Tim Hiorns 📷

Soba is served . . . . I think most people who come to Shinjuku’s Omoide Yokocho, especially us street and urban photographers, are familiar with this lad and his soba noodle shop, as it occupies a nice little corner spot and makes for especially atmospheric little photos. I’ve snapped a few different angles here, and I generally prefer a wider one, but I wanted to capture him doing his good work 👨‍🍳🍜📷 . . I also feel a little sorry for him, though, because out of all the mini eateries lining these narrow alleyways, I think people are especially bold and blatant about taking photos of his. I try not to take pics directly into the restaurants (because you’re not supposed to), but I feel like the owners are a little more relaxed about it (or less outwardly annoyed) now that the tourists are back in their droves and it’s more or less unavoidable 🤷🏼‍♂️🏮👥 . . . . . #urbanandstreet #urbanromantix #agameoftones #dof _addicts #createcommune #killaframez #depthobsessed #ourmoodydays #streetclassics #streetmobs #citykillerz #rawurbanshots #streets _vision #darkmobs #discovertokyo #bokeh _shotz #toneception #visualgrams #japancityblues #art _of_japan_ #epicimagez #moodygrams #shotsdelight #explorejpn #tokyocameraclub

Snow constellations . . . . Well it’s definitely getting pretty warm here in Tokyo, and while it hasn’t exactly got me missing the colder winter weather yet, I do absolutely miss the chance of snow, especially with this pretty non-committal start to the rainy season. Wet streets are always better for a bit of night photography, but raindrops and/or snowflakes in the air make for a more fun edit 🤓🌨🎨 . . I’ve been posting a fair few shots from this vague vicinity recently, and I don’t think there’s any particular reason for that other than I’ve taken a bunch of pics here this year, but I think this angle might be a new personal favourite, mostly because, at least in the rain or snow, you get a decent bit of colour in both the background and foreground, and because the people crossing the street are a nice distance away 🚶🏻‍♀️☔️🌃 . . . . . #nightshooters #urbanromantix #streetgrammers #dof _addicts #urbanandstreet #streetactivity #discovertokyo #nightphotography #streetclassics #streetmobs #citykillerz #rawurbanshots #streets _vision #darkmobs #depthobsessed #bokeh _shotz #toneception #killaframez #japancityblues #ourmoodydays #street _ninjas #visualgrams #agameoftones #art _of_japan_ #epicimagez #moodygrams #shotsdelight #explorejpn #tokyocameraclub

Standing in the back . . . . Well, with the temperatures getting up into the 30s and the forecast showing nothing but rain and clouds over the coming weeks, it’s finally starting to feel like a Japanese summer. And so I thought it’d be very fitting to mark the occasion with a photo featuring the cold, dry air and clear blue skies of autumn 🙃☀️📷 . . Getting my shots of Mt. Fuji over Kawaguchiko Lake, framed by a wreath of vivid-red maple leaves, was one of my main photography goals of last year, and had been, I guess, for many years prior, and so even though the conditions weren’t perfect, I was pretty pleased to find that one remaining tree and that one decent frame. It still wasn’t the ideal line-up, but pickings were slim and there’s always next (actually this) year 🤷🏼‍♂️🍁🗻 . . . . . #urbanandstreet #urbanromantix #agameoftones #dof _addicts #createcommune #killaframez #depthobsessed #ourmoodydays #streetclassics #streetmobs #citykillerz #rawurbanshots #streets _vision #darkmobs #discovertokyo #bokeh _shotz #shotsdelight #visualgrams #japancityblues #art _of_japan_ #epicimagez #moodygrams #toneception #explorejpn #tokyocameraclub

Don’t mind us . . . . Well it seems like the rainy season is having a bit of a slow and staggered start here in Tokyo, as it’s been raining on and off on pretty much alternating days, which I guess is better than getting like 20 consecutive days of just solid, unceasing rain, like we’ve had in previous years. I just hope the next downpour coincides with my next planned night shoot and not my next planned picnic 🤓☔️📷 . . I have a sort of love-hate relationship with this spot because on one hand it’s a nice symmetrical, cyberpunk street full of those typical Tokyo neons, and it has this nice big puddle that’s perfect for rainy reflections, but I also seem to have trouble getting the edit right after the fact. It probably has a lot to do with my chosen “style” and makes me think I should really try and mix things up, but it’s still a fun challenge each time 🤷🏼‍♂️🎨✨ . . . . . #nightshooters #urbanromantix #streetgrammers #dof _addicts #urbanandstreet #streetactivity #discovertokyo #nightphotography #streetclassics #streetmobs #citykillerz #rawurbanshots #streets _vision #darkmobs #depthobsessed #bokeh _shotz #street _ninjas #killaframez #japancityblues #ourmoodydays #toneception #visualgrams #agameoftones #art _of_japan_ #epicimagez #moodygrams #shotsdelight #explorejpn #tokyocameraclub

Half the way over . . . . When I hit up this once pretty classic Tokyo photo spot for the first and only time, I was determined to cover as many composition possibilities as I could, which was a pretty good call, seeing as the spot no longer exists. I therefore snapped more or less the whole time I was eating (which is a clue as to the location), and managed to get a couple like this with the train halfway across 🤓🚈🏙 . . I was also lucky that the weather changed while I was there, meaning I could get shots in both the dry and the wet, and this was taken just as the rain started, when the sky got nice and hazy (which may have been emphasised somewhat in the edit). It’s a shame I couldn’t get the nighttime version of this iconic urban scene, but I’m sure someone will discover a similar vantage point sooner or later... 👀🌃📷 . . . . #urbanandstreet #urbanromantix #agameoftones #dof _addicts #createcommune #killaframez #depthobsessed #ourmoodydays #streetclassics #streetmobs #citykillerz #rawurbanshots #streets _vision #darkmobs #discovertokyo #bokeh _shotz #toneception #visualgrams #japancityblues #art _of_japan_ #epicimagez #moodygrams #shotsdelight #explorejpn #tokyocameraclub

Across the stars . . . . I don’t often take photos from vantage points high above the city, as I’m usually down at street level, crawling around in the rain-soaked filth of the Tokyo underbelly like the little urban night photography nerd that I am, but now and again I’ll venture higher up and try to capture the futuristic cityscape from above, in all its sprawling, glittering glory 🌃🗼✨ . . I think I took this before the new Azabudai Hills building opened, back when it was still just a growing architectural eyesore that pretty much ruined that classic Tokyo Tower composition you could get from this spot, which is partly why I aligned the wider shot to the right. I’ve mixed things up and put the pan shots first this time, as I quite liked that tighter frame, but still not sure which works better 🤷🏼‍♂️🖼📷 . . . . . #nightshooters #urbanromantix #streetgrammers #dof _addicts #urbanandstreet #streetactivity #discovertokyo #nightphotography #streetclassics #streetmobs #citykillerz #rawurbanshots #streets _vision #darkmobs #depthobsessed #bokeh _shotz #toneception #killaframez #japancityblues #ourmoodydays #shotsdelight #visualgrams #agameoftones #art _of_japan_ #epicimagez #moodygrams #street _ninjas #explorejpn #tokyocameraclub

Pushing through . . . . I’m vaguely sticking with my vague and inconsistent Platform Shot Monday theme again this week, and I’ve also gone back a couple of seasons to the wintertime again because I guess I still have a lot of snowy snaps saved up. I also haven’t taken that many interesting new shots lately, at least not during the daylight, and so I once again find myself digging into the recent (or not-so-recent) archives 🤷🏼‍♂️☃️📷 . . As with most of my photos of Tokyo in the snow, I was very tempted to go blue in the edit of these two, too, as a hazy backdrop and particles in the air lend themselves very well to that more colourful, moody, futuristic look. But I’m a little limited on options for my non-blue posts so I stuck with the more muted, warmer-temp edit for that first one... was that the right call? Did that cheeky bicycle capture deserve some cool blue hues? Who’s to say? 🙃🚉🚲 . . . . . #urbanandstreet #urbanromantix #agameoftones #dof _addicts #createcommune #killaframez #depthobsessed #ourmoodydays #streetclassics #streetmobs #citykillerz #rawurbanshots #streets _vision #darkmobs #discovertokyo #bokeh _shotz #street _ninjas #visualgrams #japancityblues #art _of_japan_ #epicimagez #moodygrams #shotsdelight #explorejpn #tokyocameraclub

Off duty in Akiba . . . . It was pretty nice and sunny today, but Japan’s rainy season is well on its way, if it hasn’t arrived already, which means I can now look forward to many consecutive days of miserable commutes to work, but also many more opportunities to go out taking photos in the rain and create those nerdy, “cinematic” cyberpunk scenes that I apparently love so much 🤓☔️📷 . . Akihabara is clearly one of the best places for this, with all its colourful signage and lighting and its particular brand of “stereotypically Japanese” imagery (you know the sort), and I think this spot captures that look fairly well. And yes, I know this shot would look a lot cooler if the ambulance’s lights were flashing, but they weren’t on at the time of taking and I couldn’t be bothered photoshopping them in, so just stuck with the @lightroom edit 🤷🏼‍♂️🚑🎨 . . . . . #nightshooters #urbanromantix #streetgrammers #dof _addicts #urbanandstreet #streetactivity #discovertokyo #nightphotography #streetclassics #streetmobs #citykillerz #rawurbanshots #streets _vision #darkmobs #depthobsessed #bokeh _shotz #shotsdelight #killaframez #japancityblues #ourmoodydays #street _ninjas #visualgrams #agameoftones #art _of_japan_ #epicimagez #moodygrams #toneception #explorejpn #tokyocameraclub

The next adventure . . . . It’s been a little while since I posted any pics that fall vaguely in line with my on-again-off-again Platform Shot Monday theme, and even longer since I posted any Shinkansen photos (if I ever have at all), so I’ve opted to go for this classic platform + train shot this week, complete with some cheeky grabs of the conductor. The lighting and framing might not be ideal but there we go 🤷🏼‍♂️🚄✨ . . I don’t often get chance to get shots of Japan’s famed bullet trains pulling into and out of stations because the platforms are usually separate from the regular trains, in Tokyo at least, and I very rarely ride them because — spoiler alert — they’re pretty dang expensive. And even if I did, I’d probably be showing up last minute for my train anyway and struggling to get a decent shot in time, like I did on this occasion 💁🏼‍♂️👨🏻‍✈️📷 . . . . . #urbanandstreet #urbanromantix #agameoftones #dof _addicts #createcommune #killaframez #depthobsessed #ourmoodydays #streetclassics #streetmobs #citykillerz #rawurbanshots #streets _vision #darkmobs #discovertokyo #bokeh _shotz #shotsdelight #visualgrams #japancityblues #art _of_japan_ #epicimagez #moodygrams #toneception #explorejpn #tokyocameraclub

Step out by yourself, or in with the crowd . . . . I figured I’d stick with the snow again for today’s night photography post, partly because I took a ton of snaps on that Tokyo snow day and probably too many to save until next season. I also don’t have time to edit more than a couple at a time, and so I sadly can’t be grouping a bunch together in a set of 10 like some of you legends do, so I guess I’ll just be randomly putting out Snowkyo shots throughout the year 🤷🏼‍♂️☃️⏳ . . I wanted to take full advantage of the relatively misty weather and get plenty of those low-angle shots with people and their big umbrellas framed against the city lights and a hazy night sky, like the kind you see in that moody cinematic or cyberpunk imagery. It proved a bit of a challenge, though, mostly due to the massive ice puddle that formed at the edge of the crossing, which interrupted the flow of foot traffic and blocked the best spots ☹️❄️📷 . . . . . #nightshooters #urbanromantix #streetgrammers #dof _addicts #urbanandstreet #streetactivity #discovertokyo #nightphotography #streetclassics #streetmobs #citykillerz #rawurbanshots #streets _vision #darkmobs #depthobsessed #bokeh _shotz #shotsdelight #killaframez #japancityblues #ourmoodydays #toneception #visualgrams #agameoftones #art _of_japan_ #epicimagez #moodygrams #street _ninjas #explorejpn #tokyocameraclub

Photos in the snow . . . . As per the wintertime snaps I shared a couple of weeks ago, I’ve gone back a season or two again for this Monday’s post, and this time back to the enchanting, snowy fantasyland of Ginzan Onsen. As I’m not overly adept in street photography, I don’t often post close-up shots of people by themselves, at least not without a discernible background, but I thought I’d stick with my recent theme of capturing interesting faces and charming moments 💁🏼‍♂️❄️📷 . . As I said in previous Ginzan posts, this famously picturesque place was even more touristy than I expected it to be, which made it hard to get decent compositions indicative of the village’s quiet, fairytale-like ambience. I therefore spent a while finding compositions with those tourists themselves and all the impassioned posing and photo-taking they were doing. I wasn’t sure which to put first, but I’m sure you’ll tell me if I made the right call 🤓🤳🏼☃️ . . . . . #urbanandstreet #urbanromantix #agameoftones #dof _addicts #createcommune #killaframez #depthobsessed #ourmoodydays #streetclassics #streetmobs #toneception #rawurbanshots #streets _vision #darkmobs #discovertokyo #bokeh _shotz #street _ninjas #visualgrams #japancityblues #art _of_japan_ #epicimagez #moodygrams #shotsdelight #explorejpn #tokyocameraclub

The last mad dash . . . . If you’re not big into crowds and panic, then you’ll probably want to avoid last train on a Saturday night, especially in the more bustling parts of Tokyo, like Shinjuku and Shibuya. It is, however, a pretty good time and place to take photos, as the neon lights and shop signs are usually still on, and you get to capture all kinds of characters and moments as the night draws to a close 🌃👀📷 . . I didn’t notice until making my edits that this chap I caught sprinting across the road was actually looking right down the lens and giving me a cheeky grin. I later noticed in the second shot, however, that this grin might have been more a look of anguish as he urges his tired legs to get him to the station in time. If so, it’s entirely relatable, and he still probably looks a lot cooler than I would in the same situation 🤷🏼‍♂️😫🏃🏼‍♂️ . . . . . #nightshooters #urbanromantix #streetgrammers #dof _addicts #urbanandstreet #streetactivity #discovertokyo #nightphotography #streetclassics #streetmobs #citykillerz #rawurbanshots #streets _vision #darkmobs #depthobsessed #bokeh _shotz #toneception #killaframez #japancityblues #ourmoodydays #shotsdelight #visualgrams #agameoftones #art _of_japan_ #epicimagez #moodygrams #street _ninjas #explorejpn #tokyocameraclub