The magic of Tokyo lies in the mix of futuristic modern landscape and the bustle of the small traditional lanes, full of restaurants and tiny shops. One of the symbols of the city, connecting the man-made artificial island of O-daiba and the Shibaura Pier, is the Rainbow Bridge, with its nickname given by the public to one of the largest bridge of Japan.

June 2015, panorama from 2 horizontal images, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 25mm, aperture f/8, shutter speed 15 seconds, ISO 100, 5-stop ND filter, tripod.

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The popularity of the bridge name is still featured today in the colourful pillars of the suspension metallic construction, which are found on the pedestrian bridge walkway.

A splendid architectural landmark of Tokyo, it is a metallic giant that links both sides of the city, and can be seen from all neighbourhoods. At night, it becomes an iconic character in a science fiction like urban life.

In my first attempt to find the perfect bridge view, I decided to stand on Harumi Pier, where the view is famous, but too far away from the bridge and with many distracting objects between the bridge and myself.

On my second attempt I went to Shinagawa Pier to try view from the other side of the bridge. In order to get there I went on to ride the monorail over the fantastic urban landscape of Tokyo. It felt just as if I was in a manga or a science fiction movie.

Arrived to Tennoz Isle station by monorail I found that Shinagawa Pier was still far away to get there by foot before sunset. Jumping in a cab, with some body language, I explained driver where to go and reached the location I was aiming at just in time for the best evening light!

I used neutral density filter to smooth the bay water and remove distracting details to guide viewer attention to the Rainbow Bridge itself. The graduate change of colours, from the warm sunset hues to the cool twilight shades put a fascinating emphasis on the bridge itself, and the actual Tokyo skyline, facing us through the metal frame.

The photo gives a sense of the reflecting peace in urban Tokyo, with the Bridge, as a sizeable landmark connecting millions of humans each day, by car or by train.

With majestic trees and gardens surrounding its buildings, Zojo-Ji temple is one of the typical symbols of Jodo-Shu Buddhism in modern Tokyo. The red and white colours of the walls, surrounded by tall trees and Tokyo skyscrapers form a peaceful atmosphere, away from pollution and noise of the city.

June 2015, panorama from 3 vertical images, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 16mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 3.2 seconds, ISO 100, tripod, pano head.




From each corner of the temple grounds, the Tokyo Tower is visible to the eyes of the visitor. The main temple buildings were rebuilt, after a bomb raid during WWII, and it is nowadays more of a popular walk in nature and meditation shrine for the Tokyoites, than a residence quarter for the 3000 priests who once lived here.

There are many temples and parks around the capital, such as in the Asakusa area, but this one stroke me on the way back from my Tokyo Tower shoot on the previous day. It is all about the juxtaposition of the “old” and “new”, the quietness of the temple and the noise of the city, the green of the garden and the grey of the stone jungles, the ancient look of the wooden temple and modern look of the steel tower.

This is a perfect metaphor for the unique Japanese way – balance between the modern post-industrial lifestyle and old traditional ways. In recent times, the Japanese culture has become a strong mix of traditions and modernity. And this reflects in small details of everyday life. The antique stone pavement leading to Zojo-Ji temple is a passage to the enlightenment of Buddhism, within the modernity of the city.

Woking up early, I walked to the temple through the Shiba park, and as I approached my scene location, the clouds gave me hope for a dramatic colourful sunrise on the temple grounds. On the way I noticed that the top part of Tokyo Tower was not illuminated. It looked ugly and created a real threat to my envisioned composition. Though I decided to proceed and worked on the composition in order to find the best panoramic view including the Zojo-Ji temple, Tokyo Tower and the path to enlightenment.

As the sunrise began, I breathed a sigh of relief. With the glowing red sky in background, the fading Tokyo Tower illumination started to look perfectly in balance with the whole scene. And this also added kind of mysterious mood to the shot and worked well for supporting the main idea of this photo. Finally I’ve got the shot I was aimed for and I was very happy that unexpected obstacle suddenly turned out to support my goal.

Kachidoki, literarily “A Shout of Victory” is the most unique and only drawbridge on the Sumida River across Tokyo. It stands in the Japanese capital as a commemoration of Lushun battle in the 1940s, and is one of the closest bridges to Tokyo Bay.

June 2015, single image, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 27mm, aperture f/8, shutter speed 44 seconds, 5-stop ND filter, ISO 100, tripod.




Once, it was the main point of passage for commercial ships travelling through Tokyo, but has not opened again since 1970. Nowadays it still fulfils the visitor’s expectations with its round shape and greenish illuminations of the iron infrastructure at night, close to the riverbanks, with Tokyo skyscrapers in the background.

The bridge is an entire character of a Manga comic book “Kochi-Kame” and also of the movie of the same name, relating to the life of a young boy and friends, who used to watch the drawbridge opening and closing again. The steel monster is very close the famous fish market, Tsukiji, waiting to be relocated in 2016.

After spending an exciting morning and lunchtime around Tsukiji Fish Market and its surroundings as well as tasting the local delicacies of sushi and sashimi, I decided to cross over the Kachidoki Bridge in direction of the Rainbow Bridge to preview my next night shot.

However, the metallic beauty of the Kachidoki Bridge, with its iconic shape and past history attracted me so much that I altered my plan to shoot the golden lights reflections on that same night.

Choosing the best position facing the bridge, both with the Tsukiji market and descending sun behind me, I carefully framed the Kachidoki Bridge and the skyscrapers on the opposite bank of the Sumida River.

As the natural light slowly vanished and the electric night lighting came along, with its green and blue shades, I shot many long exposure frames, with a neutral density filter on my lens to smooth the water riddles and clouds shades.

The final result can make you feel this special moment in a part of the city once the liveliest, after the sun has gone down, and all children and fishermen have returned home.

There is ultimate quietness occurring early morning in Tokyo, before rush hour and pedestrian traffic taking to the bustling streets. For those who wake early, the beauty of the modern city is breath taking.

June 2015, panorama from 6 vertical images in 2 rows, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 16mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 4 seconds, ISO 200, tripod, pano head.




It is the best time to admire the soft round corners of the automotive lanes, the sharp shapes of the skylines, and Tokyo Tower standing as a memory of past building fever, while taller and sharper edifices are created.

We decided to stay in the surroundings of Tokyo Tower, the defining feature of Tokyo skyline. Designed in the 1950s to compete with the Eiffel Tower, its characteristic striking colours, orange and white; stand famous in the central area of the city. Built on an ancient Buddhist site, it still welcomes scores of visitors to enjoy the views of urban Tokyo and even of Mt Fuji, on a clear day.

With its specific arrangements of sodium vapour lamps, from October to July, Tokyo Tower is glowing softly in an orange light, as a seasonal arrangement, famous to many Japanese cartoons and movies. The orange bulbs light the different platform levels and the science fiction look of the tower is striking more than ever in the first hours of the day.

I chose to wake early, and to reach Shiba-Koen Street before the sun starts rising. I setup my tripod and panoramic head and went on choosing the composition with the road and the sidewalk leading the eye to the Tokyo Tower. I appreciated the surreal feel of being in one of the busiest city of the modern world, and focused on this rare moment of solitude.