Emotion expressed in Japan Photo Tours is something that comes up again an again when Japan Dreamscapes (JDS) discuss what they think distinguishes great photos from amazing photos.

Emotion can be expressed in photos in many different ways.  In some cases with photography in nature and wildlife photography, the emotion is manifest in the animals themselves.  On photos zoomed in to capture the visages of the wildlife such as the snow monkeys on winter photo tours to Nagano, you can see  a near human expression come to the face of some of your photos subjects.  That moment where you swear you are meeting the gaze of a peer in nature is the precise instant when you should take the photo.

Cloudscapes clearly have the same potential to express emotion in photos.  Few natural elements are as protean as clouds.  The forms they take follow no predetermined outline or shape, so they are sometimes difficult subjects to capture during Niigata photo tours as you sit above the rice terraces, waiting for the blue or golden hour photo.  At times, the clouds can take supernatural, almost mystical appearance as a golden dragon guardian or a different otherworldly creature.  JDS photo tour leaders have spent endless hours trying to isolate these instances to take an amazing photo.  The emotion is communicated in the clouds’ ability to bridge the gap between the everyday and the extraordinary.  In those moments, amazing photos can be taken.

Sakura during cherry blossom photo tours reveal the deep emotional bonds the Japanese have with this iconic flower.  When the petals are at ‘mankai’, full bloom, the sakura show the peak of their beauty, and it’s the fact the moment varies from location to location that communicates the emotion.  There is also the interplay of weather, as the petals flutter to the ground.  In that instant where the petals leave the blossom and begin their fall to the earth, there is often emotion expressed.  No year is the same, so you can visit the same subject or the same area several times and never take precisely the same picture.

That, too, brings emotion and art to photography.