Postcard from Japan - Kyoto

Highlights from my one day in Kyoto. I want to return and spend much longer in this fascinating city. But even with just one day you can see such a diverse range of places.

Fushimi Inari Shrine - I would like to go back and take my time to be able to find a new way of photographing this well known and well photographed shrine.

There are lots of smaller shrines along the walk. This particular shrine caught my attention as I loved the dark shadows and flickering candles.

Fushimi Inari Shrine. The Japanese and photographers love repetition.

Nijo Castle - exploring the details of the castle

Nijo Castle - so many textures in one shot

Nijo Castle gardens - shape, form and symmetry

Otagi Nenbutsu-Ji Temple - over a thousand individual statues hidden in the hills of Kyoto. An image to show the diverse faces.

Otagi Nenbutsu-Ji Temple - an image to show the detail of one face

Saga Toriimoto Preserved Street. A balance of vertical and horizontal lines, man-made and organic, with a scattering of autumn leaves for colour.

Saga Toriimoto Preserved Street - I loved both the detail on the roof and on the light

Bamboo forest - play of light on individual bamboo trunks, fencing and stairs

Kiyomizu-dera Temple - layers of interest

Kiyomizu-dera Temple - ancient and modern

Postcard from Japan - Mt Fuji

Mt Fuji has attracted millions of tourists, climbers, artists and poets. How could I capture such an iconic symbol of Japan in a new and interesting way?

For this image I waited for the canoes to move across the lake

I walked a little off to one side, away from the main tourist path. I liked seeing Mt Fuji with the almost bare trees and the city laid out beneath.

A visit to the UNESCO heritage listed village of Oshino. Mt Fuji in the distance, bare branches, reflections of visitors.

Sun setting over Oshino

My favourite image of Mt Fuji sitting at the end of a busy street

Postcard from Japan - Tokyo Highlights

I was lucky enough to visit friends living in Tokyo in December 2022. We visited so many different neighbourhoods in Tokyo, some traditional, some modern, all fascinating in their own way. I thought I would share some of my favourite photos from Tokyo and why I chose them.

The photo above is from the Hie Jinja Shrine. The Shrine is located on the top of a hill between the neighbourhoods of Akasaka and Nagatacho. To leave the shrine we walked out the back exit through the 90 bright red torii gates. The sun came out at just the right moment and lit the centre of the steps leading down. Sometimes you are just lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

From the traditional to the ultra modern. I was on this train going out to Tokyo Bay. As you can see there is no driver. I love the leading lines and perspective. I had taken a number of photos but they had no real interest. It was when the young boy came and stood beside me that the image came to life.

Back street, Minato City. Wherever I travel I love taking photos of normal street scenes. I love the symmetry of this image as well as it’s raw quality.

Koi pond, New Otani Hotel. The garden at the New Otani Hotel with its bridges, Zen garden, ponds and waterfall is beautiful. I like that this looks like I have combined two images when it was a single capture. The position of the koi and the reflections of the almost bare trees gives a feeling of moving water and the cold of winter.

As I was leaving the Imperial Palace Gardens I took this image. I edited this image to change the tone and bring out a cinematic quality.

The next three, very different, images are all about capturing landscape and people. This photo was taken at Senso-ji Temple, Tokyo. I wanted to capture the scale of the temple (vast) and the number of visitors (large).

The famous Shibuya crossing. I took many long exposure photos waiting for one where someone stood still while all around people are moving.

teamLab Planets, Tokyo. This immersive art installation is amazing. Truly immersive as at times you walk through water, through flowers and are surrounded by images and lights. When the two men stopped in the pools of light I thought it would make a good image combining repetition and reflection.

Paper wishes or fortunes called O-mikuji. These wishes are tied to trees or a fence to ‘tie your wish to the life force of the tree’ hoping it will make your wish come true. I love capturing small, important details.

Tokyo Skytree. The Skytree captured from a different angle that emphasises the construction and shape of the viewing platform.