This will be an example of another type of post I’d like to make occasionally, where I post my photography and editing from various day-trips and holidays. I’m just a hobbyist, but I feel proud of some of the photos I take, and what I do with them. I used to post these kinds of things on Instagram but I’m not a fan of how it forces you into certain aspect ratios. Thus, I decided to post them here. Hoping that WordPress layouts and responsive-design don’t do the same. Also, I think at this point I don’t want to post any photos of myself or my partner, so I’ll have to practice street photography to get more portrait opportunities. I hope you enjoy! Feel free to let me know if you have any thoughts regarding the photos, or the way this segment is formatted. Especially let me know if you’d like any of the photos in higher quality for wallpapers or some such! I’d be honoured, and have higher quality versions on my card.
Samurai Restaurant
It was my partner’s first time being to Japan, so this was our obligatory visit to the Samurai Restaurant in Tokyo. For those unfamiliar it’s an off the wall musical theater type show that definitely plays for an extremely touristy crowd. But, you have a couple drinks, get into some crazy percussive songs, and let the experience introduce you to the country.
Urban Shots
This was probably my favourite aspect of japan, just how inviting it is for street photography amateurs. With the streets being so densely populated, and the varied eras of architecture intertwined with nature, it felt like there was always something to feel inspired to capture. It also led me to practice my editing to try and get more evocative emotions out of images. It took me a few weeks to go through all of my photos, and it was a rewarding experience throughout.
Kurobe Dam / Alpine Route
Another first for my girlfriend, her first time in snow! The alpine route was a fantastic time, and my god the wind chill when we first crossed the dam. Brrr. The views were absolutely stunning, especially as the dam is 186 metres tall and surrounded by gorgeous snow-capped mountains. Not to mention that all of the dam’s infrastructure has the appearance of a bond villain’s lair. When we finally reached the top and went to explore, we were met with a blizzard!
Patterns
I’m a very textural person. I think about how things feel to the touch, it’s honestly the main way I shop for clothes. In a similar way, I really enjoy pictures that feel textural or patterned in a similar way. I didn’t post many here, but I generally keep an eye out for things like this.
Artsy
I’d not really tried doing artsy photos before. I think it was a similar thing with other arts, where you need to spend a lot of time learning how to do the basics well, before you can start doing things differently. This was my first time experimenting in this way, and while there’s still a lot of room for improvement, I’m proud of myself for trying some new stuff.
Furukawa Festival
The Furukawa festival takes place a week after the more well-known Takayama festival nearby. We planned most of our holiday around trying to avoid tourist hot-spots, as at the time there were many articles circulating about the over-tourism Japan was suffering from at the time. We stayed in Takayama as Furukawa didn’t really have accommodation, and it ended up being my favourite town of the whole vacation. The festival was a lot of fun too, watching the Yatai floats do their performance and Karakuri puppetry, and the traditional Japanese lion were a lot of fun too. The photo above of the group of volunteers pushing the float with the drummer atop is I think my favourite photo I’ve ever taken.
I have to mention too! The photo of the tengu and the crying child. It was from a lion dance in which, to my understanding, the tengu is either trying to tame the lion, or remove the feathers from atop its head. At the end of the performance, the tengu is dancing around celebrating to the drumming, then plucked a kid from the audience and proceeded to dance with them. I was barely able to contain my laughter as I saw the child was not at all enjoying the experience! I somehow managed to snap a photo from both angles, and still giggle when I see it.
Landscapes / Cityscapes
Nothing more to say than that this is a beautiful country, and I was glad to have the opportunity. Coming from a land of plains and hills, it was a lot of fun to be surrounded by foggy peaks and deep valleys.
Shirakawago
Shirakawago is a traditional thatch-hut village nestled between mountains and with a gorgeous river running through. We even saw some workers rebuilding a hut’s roof, from the top of a mountain that was far too much of a hike to climb in hot weather.
Zenkōji Temple, Nagano
I’ll keep it short. Aren’t the little red scarves and beanies so cute?!
Waterworld Stunt Show, USJ
This is a bit of a silly way to end it. We went to Universal Studios in Osaka towards the end of our trip, and while there decided to duck into the Waterworld stunt show because we were available. Did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did, especially since I’ve not actually seen the film. Great opportunity for some fire photography too!
BEEEMEM'S HIVE 
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