In July, we met Masanori Sugiura. Though on commission for creative work, this photography and film work is actually his hobby!
In this third article, he shows us some of his techniques through discussion of a shoot done at Houzuki-ichi, the Chinese lantern plant market at Tokyo’s Sensouji temple.
There are a large number of festivals in Tokyo from July to August. The photos are of the Houzuki-ichi (Chinese lantern market) festival on July 9th and 10th.
Festivals are for crowds, that’s a fact. Personally, I like the atmosphere before a festival. The Chinese lantern plant market features over 100 open-air stalls selling the plants. The quiet hum of a variety of stalls being set up at the festival site, the famous Sensouji temple in Asakusa, creates a very particular atmosphere, one you won’t feel once people come streaming in later at night.
Early morning is the best time to take photos because there are fewer shadows, so the subjects appear more vivid. The combination of the green leaves of the Chinese lantern plant and its red flower in the photo below is positively dazzling.
For this shoot, we were curious about the effect of arriving at the site of the shoot a bit earlier. When the direction of the sun’s rays are taken into account, it becomes apparent that different effects can be achieved just by changing the exact time the photos are shot.