Have you ever wanted to shoot street photography in the colorful streets of Tokyo? Imagine the tall skyscrapers, the dazzling lights, as well as the intense activity of people on the streets. For those of who have never visited, it is quite unlike any place you have ever been to—and one of the best places to shoot street photography in the world.

For this unique workshop, I will be having Tokyo street photographers Charlie Kirk (two cute dogs), Bellamy Hunt (Japan Camera Hunter), and Alfie Goodrich as guest-speakers. This will be an incredibly interactive, comprehensive, and hands-on workshop which will be a strong primer to anyone interested in street photography or wanting to improve their current skills.

This workshop will give you the opportunity to learn more about how to build more courage when shooting on the streets, as well as what makes a great street photograph. With tons of hands-on guidance we will learn how to get close to our subjects and be given certain assignments when shooting on the streets. All participants will also have the opportunity to get their portfolio critiqued and commented on by all the instructors at the workshop.

Tokyo is one of the places you must travel to before you die so why not go and shoot some street photography with equally passionate individuals while experiencing some of the culture? With only a few spots open for this unique workshop, make sure to register and secure your spot! Keep reading for more information.

 The workshop will allow you to build your courage and get closer to your subjects, learn how to interact with them, spot potential street photography opportunities, as well as how to edit and post-process your work. Furthermore there will be less of an emphasis on lecture, and more time will be prioritized in shooting on the streets.

A variety of styles will be taught including the work of Charlie Kirk, Bellamy Hunt, Alfie Goodrich, and Eric Kim. Charlie can teach you how to get up-close and personal with a flash, Bellamy can teach you how to be more discrete and not affect the scene, Alfie can show great techniques to stay candid, while Eric can teach you how to interact with your subjects.

This workshop will be great for all ranges of skills—from beginner street photographer all the way to advanced street photographers. During the outings each skill level will have their own instructor, which will allow you to shoot comfortably while pushing your own limits.

We will be first meeting Friday night where we will all be able to introduce ourselves to one another and have a brief presentation on the fundamentals of street photography. Each street photographer will be able to share their portfolio and get their work commented and critiqued by Charlie, Bellamy, Alfie, and Eric.

After learning about some of the great street photographers and some basic tips, we will be able to hit the streets of Tokyo at night and go out and shoot. We will be exploring different neighborhoods in Tokyo and shooting with one another. Participants will then go home and edit/post-process their best images and bring them in for review on the next day. We will also enjoy some food and drinks after shooting.

Day 2: (9:30am-6:30pm)

We will meet in the morning and enjoy some breakfast, tea and coffee. The participants will then show their best selection of images from the night before. Each participant will be told what they did well, what they can improve on, and what they should focus on during the workshop to get better shots.

After that, we will enjoy a provided lunch and be able to chat amongst ourselves while checking out some street photography books. After lunch is over, we will then talk about what makes a great street photograph and learn rules of composition in street photography, as well as how to overcome the fear of shooting and how to get close to subjects. Charlie Kirk will also show his best images, talk about his work, and give his advice to the workshop participants. Participants will then be given a street photography assignment and we will shoot the streets. We will again have dinner and drinks after shooting.

Day 3: (9:30am-6:30pm)

On the third day, Eric Kim will give a guide on how to best edit (select your best work) as well as post-process your best images. We will be learning with Lightroom 3 and Silver Efex Pro 2 for black and white conversions. All participants will then be given time to do this process and edit their images along-side the other participants. After each photographer selects their best images from the day-before, we will be presenting the images.

Bellamy Hunt will then give a discussion about his street photography, how to shoot themes, as well as an introduction to shooting film photography. Alfie Goodrich will also be discussing some of his work and his unique approach to street photography with a longer focal length.

The last day we will once again go out to shoot. Afterwards we will be heading to the Leica Tokyo store for an exclusive cocktail party, where we can continue to talk more about street photography and enjoy drinks and company.

What to Bring

Camera

• Digital camera (DSLR, Micro 4/3rds, Point and shoot, rangefinder, etc). We will edit our images from Saturday on Sunday.
• If you would also like to shoot with a film camera, feel free to bring that in addition to your digital camera.
• You do not need a Leica camera to attend. 

Wide-angle prime lens

• Wide-angle prime lens or any other primes that you have.
• If not, please bring the widest lens you have.

Memory card & Spare Battery

• Before arriving, remember to charge your battery and empty out your memory cards.
• Also please bring a spare SD card to use when demoing the Leica equipment (Leica M9, Leica X1, Leica D-Lux, Leica V-Lux).

Laptop

• On Sunday we will post-process and edit our images from our Saturday photo-walk.
• Software:
• Adobe Lightroom 3 (you can download a trial on their website)
• Silver Efex Pro (you can download a trial on their website)

Notepad and pen

• Although all the slides presented during the workshop will be emailed to you afterwards, please bring a notepad and pen to take notes during the workshop.

Travel and accommodation will not be provided for this workshop, however if you need assistance finding an affordable flight and room to stay, we can assist you. Please contact Bellamy Hunt (hunts.of.tokyo@gmail.com) for assistance.

Dates: 12/2-12/4 (Friday 5-9pm, Saturday and Sunday 9:30am-6:30pm)

Skill level: Beginner to Advanced

Workshop cap: 20 participants

Location: Gotanda Cultural Center: Google Map

$600 ($495 early-bird special before November 15th). Payment can be paid with a credit card, debit card, or Paypal. This includes the workshop fee, location rental, and meals (breakfast and lunch). The cost of the workshop does not include flight and accomodation.

The cost of the workshop will include the instruction fee, location rental, as well as meals (breakfast and lunch). We also are so confident you will enjoy the workshop that we are offering a 100% money-back guarantee.

Register Now

Spots are going quickly for this unique and once-in-a-lifetime street photography workshop. After you register, we will then follow-up with an email with a link to the payment form. You can also register by clicking the button below.

SOLD OUT!

Instructor Biographies

Eric Kim is a street photographer from Los Angeles with a passion in interacting with his subjects, especially getting close to them. He has shot street photography all around the world including places such as Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, Prague, London, Lebanon, Korea, Chicago, and San Francisco.

He has recently taught street photography workshops in Beirut, Switzerland, the UK, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago. He has also done collaborations with Leica, Magnum, as well as Invisible Photographer Asia.

You can see Eric’s work on his website or check out his blog

Charlie Kirk describes himself as “a 37-year-old English guy, working as a lawyer in Tokyo.” Based in Japan’s capitol for 9 years, he was educated at Sussex, Cambridge and Nottingham, and notes wryly “It’s a long process to become a lawyer.” A talented and avidly committed photographer with a knack for capturing the surreal quality of everyday life with his Leica MP and M9, he hopes to turn his newfound photographic passion into something more than a fulfilling avocation. He is also quite known to use flash in his work.

You can see some of Charlie’s Work on his Flickr or watch his documentary.

Tokyo-based street photographer Bellamy Hunt is also quite the vintage camera buff. He was born in Oxford in the UK and went on to study art and photography. Having also lived in London, Sydney and Amsterdam, once Bellamy had the opportunity to travel to Japan he has never looked back. Though he started shooting with a Minolta XG-7, he now shoots almost exclusively with Leica because of its speed, ease of use and unobtrusiveness.

You can see some of Bellamy’s work on his Flickr or check out his website Japan Camera Hunter.

From 1991 until 2001 Alfie worked in the music business in the UK, as Press Director for Nimbus Records and then as General Manager for Black Box Music in London. During that time his music photography was published in magazines and newspapers across the world. In 2002 he was chief photographer and photo editor for the official website of Glastonbury Festival.

Since moving to Japan he concentrates 99% of his time on photography. He currently works in Japan as a commercial photographer and photojournalist. As well as shooting, he has taught photography to over 300 students in Tokyo.

You can check out Alfie’s work on his Flickr or his website.

Portfolio

Tagged as: alfie goodrich, bellamy hunt, charlie kirk, eric kim, leica, street photography workshop, tokyo