Over a decade ago, when EYExplore got started, we only had three Photo Adventures available. The choice was simple: night cityscapes, architecture, or street photography. But over the years we have greatly diversified our offerings. We feel our approach to photography workshops is quite unique, and our way of creating thematic photo tours, which we call ‘Photo Adventures’, is also quite unique. But with all this choice comes a dilemma: how do you choose the right photo adventure for you?
Private Session or Shared Session?
Currently, most of EYExplore’s Photo Adventure are Private Sessions. This means that once you book the session, it’s only for you and your party, on one else can book. The party size we allow varies a bit, but generally it’s up to 4 people. However, due to the popularity of our night workshop, Tokyo Cyberpunk Streets, we only offer it as Shared Session. When you book a shared photo tour with us you can add a +1 within the same price. The other shared session we offer is Tokyo Metropolis, our daytime street photography and architecture workshop.
Photo Adventures for all Skill Levels
EYExplore Photo Adventures are designed to be fun, educational, and challenging for all levels of photographers. Whether you’re a pro who has been shooting since the heyday of film photography or a fresh photographer who just picked up their iPhone last week, we have something for you. Since our workshops are mostly private sessions, we can easily customize them to be appropriate for your level and gear selection. To make this even easier, we mark the particularly newbie friendly workshops as ‘phone friendly‘ but really nearly all of them can be joined with just a phone and any level of skill. We are here to coach you and make sure you learn and have fun through photography!
Photo Adventures of all Shapes and Sizes
The most important choice to make when booking our photo adventures is the theme. What interests you? What kind of photography do wish to master? What kind of neighborhoods would you like to explore? To help answer these questions we have a few broad categories into which we can group our workshops (some photo adventures fit into more than one category).
Street Photography Workshops
Street photography workshops are all about candid photos of people going about their daily life. On these workshops we tend to cover the most ground while working on a variety of approaches to shooting, both straight-forward and creative out-of-the-box concepts. We work on composition and timing while always hunting for the decisive moment.
- Tokyo Cyberpunk Streets
- Tokyo Metropolis
- Tokyo Soul
- Kyoto Street Life
- Osaka Cyberpunk Streets
- Osaka Urban Pulse
- Lost Streets of Osaka
- In the Mood for Hong Kong
- and more…
Night Photography Workshops
Night photography workshops take on low-light shooting in a variety of ways. On some photo workshops we use tripods to do long exposure shots of the city, often incorporating some motion such as car light trails. However, some workshops focus on night street photography, taking on a candid approach. These photo adventures tend to be a little more technically demanding but are still friendly to all levels of photographer.
- Tokyo Cyberpunk Streets
- Tokyo By Night
- Tokyo Vertigo
- Osaka Cyberpunk Streets
- Night Streets of Kyoto
- Inari After Dusk
- Osaka Neo-Noir Streets
- Ghosts of Hong Kong
Architecture and Form Photo Workshops
On these photo workshops we spend more time exploring creative compositions in architectural spaces, focusing on form and geometry. However, none of these are purely about architecture. On all of these photography workshops we also spend a significant amount of time on candid street photography.
Retro and Tradition Photo Workshops
Photography workshops that emphasize the old school traditional life. On these photo adventures we avoid the glitz and neon of the metropolis and instead wander into the areas where locals really spend their time. Primarily dealing with street photography, on these photo tours we seek out candid, decisive moments.
- Temples of Tokyo
- Tokyo Old Town
- Lost Streets of Osaka
- Kyoto Street Life
- Kyoto Zen Temples
- Mystic Paths of Kyoto
- Geisha Studio
Urban Landscape Photo Workshops
Photography workshops on which we use tripods from specific vantage points to capture sweeping, epic views of the urban landscape. On these photo adventures we emphasize technical skill with the cameras, as well as composition and framing.
Portraiture Photo Workshops
Some of our photography workshops take place in private studio places. Here we have control over lighting, setting, and most importantly the model. These photo adventures are less about exploring the city, and more about exploring creative directions in an intimate studio setting.
Custom Photo Workshops
Bespoke vs Omakase?
In addition to the various themes, we have two special categories of Photo Adventures: Bespoke and Omakase. Bespoke Photo Workshops are 5-hour customized photo adventures. They are typically a remix of two or three of our thematic photo adventures. You tell us what you want and we come up with a 5-hour plan of locations and subjects.
Omakase Photo Workshops are also customized, but you can think of them as a “chef’s special.” This means you book the date and time, and your instructor will customize it based on their interests. This is also the only workshop on which you can request a particular photographer to be your guide.
What’s a Signature Photo Workshop?
EYExplore’s team of photographers has grown over the years and represents a diverse range of styles and approaches to photography. Some of our team members are working for EYExplore full-time and know the routes of all our mainstay photo adventures. But we also work with photographers who specialize in one workshop that is representative of their specific style or interest. We call these ‘Signature Photo Workshops‘.
- Urban Geometry — Laurence Bouchard
- Tokyo Old Town — Lee Chapman
- Osaka Neo-Noir Streets — Richard Stewart
- Daikoku Night Run — Adam Benedicto
- Neon Studio Workshop — Deniz Demir
- In the Mood for Hong Kong — Tom Bugatti
- Ghosts of Hong Kong — Tom Bugatti
Photo Workshops in Japan and Beyond?
EYExplore started in Tokyo over a decade ago, soon after expanding to Kyoto and Osaka. But we have dreams to keep growing our presence around the globe. And recently we took our first step outside of Japan: Hong Kong! We hope to see you there!
