Standing tall and strong at the crossroads of the busy shopping and crafts lanes of Sannen Zaka and Ninnen Zaka, half way from Yasaka shrine, and Kyomizu Temple, the Yasaka Pagoda is also known in Japan under the name Honkan-Ji. I had spotted this stunning and elegant building while exploring the Higashiyama district on the previous day, for my shooting session near Kyomizu Temple.

June 2015, panorama from 3 vertical images, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 35mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 0.5 seconds, ISO 100, tripod, pano head.




Built and destroyed in many occasions, the current earthquake proof building dates back to 1440, although the 46 meter high pagoda was inspired by a dream to Prince Shotoku in 589. It is one of the most ancient towers in Kyoto. It is composed of a very powerful oscillating mechanism to resist the strongest earthquake. For many Japanese artists, wood sculptures, it is a motif very often used to represent Kyoto, the ancient Japanese capital in prints and Ukiyo-e.

I set up my alarm for an early call, around 3am. The morning was chilly and overcast. I headed towards the residential area of Gion. I arrived slightly later than I had wished, but the sunrise lighting on the ancient wood houses and Yasaka Pagoda was still incredibly nice, giving a soft and romantic touch to the sacred tower, and its surroundings.

I worked before the morning light reached its best to choose the panoramic composition I had dreamt of for this particular spot and to express the most of the mood of the moment.

After I set up my equipment and fine tune the shot, I could feel the magical light on the old tower.

I almost expected an apprentice maiko to appear and walk past on her way to a tearoom, such a special time in a deserted Japanese lane.

Overlooking the South Higashiyama district in the old Japanese capital of Kyoto, the impressive wood structure of Kyomizu-Dera Temple exudes of authenticity. Tucked into a lush of greenery and flowers, the surroundings are peaceful, though busy with tourists during the daytime. Its paved pedestrian path, leading to the terrace and main temple buildings, connect the ancient pilgrims to the modern passing by.

June 2015, panorama from 4 vertical images, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 33mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 25 seconds, ISO 100, tripod, pano head.




Kyomizu-Dera Temple, mentioned in the “Tale of Genji” novel in the 12-th Century, also owns a legend now long forgotten. It comes back to the visitor’s mind while walking on the old wooden terrace: the one, who would jump from the temple’s veranda and survive the jump, could see one’s wish fulfilled.

Every visitor entering the temple aims at a drop of the cooling water source from which the temple takes its name (“clear water”). It is till running through the landmark temple nowadays.

On a hot sunny day, as I headed towards Kyomizu-Dera Temple, the sky was clean and cloudless for a humid June afternoon. Hoping that fewer tourists would be around that evening, I started exploring the temple grounds to decide on the perfect spot to capture the scene without too many distractions.

That same early evening, when I returned, I was surprised that the temple precincts had already closed at 6pm, so, instead of the particular spot I had chosen, I managed to find another spectacular composition of the temple and the surrounding hills, from behind the barriers. As the last Japanese tourists vanished quickly through the surrounding lanes, I could stand and focus solely on my shot.

The early sunset light highlighted with a soft touch all the details of the temple building, and I spent almost 2 hours to shot many frames to achieve my wish: convey in this panoramic composition the vastness of the scene and the stunning change of the evening light. The essence of the old Japanese capital, Kyoto with its serenity is reflecting in this vision.

Founded in 1202, Kenninji Temple is the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto. Yousai, the founder of Kenninji, made the voyage to China twice during his lifetime, the first time to pursue Tendai studies and the second time with an intention to reach India. Although his voyage to India has failed because of political situation in Central Asia, he was able to come into contact with the Zen sect, which was at its height at the time in China. As a result Yousai introduced Zen sect in Kenninji Temple and brought tea ceremony into Japan.

I arrived to Kenninji Temple in the evening and it was already rather dark. I didn’t have any time to investigate the place and I quickly setup my tripod near the corner of the temple Main Hall. I used panoramic technique to create dynamic ultra wide-angle composition.

June 2015, panorama from 3 vertical images, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 16mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 8 seconds, ISO 100, tripod, pano head.

Although Kyoto is most famous for its wonderful temples, I found Kamo River area also charming and welcoming place. Kamo River flows through the city from north to south and it’s embankment is a favourite place for locals. The western bank is lined with small restaurants and the eastern bank is utterly belongs to people. They are walking, running, biking along the river or just sitting on the bank and watching trout splashing in the shallow water.

There are five bridges crossing Kamo River in the centre of the city and the most famous one is Sanjo Ohashi Bridge. It was originally built in 16-th century by general Hideyoshi Toyotomi and it was the end point of Tokaido Road which connected Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto. Although it was rebuilt and empowered with concrete in 1950 it is still looks old-fashioned and authentic.

To photograph Sanjo Ohashi Bridge I had to wakeup at 3 am in the morning. It was a full moon night and bridge was perfectly lit by the moon. I used panoramic technique to get more foreground in the frame.

June 2015, panorama from 2 horizontal images aligned vertically, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 16mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 8 seconds, ISO 250, tripod.

In June I was very lucky to visit Japan for the first time in my life. This trip should have happened long time ago, but somehow did not develop. My wife’s sister lives in Japan for more than 10 years and every year she invites us to visit her and her family. She is married to a Japanese and they have three lovely daughters. They live in Hadano, Kanagawa prefecture, in the old traditional Japanese house with rice paper walls and sliding doors. We stayed in their house for 2 weeks and were able to see Japanese way of life from the first person view.

Japan is absolutely fantastic country with very hospitable people, stunning nature and magnificent architecture. It is kind of paradise for any landscape and urban photographer. Though it was a family visit and its imposes certain restrictions – the main focus of this trip was not a photography, but our Japanese relatives. And still we were able to arrange two short detours – one to Kyoto and the other to Tokyo. During these trips I had a lot of photo opportunities and spent most of sunrises and sunsets in the wonderful places with my camera mounted on my tripod.

In upcoming posts I am going to show you some of the best photos I captured during my Japanese vacations – stay tuned!

June 2015, single image, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 16mm, aperture f/8, shutter speed 1.6 seconds, ISO 200, tripod.