Today I took my daughter to Zenkoji Temple located in Nagano city Japan. It was a rather cold morning today, but we were both excited to get out and walk around the temple grounds. Today there seemed to more tourists arriving than usual, so it actually turned out to be a rather busy day. In this particular shot, my daughter Aily was fascinated with the pine cones she had been collecting as we walked around the temple grounds. People from all over had their attention set on the large temples whereas my daughter seemed to only care about a simple little pine cone. Here she climbed the steps of one of the famous temples, sat down in a small corner, and proceeded to take out her favorite pine cone. The shot was taken with a Nikon D200 and a 70-200VR zoom lense. I chose to make the background black and white for two reasons. First, the background was already pretty dark as there were no lights on in the temple, and second I felt it enhanced the pine cone a bit more. It’s amazing how you can enhance objects by simply eliminating background or foreground color.

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There’s a ton of places to check out in Tokyo for photography, but here are a few popular places along the “Yamanote Train Line” that circles the Tokyo area. Each location is a station as well.

1. Shibuya Station – This is the young fashion center of Japan. Lots of gals, lights, people, cool buildings, etc. Has the famous all point crosswalk and big TVs.

2. Yoyogi Park Station – This is where all the street people, street bands, and “all walks of life” gather each day. This is probably THE street photo area of Tokyo.

3. Ginza Station – This is the area that really lights up at night. If you want some cool night photos, then this is THE place to go. It’s also the most expensive area. There’s not much there during the day however, but at night it’s the brightest for sure.

4. Shinjuku Station – This is where all the TV actors, actresses, and studios reside. Plus behind the stations is the “red light district” that is very famous for all the clubs and bars. Lots of action around there and plenty of interesting places to photograph.

5. Harajuku Station – This is the “Alternative” area where you’ll find a lot of the underground kids, colleges, and stuff that is not mainstream but very interesting. Also, this place is famous for Garage Bands and small club acts.

6. Roppongi – Off the Yamanote line a bit, this station area is the hang out for all the foreign folk, including military visitors. It’s expensive and there are lots of people from all over the world there.

7. Akasaka – This place is for the tourists and if you want some great shots of more “traditional” Japan, this is the place to go. You could spend hours with the camera in this area. It’s fabulous.

There are quite a few other areas as well, but you’ll probably run into them if traveling to the above areas. Just remember that the Yamanote Train runs in a circle and is what gets you to all of these places.

If you get extra time, Yokohama is also awesome. I lived there for quite a few years and there is so much to photograph there. Here are some of the best.

1. Sakuragicho – This place has an awesome waterfront park and lots of cool modern structures to shoot.

2. Ishikawacho – This place has Chinatown which has a ton of things to shoot. It’s a very large place.

3. Kamakura – This place has a great selection of temples and castle like structures.

4. Yokohama Station – This area has lots of places to photograph for street scenes and such. People shots are great here too.

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