Challenge Your Eye

Wonderful Street Shooting Experience! I loved my street tour with Lukasz! We spent several hours walking and shooting all kinds of street scenes. This was a private tour, tailor made to my interests. I could not have accomplished this much in as little time when visiting a city such as Tokyo on my own. He was very accommodating and I got nudged out of my comfort zone just a tad which was very worthwhile. It would be very easy to stay “stuck” where we are comfortable but this was a fantastic way of experiencing photography, boosting my confidence up a notch. Thank you!

Highlight of my time in Japan! I met Lukasz for the Bespoke Tour of Tokyo late in the afternoon. For the next 6 hours, we traveled all over the city and we took various types of photos. Some were abstract from the cool interiors of office buildings near my hotel. We got some great street photos on a busy Friday evening and even used a tripod to get some light trails from a bridge. Even though my group tour was going to Senso-ji Shrine the next day, I really wanted to shoot there at night so Lukasz and I traveled there on the subway. So glad we did! I loved the images I took there and I learned more from Lukasz about the temple and shrine there than I did the next day. Lukasz is super knowledgeable about the temples, shrines, and culture as he has lived there for 15 years. Even though I am an experienced photographer, I learned a lot from Lukasz. I really enjoyed his company and I got some amazing shots! It was totally worth the money and was something I really could not have done on my own. One of the highlights of my time in Japan!

I had the pleasure of a totally bespoke tour of the back alleys of various parts of nighttime Tokyo with EYExplore professional Charles. I can’t praise this experience enough. Firstly, Charles is an experienced photo pro with a complete knowledge of the art and a huge arsenal of tips and tricks he readily shares. Having been a shooter for years, I can honesty say I learned a lot from Charlie.

Second, after a discussion of what I was looking for image-wise, Charles put together a fantastic tour starting in my hotel lobby in Shinagawa where we met and then we hit a TON of off-the-beaten-path areas with fantastic photographic appeal. From tiny back alleys to marketplaces, to above-the street perspectives and unique rainy night opportunities.

Lastly, the tour was thorough. We trained and walked for hours, had great conversations and Charles’ quirky sense of humor kept it lively the whole time. I was happily exhausted at the conclusion lat in the night. I will totally book another bespoke tour on my next visit.

We had a great experience with EYExplore in Tokyo and Osaka. We booked 4 different itineraries with 3 different photographers (Lukasz, Lee and Axel) and each one gave us an amazing experience. We not only saw areas of each city we would never have known about and got amazing photographs but we learned a lot about Japanese culture from each of our photographers. As photographers ourselves, we loved seeing these cities through the lens of local photographers who appreciated the beauty and artistry of the Japanese way of life as much as we did. we would highly recommend EYExplore for any trip to Japan … even if all you have is a cell phone. These guys can show you a Japan that no guidebook can.

I did the Tokyo Night tour, the Temples of Tokyo tour, and the Temples of Kyoto tour. These should really be called workshops since Lukasz, Axel, and Charles spent a lot of time helping me to understand my camera settings, the unique composition opportunities at each location, and encouraged me to experiment to achieve new results.

My background: Hobby photographer. Self taught, reading lots of blogs. Never had any formal photography workshops or classes before EYExplore. Shooting on a Sony A6000 with the kit wide angle and kit zoom lens.

I appreciated all three tours, and each one has a different flavor.

In Kyoto the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, so Axel did a great job of altering his usual tour to really focus in on the cherry blossoms. as a result i have some awesome shots of cherry blossoms + shrines! We focused on the 55-210mm lens.

In the temples of tokyo tour I asked charles to focus more on the typical temples route plus some street photography since i felt i had already gotten great cherry blossom shots with Axel. Charles has an excellent set of shots on this tour, and does a great job showing how the photographer can get involved to make the scene into what they want vs. passively capturing what is already there. We split time between the 18-50mm and the 55-210mm lenses.

In the Tokyo Night tour, Lukasz was amazing and worked with my schedule to start the tour pretty far away from his normal location. He has an EXCELLENT library of locations to choose from, and i think each location yielded me a once in a lifetime shot. I really appreciated that he took the time to make sure i got a sharp, well exposed shot in each location before moving on – night photography is iterative, and he really knows what is possible at each location. A few locations took up to a dozen tries before he was happy with the result. I also appreciated that Lukasz was already familiar with my specific camera model and knew how to adjust the settings to get the shot. We exclusively used the 18-50mm lens, almost always wide open.

Overall, i would highly recommend any EYExplore tour to any photographer at any level. Their team will work with you to get great shots and introduce you to really cool areas of the city you might not otherwise explore.

年末に友人３人と”東京ストリート”に参加しました。ストリートフォトには興味がありましたが、ワークショップに参加したのはこれが初めてです。私は東京生まれの日本人ですが、ストリーォトのロケーションとしてファインダーを通して東京の街を見るのは実に新鮮な体験でした。１０ヵ所以上のポイントで、場所の特徴を生かした実践的なテクニックを教えていただき、今まで自分では撮ったことのない様な素晴らしい写真を沢山持ち帰ることができました。ストリートフォトに興味がある方に是非お勧めします。

This was my first trip to Tokyo and wanted to be sure to take home some memorable photos. But not just any simple snapshots.. I wanted to photos that I could show my friends and have a big wow factor! 🙂 I met up with my instructor Lukasz for the Tokyo night time tour. I am extremely satisfied with my experience. Lukasz was able to take me to some very locations in Shinjuku and Shibuya. He provided me very tips on using my tripod as well as setting up the shots… not just exposure, but the best usage of shuttle speed to capture the trailing lights of cars as well as people. I also really appreciated his explanations on composition options for the shots. This tour gave both a great learning experience for my photography as well as providing me with the nice photos to take home and share with friends and family! Thank you Lukasz!!!

This was my second EYEplore photography tour (after participating in the ‘Tokyo By Night’ tour with Lukasz last year) and, again, it was value for money and a very informative and enjoyable way to brush up on my photography skills, and visit some off the beaten track areas of Tokyo. Charles (a very personable Melburnian!) was my guide and, at all times, he was very patient in explaining technical issues and reviewing and advising on my photos. My only regret is not doing the tour at the beginning of the trip, as I could have employed my new found photography knowledge and skills for the duration of my entire holiday! Thanks again Charles and EYEplore for a great experience!

I did 2 tours with EYExplore and enjoyed both of them. Very friendly and helpful. It was fun to be taking photos with a group of like minded people. A welcome break from solo travelling.

This is a long-overdue review of the two-day personalized photo tour my husband and I took with EYExplore in Tokyo (Metropolis) in February 2018.

Undoubtedly, both Axel and Lukasz are amazing photographers and teachers. But what really sets these two apart from the multitude of good photographers out there is their intuitive ability to identify placements, timings, and locations that result in the amazing images photographers dream of. The photographs we took during this tour were beyond anything we could have achieved on our own simply by spending ten days photographing the popular sights of Tokyo. The images we captured were only possible through Axel and Lukasz’ intimate knowledge of the city, commitment to studying the locations on offer, and incredible eye for candid shots.

Axel and Lukasz also know what they’re doing in terms of business, their target audience, and the fact that a ton of photographers or photography enthusiasts use social media. They tapped into this expertise to deliver a workshop that featured fantastic street photography opportunities of temples and other sights that would look impressive on Instagram while teaching us powerful shortcuts and user secrets that helped us to use our DSLR cameras better.

We loved our experience with EYExplore (particularly the subway shots and Inari After Dark) and would recommend it for novice and more seasoned photographers alike. Axel and Lukasz will help you to better use a super sophisticated camera or create impressive images using just your iPhone. If you complete this tour, you will not be disappointed; you will leave Japan with a portfolio of fantastic images that would otherwise be virtually impossible to shoot in a short period of time without deep knowledge of the city.

EYExplore provides photographer-centric tours of Tokyo, with skill levels from beginner to professional. For beginners, they teach basic camera operations so that you will get the most of the walkaround tour of beautiful places. For professionals, they have extensive experience in the area, perfect for getting suggestions on shooting places and new ideas for your new project. They also tell you what you need to get the most out of the tour, and do not hesitate to answer questions you may field. Cameras of all kinds can be taken on these tours, and the guides will take extra care that you are safe and comfortable during your session.

Great tours! Learned so much and my photos from Tokyo reflect the patient, expert input. Four tours – two days – a lot of walking and photo snapping. I’m proud of my photos (took shots I never knew I could or even THOUGHT possible) and my progress in both the art and technique of photography. Many thanks Lukasz for believing I could when I wasn’t sure, for explaining things as many times as needed to ‘get the shot right’, for changing the way I see the world through the lens and for making everyone on our night tour feel pretty darned amazing in the cold and rain as we produced great photographs. Thanks!!! I’ll be back for Vertigo, Kyoto and Osaka.

Fantastic tour with a really knowledgeable guide. As a complete photography novice, Stéphane taught me a lot about how to use my camera better, including explaining the different modes (aperture priority, shutter priority etc.) and what kind of settings I should use in what circumstances. He was also clearly really familiar with Tokyo as he led me around the city really easily, going to different parts in order to take different types of pictures. Highly recommended.