Only 3 Spots Left! Book Now! Capture the Beauty of Fall: Autumn Leaves Photography Workshop Oct 25 - Nov 5, 2027. Japan Autumn Leaves & Ocean Stacks Photo Workshop Japan - Japan Dreamscapes Photography Japan

Day 1 - 2,  Meet and greet Tokyo Haneda Airport, (HND), place to be announced to participants.  After our meet and greet, we depart for Nikko UNESCO World Heritage Site Shrines and Temples encompassing over 100 Japanese architectural masterpieces.  Nikko was founded in the 8th century, and is closely associated with the history of the Tokugawa Shoguns. The Shinkyo bridge is the gateway to the Futarasan Jinja and is best photographed at first light.  We will also visit the highland lakes and waterfalls of Nikko off the beaten path.  Parts of Nikko itself are on the beaten path, but as your leader, our workshop leaders have spent over 25 years photographing Nikko and know the tourists' timing and how to avoid the rush and tourist pollution. 

Lodging TBA to participants (2 nights) – Our lodgings have private and communal hot springs/male and female bathe separately.  Western or Japanese style Rooms with ensuite facilities.  Dinner and breakfast at our hotel, lunch at a local establishment.

Day 4 - 6, Niigata, Yamagata Ocean Stacks.  During the day we will venture into the interior to photograph autumn colors, possibly snow monkeys in the wild frontier.  Blain has friends in this region who are farmers that provide for his family’s annual rice needs.  The mineral rich water in this region is famous; it is so pure and clean that locals and people such as Blain and team visit and take home hundreds of liters of water a year that is drunk unfiltered, and this is the same water in which the region’s rice grows.   Mid-afternoon we will be by the water's edge photographing Ocean Stacks and getting ready for golden hour.  The ebb and flow of the Sea of Japan has created photogenic sea stacks along the coastline.  

Lodging TBA to participants (3 nights) – Our lodgings have private and communal hot springs/male and female bathe separately.  Western or Japanese style Rooms with ensuite facilities.  Dinner and breakfast at our hotel, lunch at a local establishment.

Day 7 - 8, Niigata highlands, Yuzawa region.  Perfectly composed natural scenery with the still waters framed with scintillating Japanese Maples in red, yellow, and orange awaits you.  Our first morning, we will visit the Sea of Clouds and depart our lodgings in the blue hour; we will travel 30 minutes to a vantage point known as the Valley of the Dragons, where we will photograph above the clouds looking down into a valley 20km long and onto several hamlets below, hills and trees are covered in the sea of clouds, and as the clouds and fog move and grow thicker and thinner, the hills and trees appear similar to Sea-Stacks in the Ocean, and the hamlets below have a mystical glow.  Then we will return to our lodgings for breakfast and a rest and continue our day around 11am.   We will visit a Koi sanctuary where Niigata’s most prized Koi are kept, some worth tens of thousands of dollars, at Koi auctions in Niigata its not uncommon for Koi to sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.  We will feed and photograph them coming to the surface in the dozens with hungry mouths open; it’s very a unique and cool experience.  Also, we will visit one of Japan’s most famous autumn leaves forests with a reflecting pond.  In the golden hour we will photograph at highlands rice terraces.   

Lodging TBA to participants (2 nights) – Our lodgings have private and communal hot springs/male and female bathe separately.  Western style Rooms with ensuite facilities.  Dinner and breakfast at our hotel, lunch at a local establishment.

Day 12, Sunrise photography at one of the Fuji Five lakes with Mt. Fuji in the backdrop, or at the regions ancient Shinto Sanctuary.  Return to lodgings for breakfast and checkout.  Afternoon drop off and departure at Tokyo Haneda International Airport, (HND).  Thank you for your participation and we look forward to our next adventure together. 

Why Choose this Photography Tour/Workshop?

☞Any level of photographer is welcome

☞All camera formats are welcome: digital, handy-cams, scoping with iPhone large format, film, etc 

☞Professional photo instruction available when requested

☞Photograph Japanese cultural and architectural masterpieces

☞Visit the Snow Monkeys without dealing with the freezing cold

☞Activity level varying from leisurely to moderate

☞Provided transportation: Sports Utility Vehicles with Business Class Seating

☞Small group size means quality, in-depth time with your workshop leader 

☞All questions are welcome and encouraged throughout your adventure

☞Each morning and evening, we will discuss our best shooting options with our weather conditions in hand, so that we will be well prepared

Tour Cost: $9,850 

Single Supplement: $1,400

Not Included: Flights to JPN and from JPN, alcohol beverages, travel health insurance, lunches, items of a personal nature.