This is my first blog for 2020. With the pandemic and social distancing I decided to take a break from portrait shoots for a while. During the Corona vacation, I did go to parks to do nature and macro photography, and I took some isolated self-portraits using the timer. Those sorts of shoots are meditative, and they temporarily satisfy my itchy shutter finger, but they’re not the sorts of photo shoots that inspire me to make new blog posts.
In June, however, with students back in school, and businesses mostly open, I started doing outdoor portrait shoots again, and subsequently remembered that once upon a time I used to make blog posts. I did three shoots in June and July. They were all done outdoors, in areas with low population densities (which are easier to find now that people are avoiding crowds and overseas tourism has ground to a halt), and I stayed several feet away from the models at all times. I did shoots with a an actress, a yogini, and a corporeal mime artist. Each shoot had a different vibe, and required a different approach, so I thought I would describe the process of finding a location and theme that matched the personality of each artist. I’ll start with Emily. (Be sure to click on the arrows to see all the photos.)
Emily is from Toowoomba, Australia and has lived in Nagoya for three and a half years. She has been into acting since elementary school, and really likes doing both plays and musicals. I first met her while taking photos of the Nagoya Players’ production of Gift of the Magi, in which she was one of the singers and also did a cabaret dance scene. I then did a promotional photo shoot with her for the Nagoya Players’ current production, Our Town, which was supposed to be performed in July of 2020, but has been postponed for a year due to the pandemic. Emily will play the leading role of Emily in that production.
We decided to meet in Osu Kannon, and to go for a street look. I let Emily decide what to wear, and she showed up in a black, sleeveless top, with fingerless green gloves and a bandana. I thought the look matched Osu’s funky vibe perfectly. We met at the main temple to start. We walked around the temple, looking for backgrounds. I like to find backgrounds that give a sense of the place, but which aren’t distracting. I shot these with my 50mm lens. A lot of portrait shooters prefer more of a telephoto lens, like an 85 or a 135. Those are great for really isolating the subject by blurring out the background, but I prefer to include more of the environment. When near buildings and architecture, I often look for frames to put the subject in. I like photos that look like scenes cut from a movie.
After that, we decided to just walk around and look for locations. Normally, I would scout out some specific locations ahead of time, but I have been to Osu many times, and know the general lay of the area, so this time decided to just meander without a specific destination. 2020 has been the rainiest rainy season I can remember in Japan, and this day too it had rained all morning and slowed to a light mist by the time we started. There were puddles everywhere, of course, so I already had it in my head that we might find some good reflections. After starting down the street leading from the back of the temple, we quickly found a big puddle that reflected the buildings along the street. I told Emily where to be, got down low to the ground with the camera to catch the reflection, and then let Emily improvise. Emily is comfortable in front of the camera, and gets into the moment quickly, so she is very easy to work with.
There is a hamburger restaurant in Osu that I have admired for years, called Smashhead. It has a brick facade and a western look, and I’ve used it as a backdrop in the past. This time it was closed, so we got up next to it, and I noticed the window provided a nice reflection. It was becoming clear that reflections would be the theme for the day.
Next we walked to the area around Hyaku Metoru Dori (100 Meter Street). The graffiti covered walls, and another puddle worked for the street vibe we were going for.
There are several narrow alleyways in Osu that I know from previous visits. The diminishing lines created by narrow passageways create a great backdrop for drawing attention to the subject.
Back at the main temple area, we took some photos with Osu’s iconic painted building in the background, including another reflection shot.
Finally, we left the Osu area and walked to Sakae. Along the way I saw a storefront with giant kanji. I like photos that play with the viewer’s sense of scale, so Emily ran across the street to join the scene and add perspective. With Emily, I really don’t have to give any instruction on what to do. I choose an area, maybe suggest an idea, but mostly she just inhabits the frame and does her thing. On this day, I think we spent a little over two hours shooting in four locations and walking and talking in-between. It was a cloudy afternoon, after a rain, so the light was soft and omni-directional. With good light, a good location, and a subject who is comfortable in front of the camera, the rest is pretty easy.
If you are living in the Nagoya area, be sure to catch Emily in the starring role of My Town in June of 2021!
