A Harajuku Photowalk, great Chemistry, and some experiments in Wide Angle Portraiture
Having a friend leave is always sad. So when my friend Katy, who I had also worked with a couple of times, made the decision to go back to the US, I really wanted to see her one last time to say goodbye.
Luckily Katy had the wonderful idea to organize a Goodbye Photowalk for her model and photographer friends in Tokyo.
Even though I was struggling with my health a little at the moment, I was happy to join. Not just to say goodbye to one friend, but also to meet some people and to make new connections.
As a location Katy chose Harajuku. It is one of the most colorful areas of Tokyo, and a great place for a day time photo session.
I made the choice to bring two cameras. My trusted Olympus with the 25mm (50mm full frame equivalent) lens, and my new full frame Sony with a 16-35mm lens. This might seem like an odd choice for a portrait street photo event, but I had thought about experimenting with wide angle portraiture for a while, and it seemed like a good occasion to try it out.
The first model I shot with was the beautiful Geraldyne (IG: @geraldyne.pizzini).
At 50mm:
At 23mm and 31mm:
My next model was Rebecca (IG: @heartt.club). Here’s one photo of her at 50mm and one at 32mm:
A lot of shots I took of Japanese model Koh (IG: @koh_fujimoto). Here I got a bit more creative with the use of the wide angle lens, even taking some shots at the full 16mm (e.g. second to last in the gallery below).
After a little while we were joined by the lovely Chloe (IG: @chloechloeclover). The two of them immediately hit it off. I feel extremely lucky having been able to shoot a couple with such amazing chemistry. And again, while doing a lot of shots at 50mm:
I made use of the opportunity to take some in the range of the lower 20s, and even at 16mm:
Katy (IG: @dlbujar) was busy talking to everyone, but I was able to take some beautiful shots of her too (at 50mm):
Also only a few 50mm photos I took of Australian model Whitney (@whitweisz):
Of Ryan (IG: @ryan_james226) I was again able to take some shots with my Sony at 35mm, 32mm and 16mm:
Time was beginning to run out when I got to shoot with fashion model and DJ Riana (IG: @riana_koala). I hope to get another chance to work with her in the future. There is a concept in my head that she would be just perfect for!
Last but not least I took a quick few shots of Joselyn (IG: @jostica7) , another beautiful model from Costa Rica (at 50mm):
Sadly I did not manage to take a picture of every model present at the photowalk. I also have to admit that I did not get any of my talented photographer colleagues who attended the shoot. But one of them has taken two photographs of me at work, fitting very well my experiments with wide angle portraiture:
