Back button focus changed how @lkazphoto shoots. No more half-pressing and hoping. Your AF thumb does one thing, your shutter does another, and suddenly everything just clicks.
If you've never tried it, give it a week. You won't go back.
#eyexplore #challengeyoureye #streetphotography #photographytips #backbuttonfocus #learnphotography
Our instructor @albeross often shoots in Nishinari, the unpolished postcard from Japan that never shows up. Graffiti over shutters, vending machines against weathered wood, faded posters next to old signage.
Most people who live here are elderly, going about their morning, and they don't need a camera in their face. By keeping the lens wide and the distance honest, the frames that worked were the ones where the figure was small and the place did the talking.
People don't always have to be the subject, often they're inside the subject. The shotengai itself is the protagonist. #eyexplore #challengeyoureye #Osaka #loststreetsofosaka #urbanphotography #streetphotography
What everyone says about Shibuya Crossing: busiest crossing in the world, organized chaos, sensory overload, neon jungle. All dead on arrival.
Here's what may actually be interesting about it:
The scale inversion. Shibuya is famous for the crowd, but your photos don't have to be about the crowd. Each frame can isolate one person from the thousands. The mask. The cyclist. The umbrella in the rain. You can use the most overwhelming place in Tokyo to photograph solitude. That's real tension.
The 45-second window. The light changes, two thousand people cross, then the cars take it back. You get maybe 45 seconds per cycle. As a photographer you're working against a clock that resets constantly. That's a different kind of pressure than in most streets.
The expectation problem. Everyone arrives at Shibuya knowing what the shot looks like. They've seen it a thousand times before they even land at Narita. The hardest thing here isn't the technical challenge but rather fighting your own preconception of the image long enough to actually see something (hopefully) new. #eyexplore #challengeyoureye #Tokyo #streetphotography #urbanphotography #tokyostreets #nightstreetphotography
We are proud to announce the release of Now is Now Tokyo, a street photography book from @teneuespublishing
The book features four photographers from the team at EYExplore:
@lkazphoto@tokyotimes_lee@laurence__bouchard@charleseyexplore
The book is already out in Europe and will be released in Japan and the US at the end of June.
#streetphotography #street #tokyo #nowisnowtokyo #photobook
When you spend the afternoon wandering aroundHarajuku and Shibuya with no real plan, you might come back home with a memory card full of chaos.
Tokyo is genuinely something else. Cotton candy bigger than your head, two girls in matching outfits carrying half the city in shopping bags, a guy in a blue leotard and red heels casually climbing a lamp post in the middle of traffic like it's Tuesday.
Sometimes street photography takes real work, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes Tokyo does make it easier. The city just throws things at you constantly.
What you need is to have your camera ready without obsessing over getting the shot. The moment you start hunting for it, you miss it. Some days you come back with five keepers, some days nothing. These five frames aren't even from the same day. #eyexplore #photoworkshop #tokyostreets #challengeyoureye #urbanphotography #streetphotography #Tokyo
There is a distinctive charm about Nipponbashi in Osaka.
Sometimes I have the feeling I am walking into a movie from the 90's. The old-style neon lights, the buildings, the characters I meet on the streets.
And the colors, they are so vivid! I love wandering around here at night. It gives a different feeling than Tokyo, that's for sure. A bit more gritty and raw, and old-fashioned compared to the more polished and modern Tokyo streets.
#albeross #eyexplore #sonyalpha #nightstreetphotography #urbanexploration
One of the things we enjoy shooting at EYExplore is scenes with strong, unexpected color combinations.
It sounds simple, but it can be surprisingly challenging. You have to slow down, pay attention, and notice how different colors work together in a frame. Or it can be the complete opposite, meaning you find yourself in front of a scene or a subject that won't be there for another minute, and you have to react fast.
When everything comes together, it’s worth it. Color can completely change the feeling of an image and turn an everyday scene into something much more interesting.
It's a great way to keep photography exciting, isn't it? And Tokyo is an excellent playground for this! #eyexplore #challengeyoureye #Tokyo #photoworkshop #streetphotography #tokyostreets #urbanphotography
Those who have joined our photo adventures in Tokyo with @charleseyexplore , our own Master of Reflections, have experienced first hand how interesting is his way of shooting through mirrors, reflective surfaces and glass.
As he often says, "One thing you have to love about Japan is it's amazing how many places you can find reflections. It's just a matter of looking for them and training yourself to find them. It's always worth placing your camera next to a surface and taking a shot to see what you get and then refining it from there if it has any promise. Alternatively if you find a great scene it's worth checking if there are any reflective surfaces in the area and testing them out."
Book a workshop with him in Tokyo, and see your creativity skills reach new levels. Link in Bio! #eyexplore #challengeyoureye #photoworkshop #Tokyo #streetphotography #tokyostreets #urbanphotography
Back with another tutorial reel with our one and only @lkazphoto ! If you have ever wondered how you can nail photos in any street photography conditions, during the day as well as at night, this is it.
Rest assured, it works with (pretty much) any camera models. We talk about this all the time on our photo adventures in #Tokyo, #kyoto and #Osaka.
#eyexplore #challengeyoureye #tutorials #nightstreetphotography #streetphotography #photoworkshop
There is something about Osaka's nightlife that it's unique.
It's perhaps the unfiltered vibes, the grit and raw character of the people of this city. The streets coming right out of the Showa era, the old-style neon lights. It all comes together in its own evry distinctive way.
Join us on our new Osaka Cyberpunk Streets workshop in Osaka with our instructor @albeross and experience the a city that is waiting to be discovered. Check our new workshops on our website, link in bio! #eyexplore #neonlights #streetphotography #nightstreetphotography #photoworkshop #challengeyoureye #O
This January passed my 10th anniversary since quitting my former day job and doing EYExplore full time. Back when I quit it felt like a huge risk. This workshop business could have gone nowhere, and I would’ve been in a tight spot with no income and, more importantly, no visa to allow me to stay in Japan (can’t have a work visa without work).
And yet here we are 10 years later, still going strong. So, here are some stats (I love me some good stats):
I’ve led 1,206 workshops since we started (technically in late 2015). That amounts to a total of 3,664 hours of workshop time. On those workshops I’ve met 2,393 people (but plenty of repeat clients in there).
We get great reviews too, pretty much 100% 5 stars, and plenty of repeat customers. Wow. I never really looked at these numbers in aggregate.
And that’s just me. That’s not counting the rest of our team at @eyexplor
(And yes, I have all these numbers because I am somewhat of an autist and keep everything in a very meticulous spreadsheet 😅😅)
I’m proud of these last 10 years. I like to think that we provide something that makes people happy. I hope that’s true. And looking back at a decade of this work puts into perspective the impact I’ve had personally, and three EYExplore has had as a team. It’s not curing cancer, but it’s making the world a little bit better. At least I hope so!
Anyway, here are some recent photos, all taken during recent workshops. (And three of them will be in my upcoming book… but more on that later.)
#streetphotography #tokyounseen #photoworkshops #phototours #japan
