Canon Japan Tour (Day 4) Tokyo to Nagano
Hello, travelers. This is Kumi. I guided a Canon Australia's Japan tour for two weeks. Let me show you how we enjoyed the tour. This is about Day 4, the day we traveled from Tokyo to Nagano.
We took Shinkansen (bullet train) called Asama #609 from Tokyo station at 11:04.
Luckily, we got to see Mt. Fuji from the train!
And we got busy! LOL
Some of them were busy with photo editing.
We arrived at Nagano station at 12:48 and enjoyed lunch!
Sometimes, it's nice to have western food because they don't need to take photos and can relax. LOL
From Nagano station, we took a train called Snow Monkey at 14:18 and they got busy again.
Mountains, colored leaves, etc...
We arrived at Yudanaka station at 15:09 and checked in at a ryokan (traditional inn) called Biyu-no-yado.
http://www.ryokan.or.jp/english/yado/main/42550
Well, even after we checked in, we kept learning about how to capture good sunset views.
Probably, I shouldn't call this "a pleasure photo tour." This is "an intensive photography course" which we all seriously enjoy.
I tried to take nice sunset photos but after some shots, I ran out of the idea and started taking people's photos.
Then I went back to work on sunset because they never stop taking pictures.
I was curious about what they were trying to capture.
When I saw their works later, I got very surprised because what they selected were totally different from mine.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrConLLgtFU/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BstSCyVFpCE/
They chose the closeup shots of mountains illuminated by fading sunlight! Taking photos with others is always interesting and mind-opening. Even if you are at the same place at the same time, people around you may be seeing totally different views.
After the sunset shooting, we enjoyed dinner.
When Japanese people visit onsen (hot spring) resorts, we take a bath and relax after dinner, but this is an intensive course, so... of course, we went out for another shooting. We learned about how to use lights.
This is me modeling in the lights.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Br4q8-8nDab/
These lights were actually just some regular street lights and traffic lights, but with the vapor from hot spring, it really created a special atmosphere.
It's very interesting to play with lights and shadows. Everything looks different if you have a different mindset.
Some of them were seriously chasing Japanese tourists in yukata. We may have scared them. LOL
Hmm... nice! A lovely shot!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrgAGwVlIVW/
Finally, we arrived at our destination for this evening shooting. A traditional inn called Kanaguya.
http://www.unique-nagano.com/detail.php?id=163
It has been said that this is one of the places inspired the anime creator Hayao Miyazaki for his famous work "Spirited Away."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245429/
As this is a popular site, other tourists were also coming here for the night view.
The tour members enjoyed communicating with Japanese tourists.
Becoming friends and following each other on Instagram.
It was such a fun evening. If you'd like to see the members' photos, please check out #canonjapantour.
We took Shinkansen (bullet train) called Asama #609 from Tokyo station at 11:04.
Luckily, we got to see Mt. Fuji from the train!
And we got busy! LOL
Some of them were busy with photo editing.
We arrived at Nagano station at 12:48 and enjoyed lunch!
Sometimes, it's nice to have western food because they don't need to take photos and can relax. LOL
From Nagano station, we took a train called Snow Monkey at 14:18 and they got busy again.
Mountains, colored leaves, etc...
We arrived at Yudanaka station at 15:09 and checked in at a ryokan (traditional inn) called Biyu-no-yado.
http://www.ryokan.or.jp/english/yado/main/42550
Well, even after we checked in, we kept learning about how to capture good sunset views.
Probably, I shouldn't call this "a pleasure photo tour." This is "an intensive photography course" which we all seriously enjoy.
I tried to take nice sunset photos but after some shots, I ran out of the idea and started taking people's photos.
Then I went back to work on sunset because they never stop taking pictures.
I was curious about what they were trying to capture.
When I saw their works later, I got very surprised because what they selected were totally different from mine.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrConLLgtFU/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BstSCyVFpCE/
They chose the closeup shots of mountains illuminated by fading sunlight! Taking photos with others is always interesting and mind-opening. Even if you are at the same place at the same time, people around you may be seeing totally different views.
After the sunset shooting, we enjoyed dinner.
When Japanese people visit onsen (hot spring) resorts, we take a bath and relax after dinner, but this is an intensive course, so... of course, we went out for another shooting. We learned about how to use lights.
This is me modeling in the lights.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Br4q8-8nDab/
These lights were actually just some regular street lights and traffic lights, but with the vapor from hot spring, it really created a special atmosphere.
It's very interesting to play with lights and shadows. Everything looks different if you have a different mindset.
Some of them were seriously chasing Japanese tourists in yukata. We may have scared them. LOL
Hmm... nice! A lovely shot!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrgAGwVlIVW/
Finally, we arrived at our destination for this evening shooting. A traditional inn called Kanaguya.
http://www.unique-nagano.com/detail.php?id=163
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245429/
As this is a popular site, other tourists were also coming here for the night view.
The tour members enjoyed communicating with Japanese tourists.
Becoming friends and following each other on Instagram.
It was such a fun evening. If you'd like to see the members' photos, please check out #canonjapantour.
