamron 14mm f/2.8

Spent fireworks [hanabi], Miwakisahima, Tokyo

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 08:07 +0900

All from the 'The World at my Feet' photowalk I did with some folk last weekend.

Full write-up, map of route etc here:
japanorama.co.uk/2010/08/09/photography-workshops-the-wor...

Nikon D700
75-150mm f/3.5 E

Smoking area with ashtray: Sojiji Temple, Tsurumi

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:43 +0900

Venue for a photowalk in the autumn. Great place to visit. Full article and loads of shots here:

japanorama.co.uk/2010/08/10/sojiji-temple-tsurumi/

Nikon D700
Nikkor 50mm f/1.2Ai

Skinny kitten; Sojiji Temple, Tsurumi

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 01:56 +0900

Took a walk around the massive Sojiji Temple complex in Tsurumi yesterday morning. My friend Meg used to love [live, Ed.] near there and recently took a load of shots around the area. Joe and I met up with her to do a little research as I'd like to do a photowalk around here in the autumn when the leaves turn.

This little fella found us on our way out. His mum was worriedly mewing nearby.

Nikon D700
Straight out of camera
Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 Ai
Custom Nikon Picture Control "Dark Sepia" applied in-camera.

Download all my Nikon picture controls here:
japanorama.co.uk/2010/04/28/nikon-picture-controls/

Matsuri [street festival] in Yaesu, Tokyo

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:38 +0900

Back in June I was wandering around the Yaesu side of Tokyo station, sort of between Yaesu, Ginza and Nihombashi. Stumbled across this street festival [matsuri] right in the business district of that part of town.

This fella was taking a break from carrying that huge mikoshi [portable shrine].

Nikon D700
Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 AiS

Shot to black and white in-camera
Setting: Monochrome-02

japanorama.co.uk/2010/04/28/nikon-picture-controls/

Kappabashi streets and Sky Tree view: Tokyo, Japan

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 12:59 +0900

Shot these two the other week on a walk/lesson I did with a student. We stuck ourselves in this little side-street for a few minutes as it had an interesting view of the new Sky Tree tower, which everyone was tending to look at when they passed. I often do this sort of thing to either get people to look in a certain direction or past me at something behind me. People are curious. They tend to look at certain things; down streets, at screens, at bright things. If you stand in the right place, you can get them to look just where you want. :-)

Nikon D700
Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 Ai @ f/1.2
Focused to 3m on the lens and shot from the hip.

Custom Nikon Picture Control 'Monochrome 02'

japanorama.co.uk/2010/04/28/nikon-picture-controls/

School's out for summer!: Hammamatsucho, Tokyo

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:05 +0900

Shot this whilst doing an excercise with a student the other day, where we were shooting pre-focused at 3metres and shooting from the hip. We were crossing and re-crossing the zebra-crossing by Hammamatsucho station, as the light under the bridge there is always superb, streaming in from the west side of the bridge and lighting people on one side so well.

Love the slight up-angle I get when shooting vertical, with the camera just held down by the side of my leg. Especially with kids, as you are on their eye-line which makes all the difference from the usual perspective of shooting from the head, where you are always looking down on people. You gotta be on the money with regard to framing and timing. But, practice makes perfect.

Minimal editing to this, just to clone out the very burned-out outline of a lady at top right. The crop is straight out of the camera.

Black and white done in-camera using my 'Monochrome-02' picture control.

japanorama.co.uk/2010/04/28/nikon-picture-controls/

Nikon D700
Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 Ai @ f/2
Focus set to 3m, shot from the hip... well, from down by the side of my right leg actually :-)

Guarding Ginza: This reminded me of Monty Python

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:37 +0900

...the sketch where Eric Idle goes up to John Cleese, who is dressed as a policeman, and says... after a suitably comedic pause: "So, erm, you, erm, wanna come back to my place then"

To which Cleese just nonchantly replies:

"Yeah, OK then..."

... and off they walk.

Dunno why it reminded me of that. Guess it was just the way the guard on the left was looking at the other one.

Car in the background is annoying but the fella only turned to his right for a split-second.

Whole slideshow from this walk and street shooting workshop I did last Sunday, here:

japanorama.co.uk/2010/06/30/tokyo-blanc-et-noir-ginza/

Nikon D700
Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 Ai @ f/1.2
Shot straight to black and white using my Monochrome-2 picture control for Nikon.
You can download all of my custom picture controls here:

japanorama.co.uk/2010/04/28/nikon-picture-controls/