Candid
Street Photography
Tradition
What’s the Story?
Kyoto—a city of quaint streets and picturesque avenues line with wooden houses from a time gone by. The denizens of the city still embody this old-fashioned existence. Their passion for their own heritage is embodies in their fashion and mannerisms. The city’s temples are not mere mausoleums to something long gone, but are living, breathing monuments to the spirit of the city that is Kyoto.
What We’ll Shoot
We will learn how to photograph humanity and life in the famed old streets of Kyoto. You will learn the most effective camera settings and techniques for capturing moments on the fly. We will also practice approaching people and asking them to pose for our cameras, in particular those wearing beautiful kimono, bright splashes of color and elegant patterns.
Where We’ll Explore
We will begin our journey at a quiet temple not too far from Kiyomizu-dera. The road to the famed temple atop the hill we will take us through a quiet but sprawling cemetery, filled with somber stone monoliths, a silent city testament to Kyoto’s past. This will serve as a poetic contrast to the bustling streets of Ninenzaka, filled with life. Finally, we will end our journey into the past on the calm back streets of Gion.
Elisha990 –
Thank you to Paul for his invaluable tips on this afternoon tour walking around Gion. Paul worked hard to challenge me to see things through news eyes and a different perspective. He gave me tips from both an aesthetic and technical perspective and enhanced my understanding of the capabilities of the camera. At the same time I learnt about his experience of living in Kyoto and history of the city. He encouraged and challenged me to approach strangers to see if I could take their photo – which definitely was a helpful strategy to improve my photos. I would really recommend this tour. Thank you also to Lukasz who helped with behind the scenes logistics.
ron132014 –
It was a wonderful experience photo documenting Kyoto with Axel. He was very helpful and provided useful tips for taking different perspectives. Axel is well versed with finer details of photography and his critics were useful in pushing my limit and coming out of my comfort zone and trying new ideas.
Joanne M –
A “must do” in Kyoto! Axel is an extremely strong teacher and Kyoto guide who works with the spontaneity of the environment, people and culture along the walking tour while critically providing tips for use of the camera settings. He shows you the best angles, composition, lighting, subject matter and overall emotion the photos can evoke. In the few hours we were together, I was so pleased with the walk around Gion and the improvements I made with my own photography. I truly value the learning experience and highly recommend this walking tour of Kyoto!
samirmishra –
We went to the back alleys of Gion and were able to photograph a real Geisha. The instructors are very helpful and you can see they are very passionate about photography.
Avi –
I did the Tokyo night tour with Lukasz and Memoirs of Kyoto with Axel. It was a lot of fun, informative, and there were some great pictures (still processing the pictures from the trip). Thank you Lukasz and Axel
Alessa106 –
This is my second session with axel (the first was memories of Kyoto) learned a lot and took some amazing shots. Axel knows his way around the city and with the locals very well, which made it really easy for me to just focus on what I wanted to do.
TG119 –
I booked the Kyoto Photo walk after doing one of EyExplore’s Tokyo workshops. As a fairly new photographer, I learned so much and have a wonderful portfolio of photos from Kyoto that I never would have taken on my own. Don’t hesitate to book any of EyExplore’s Photo Adventures. I’ve now done 4 of them and they were all equally amazing.
Bianca V –
Amazing two hours in Kyoto with a guide willing to give the best tips for street photography. Axel seems relentless with the light, the different angles, the observation of the decisive instant. I highly recommend this photowalk.
Donna P –
Had a great time on this tour with Axel as my guide. I learned a lot about composition and subject framing, and different ways of looking at the photos I intend to take, so as to end up with something unique to my visit. Some of the photos were of other visitors who were dressed in gorgeous authentic kimonos, and Axel was able to ask them if they were willing to be the subject my photos, while also getting a unique perspective for their own photos. Thoroughly enjoyable for us all. Wasn’t quite fast enough to get many photos of the traditional Geiko in the Gion district, but certainly not for the lack of trying on Axel’s part! I had a great time on this tour, and learned so much! I would definitely recommend this for learners wanting to know a bit more about photography or for those just wanting to brush up on some skills, or even to see more of the less touristy parts of Kyoto.
Javeer P –
I had a very special time on the EYExplore Kyoto tour where we went to Kiyomizu Dera and Fushimi Inari. My host Axel was able to share a really fresh perspective of capturing these historic places on camera in ways that I hadn’t thought about before and took me to many spots I’d likely have missed on my own. It was so fun to capture other visitors dressed in their stunning kimonos after Axel had politely asked them permission. On this tour I also learned about using light trails in my photography and it’s something I’m going to enjoy doing much more of in the future. Thoroughly enjoyable for anyone interested in photography. Thanks EYExplore!