Japan Photography Workshop

For me, Japan is where my love for travel all began. I’m sure I’m not alone in that sentiment. Japan is the sort of country that tugs at the heartstrings. So, I’m excited to dig even deeper into Japan.

In 2025 and 2026, I’ll have 3 different photography workshops in Japan. All of them will focus at finding lesser known photo spots within the country.

Though we’ll be starting and ending the trip in Tokyo, we won’t be setting the sights of our lenses on cities too much. Rather, we’re going to dig deep into the underrated beauty, nature, and landscapes of this incredible country.

The first trip will be a fall photography Japan tour in 2025. Then in 2026, there will be another autumn photo tour followed by a trip in the winter. And, honestly, it doesn’t matter which trip you pick – they’re all going to be awesome.

The Workshop Itinerary

The beauty of this trip is the flexibility.

At this point, the only known is that we’ll start and end the trip in Tokyo. Since our goal is autumn colours, once we get closer to knowing when the colours blooms, we’ll make a more concrete plan. If the fall colours are only popping in the north, we’ll head north. If they’re in the mountains around Nagano, we’ll head there. If the fall colours are in the south, that’s where will focus.

With a small group (and my access to flexible hotel bookings) we’ll be able to hop around the country chasing the absolute best views, and best photographs, while still maintaining the security of a group trip.

Book Here:

To reserve your space on this trip, please pay the deposit below. Before booking, please read the terms and conditions of payment here. If the tour is sold out, or you have any questions, please send me an email to inquire (brendanvanson at gmail dot com).

Photos of Japan

Attached is a gallery of some of my photos from Japan. It’s worth noting that I haven’t been fall colour chasing in Japan, so none of these images showcase how special it looks in the autumn.

Meet The Workshop Instructors

Brendan has been a professional travel photographer for over a decade. Over those years, he’s visited well over 100 countries and worked for some of the world’s most renowned companies and publications.

His journeys around the world are documented on his travel photography YouTube Channel.

FAQs For the Japan Photography Workshop

What Style Trip is This?
This is a scouting trip.
On scouting trips, we keep things flexible and we explore. These trips are as close as it gets to feeling what it’s like to be on a travel photography assignment. We don’t take a lot of downtime, and explore/photograph as much as we can.

Find out the difference in my trips here.

Is the Deposit Refundable?
Yes. The deposit is refundable up to 90 days before the tour’s start date. I do charge a 10% fee. You also have the option to move your deposit onto another trip or to keep on file as credit without a fee.

What’s a Single Supplement?
If you’re booking solo, you’ll be paired up with a roommate of the same gender as the pricing is based on double occupancy. However, if you’d like your own private single accommodation you can pay the single supplement.

When are Final Payments Due?
We send a request for final payments about 180 days before the tour’s start date. Final payments are due 90 days before the tour’s start date.

What does the average day on tour look like?
Honestly, no two days will be the same. So it’s kind of hard to predict. However, I will say that we will be putting some time into making photos! Some days can be long, but there is usually downtime in the middle of the day to relax and catch up on sleep – or photo editing.

500-700am: Sunrise Photo Shoot
8am: Breakfast
9-11am: Location scouting
noon-2pm: Lunch
2-5pm: Location Scouting
5-7pm: Sunset Photography
7-830pm: Dinner
8:30-1030pm: Free time or night photography option in certain areas.

Obviously, most participants won’t be able to do everything (without exhausting themselves) so everything is optional.

Will we be there for Fall Colours?
Obviously, I can’t guarantee anything. However, in Japan the autumn colours vary wildly depending on where you are. In the north, they happen in mid-October, in the south as late as mid-December. We’re going mid-November in hopes of catching the autumn in the mountain regions. But if we’re late, we’ll travel south. If we’re early we’ll travel north. It would be extremely unlikely for us to not hit any fall colours at all.

Can’t Join Us?

If you can’t join us in Japan but would like information on future travel photography workshops around the world, please sign up to the newsletter below.

At the moment we have trips to places like Namibia and Canada – among many other amazing photography destinations. We’d love for you to join us out in the world.