The Vibrant Reds of Japan

In November 2023 I spent a number of weeks in Japan in autumn. It wasn’t my first time visiting, but it surely had been nearly 10 years since my final go to. And I by no means visited throughout the peak of autumn. I used to be invited by my buddy Daniel Kordan to co-guide a tour with him and determined to spent some days earlier than and after to discover some extra locations and take some extra pictures for myself. Those that know me know I really like color in my pictures, and Japan was the proper place to discover my model: vibrant reds, oranges and yellow. There have been stunning colors in all places and among the most stunning autumn colors I had seen. It was merely magical.

I used to be hypnotised by the great thing about the maple timber and the main points within the vibrant autumn leaves. And I used to be fascinated by the great thing about Mount Fuji, that I attempted to {photograph} from many angles. It’s simply such a particular mountain that mainly stands in the course of nowhere. You possibly can see it very nicely from each angle round, and a few homes in villages close by have spectacular views proper from their home windows.

Subsequent to the sweetness, I actually loved Japanese tradition and meals. The extraordinarily quiet ambiance in some distant locations, little teahouses and cute stays the place you may simply really feel utterly relaxed. After which genuine wholesome meals with nice style. Little homes with house homeowners simply cooking for you for a particularly reasonable worth. I beloved all of it.

In these picture sequence I’m portraying Japan how I skilled it. I visited Tokyo & environment, The Mount Fuji Space, Matsumoto, Kyoto, Osaka and Koyasan. I solely simply scratched the floor and I’m very a lot trying ahead to exploring extra.

I hope you benefit from the sequence and tales!

It is morning like these that I like most about pictures: Virtually no wind, the silence, a little bit little bit of fog on the water and seeing by the water with the final autumn leaves beneath. I took this picture with a polariser to see by the water. This was about 45 minutes earlier than dawn with an attractive twilight glow within the sky.

A spectacular morning close to Kyoto. The solar simply rose, casting an attractive golden gentle over the river and lighting up the orange tree that was on the peak of its autumn colors. For this morning, we had an actual geisha with us that Daniel organized for this morning of the tour. We requested her to be a mannequin in among the stunning autumn places.

A teahouse surrounded by purple maple timber. It was already getting darkish right here and the lights from the teahouse casted a romantic glow, inflicting the purple tree to glow much more. I simply beloved strolling round in locations like this. They’re fairly ‘easy’ scenes when it comes to pictures, however for me they had been very satisfying to see, expertise, and {photograph}. The concord between the orange and purple colors of the tree, with the romantic orange lights and brown wooden on the teahouses was very satisfying.

This is among the most traditional spots to see Mount Fuji from: The Chureito Pagoda. That does not make it any much less stunning. For those who go right here to see the sundown, you are surrounded by a whole lot of individuals. So I made a decision to go throughout a really early morning. I used to be there 2.5 hours earlier than dawn and I used to be on their own. The primary person who got here up strolling arrived about an hour earlier than dawn. It was so peaceable to face right here all on my own, and I used to be shocked by the various stars you may truly see above the town. The sunshine air pollution was truly not that a lot. On this picture, we see the very first alpenglow on Mount Fuji. It is the very first gentle casting an attractive balanced gentle on the panorama.

A tree tunnel with extraordinarily vibrant purple timber. I had by no means seen such a vibrant autumn earlier than. It nearly had an excessive amount of saturation for the digital camera.

Throughout my journey in Japan I acquired hooked on the maple leaves and their particulars. On this place, I noticed a yellow carpet of leaves with some purple maple leaves scatted on it: an important color distinction.

You may discover many Torii gates in Japan. A Torii gate is a standard Japanese gate mostly discovered on the entrance of Shinto Shrine, the place it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred. To me they had been only a stunning topic for pictures. You may discover so many Japanese gardens and temples in Japan, and most of them are simply spectacular throughout autumn. Enjoyable truth about this {photograph}: It was taken with a shutter velocity of 1/third of a second, handheld, to get the waterfall easy, however the mannequin nonetheless sharp. The Picture Stabilisation of the Sony A7RV helped loads on this shot.

In the course of the day, the gorgeous streets of Kyoto are full of vacationers. However we determined to go very early morning when nobody was round. The rain added an additional contact of ambiance to the shot. I really like strolling round in cities early morning or late night, when the crowds are gone and when you may expertise the actual magic of those little streets.

On our manner from Tokyo to Kyoto we visited Matsumoto metropolis. In the course of the town you discover this spectacular black fort. This picture is from early morning when a slight trace of color painted the skies for nearly 10 minutes. These swans had been swimming round within the lake and I caught this one on digital camera mixed with the reflection of the fort.

We discovered some little stunning locations in Japan that had been similar to you had been in a dream. This was certainly one of them: A small pond with unreal turquoise water, surrounded by purple maple timber. And on high of that, it was stuffed with koi fish and a few swans. Not straightforward to seize all of it on digital camera, however I attempted my finest on this picture.

A good looking morning with the primary golden gentle creating a tremendous golden glow on a lake close to Mount Fuji. It was an excellent chilly morning with not a lot wind and when the solar got here up, the steam on the lake as a result of far more seen. On the early morning, the fisherman go on the lake to catch fish. The mix of the golden gentle, first daylight and the fisherman on the lake offers such a magical ambiance.

Right here we see a Japanese backyard close to Kyoto. The autumn colors are deep vibrant purple, in concord with the purple little temples that you simply typically see in these parks. On this season many ladies come to those parks and costume up with their kimono’s and umbrella’s to take pictures of one another.

When strolling by picturesque Japanese villages I have a look at numerous particulars. There are simply so many small issues to see and {photograph} subsequent to the larger photos. Right here I noticed this stunning Japanese lantern on one of many homes, and framed it with a large open aperture from a vibrant purple maple tree.

I actually loved photographing this shot. It was positively not straightforward, and I took many picture to attempt to get the proper framing. This one got here shut sufficient: Mount Fuji reflecting, a fisherman, and the golden gentle framed by orange maple leaves. Maple timber in Japan are usually not tall. You possibly can simply stand subsequent to certainly one of them and level your digital camera by the leaves and attempt to get the proper framing. Nonetheless, this isn’t straightforward in any respect, as a result of the leaves are sometimes transferring. This was shot at 16mm at f/22 aperture. You possibly can see, the foreground leaves are nonetheless out of focus, which means I used to be tremendous near them. However ultimately I actually just like the outcome.

In the course of the autumn season round Mount Fuji it will get extraordinarily crowded with each vacationers and locals. At nearly each maple tree you see dozens of photographers attempting to get the proper angle with Mount Fuji and the colorful maple leaves.

On the finish of our journey we visited Koyasan: a tremendous locations excessive up on the mountains. We had some stunning situations there, together with snow. There have been nonetheless some tiny maple timber with their final purple leaves, creating this stunning distinction between the purple maple leaves, darkish background and white snow.

One other certainly one of my favorite mornings in Japan. Mount Fuji simply obtained recent snow from 2 days in the past. Earlier than that, it didn’t also have a snow cap (that was in November) which is sort of uncommon. On this lake, I discovered a few of these fisherman boats as a foreground. When the solar rose, the fisherman got here and went with them within the lake to catch fish (see the sooner picture within the sequence). However at the moment, about an hour earlier than dawn, I had all of them to myself.

There are such a lot of picturesque villages in Japan. It is also a good way to flee among the greater crowds within the greater cities. Strolling round in these villages, capturing particulars and simply having fun with the ambiance is one thing I typically did in Japan. Right here, we had been with our picture tour and we organised a mannequin in a Samurai outfit to have a enjoyable picture shoot on this village.

The cemetery on Koyasan, a really sacred place in Japan, a number of hours drive from Osaka. The ambiance of this place is tough to explain in picture. It was snowing after we visited and I made a decision to seize numerous particulars when strolling by this big cemetery on this sacred place.

A detailed up shot of mount Fuji, captured from a close-by village at 400mm. I actually favored how a clowd was hugging the highest of the mountain right here.

In Kyoto you’ll find the well-known Bamboo Grove. For those who go right here throughout the day, you will by no means be alone. 1000’s of vacationers visits this place daily. And even for dawn, it is tough. That is not the place you see on the picture above. This can be a barely totally different bamboo place with a pleasant stairs going by it. Similar to the unique bamboo grove (for my part even higher), and with out the crowds.

A peaceful early afternoon at Kawaguchiko lake, with Mount Fuji reflecting within the water and the gorgeous purple maple colors framing round. To get picture like this required some preparation. Someday, I drove throughout the lakes to search out the very best maple timber. At the moment the climate situations weren’t nice and Mount Fuji was not reflecting within the water (would not occur that usually). However I used the time to search out all the great locations and mark the spots. Within the subsequent days, I stayed across the lakes in a resort. I merely waited for the very best climate and shortly drove previous all of the spots to take the photographs I had already deliberate.

The little statues you see on this picture are known as Daruma Dolls. Daruma dolls are seen as a logo of perseverance and good luck, making them a preferred reward of encouragement. The doll has additionally been commercialised by many Buddhist temples to make use of alongside the setting of targets. There are some temples and parks round Osaka the place you’ll find hundreds of those!

Spectacular views on Mount Fuji from villages round. Right here, the final evening hit the highest of the mountain. The timber within the village had their peak autumn colors. And we requested our information monk to pose for us on this spot!

I didn’t solely {photograph} Nature and villages when visiting Japan. On a few of my final days, I loved exploring tiny streets in Tokyo. I made a decision to get a resort at very native space with not many vacationers. There, I wandered round with my digital camera, simply seeing what I might discover. There are such a lot of stunning little streets full of lanterns and atmospheric lights. You may see locals consuming and ingesting inside (or exterior). I wandered round right here for a few hours after which went inside into certainly one of these tiny eating places to eat a scrumptious meal.

Ginko timber turn out to be shiny yellow on their autumn peak. And when the leaves fall, you get a yellow carpet of Ginko leaves. That is simply magical to expertise. On this location, the Ginko tree was at its peak. This place was nice as a result of there was additionally a Torii gate and a little bit park. A small however extraordinarily stunning scene.

One other visualisation of the native evening life in Tokyo. You see numerous nicely dressed males right here. They arrive proper from work and search for a spot to have their dinner. I walked round for a number of hours right here, capturing pictures like this one.

A easy scene of a purple bridge surrounded by autumn colors that caught my eye in one of many many parks round Kyoto. Right here, a lady was posing along with her umbrella for certainly one of her buddies (that is behind the purple timber). I used to be standing on the alternative facet of the lake, capturing the total reflection of the girl and the purple bridge.

This can be a picture of essentially the most well-known Bamboo Grove in Japan, that you’ll find close to Kyoto. I used to be speaking about it earlier within the picture sequence: It will get tremendous crowded throughout the day. For this shoot, we arrived about an hour earlier than dawn to keep away from many of the vacationers. An actual geisha was becoming a member of us for our picture shoot. We had about 15 minutes earlier than many of the vacationers arrived, but it surely was price to get this shot 🙂

This was certainly one of my favorite little alleys when wandering the streets of Tokyo within the night. I simply love the chaos on this little avenue in all places round: pipes, airconditioners, and plenty of neon indicators.

A distinct view of the bamboo stairs from earlier in these sequence. I actually favored to seize it in an excellent large angle view. That is truly a vertical panorama of two photographs to indicate how the trail is main you thru the bamboo timber.

The forest surrounding Mount Koya (Koyasan) in Wakayama, a sacred mountain and temple advanced based by the monk Kobo Daishi, serves as an enormous cemetery. So big, in actual fact, that Okunoin Cemetery, as it’s known as, is the biggest in all of Japan. That is an especially particular sacred place in Japan. Strolling round right here within the night was simply magical, and possibly barely scary 🙂 .

Mount Fuji as seen from a avenue in one of many villages close by. By utilizing an extended lens of about 200mm, you get this angle the place the mountain appears to be like very large in comparison with the road beneath. It makes the whole lot look spectacular. I actually loved strolling round on this village and discovering angles to {photograph} Mount Fuji from.

I hope you loved the visible abstract of my go to to Japan of November 2023. Particular due to my buddy Daniel Kordan, and native information Alex, who isn’t solely an important information but in addition an important mannequin in lots of pictures 🙂 If you’re to affix me in 2024, I’m guiding a tour that you’ll find right here.