Tokyo Photo Workshop: Diverse Locations
Tokyo Photo Workshop
This past week was a busy one with five workshops over three days. Two full-day workshops and three three-hour ones. I love teaching for different reasons. The short ones are fun, but they come with high pressure to get the shots, while the full-day ones provide a greater opportunity to get to know the clients better.
I share my favourite Tokyo street photography locations and the best spots at each location with my clients. I love seeing them get something great. The look on their face always makes me smile. Happiness is contagious. What I love the most is seeing that they created something different from what I would have, despite having shot that spot many times over.
This week, I visited the Tokyo International Forum, Akihabara, Ueno, Sensoji, Akabane, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Meiji Jingu, Harajuku, and the Tokyo Dome. Some were for a quick stop, others we spent hours at. These locations are both a collection of my favourites and the needs and desires of my attendees.
We camped out in manual mode and walked around shooting in a way that was comfortable for each individual. The main lesson is always about pre-visualization. See it, then shoot, see again, shoot it again. The advanced photographers were asked to see it differently, then shoot, see differently again, and shoot once more.
Practicing this at each location becomes a mantra or a form of meditation. The goal is to add reason or purpose to each shutter click. Here, we can explore all the usual suspects: contrast, line, shape, colour, layers, motion, light, and shadow, and so on.
The Pictures:
I rarely shoot with my clients. I use my camera to illustrate my concept, clicking once or twice to convey what I'm saying to them. Once they begin to shoot, I watch. I watch them, but I also keep an eye on the location. I do this to help them by calling out people coming into their frames that may be of interest, as well as to learn. I learn more about each location I visit, I know from clients, from their mistakes, but more from their unique way of shooting.
Below are a couple of my shots from this past week. Enjoy, but don't be too hard on me
As always, I would love to hear your story in the comments below. If you feel so inclined, share a coffee with me. I am a flat white kind of guy. Happy shooting, everyone.
