Portrait Photography at a Japanese Restaurant … in Tokyo, Japan!

I am so lucky to have a job that allows me to travel! Especially, when it means I get to go to places I love, like Japan! At the end of January, I returned to Japan for the first time since leaving in 2008 to photograph a wedding. I was only in Japan for one week and had a lot of friends (and a lot of food and coffee drinks) to catch up with, but in addition to the wedding, I decided to take on one portrait photography session as well. High school senior portrait photography isn’t a popular at all in Japan, but instead, especially for women, it is common to get some portraits done for Coming of Age Day (Seijin no Hi). Wikipedia explains it better than I can:

[Coming of Age Day] is a Japanese holiday held annually on the second Monday of January. It is held in order to congratulate and encourage all those who have reached the age of majority (20 years old) over the past year, and to help them realize that they have become adults. Festivities include coming of age ceremonies (seijin-shiki) held at local and prefectural offices, as well as after-parties amongst family and friends.

So in honor of Ayumi turning 20 years old, we did a photography shoot with her wearing her kimono. As you can see, both Ayumi and her kimono were beautiful! Ayumi and her family had picked out a spectacular restaurant to use as the backdrop for our session and after we finished taking photographs, treated me to a delicious lunch (again, I am so lucky)!

 

Senior Portrait Photography | Olivia

I was contacted by Olivia’s mom with an all too familiar story.  Olivia had her senior portraits done by one of the large national photography studios recommended to them by their school and was not satisfied with the cookie cutter results.  So while it was a little later than usual to shoot senior portraits, we braved the cold, December weather  and I really enjoyed my last high school senior portrait session of 2009.  Olivia and her family were nice enough to welcome me into their lovely home and we were able to come away with some great shots!  Thanks again Olivia and hope the rest of your senior year is enjoyable and memorable!

 

Senior Portait Photography | Katja | Raleigh

Katja senior portrait session was such a blast! She was a natural in front of the camera and made my job really easy! There are some people, for whatever reason, just don’t feel comfortable in front of the camera– like me for example. Katja was totally the opposite and every photo seemed to come out great. I am so thankful for getting this opportunity and previous ones to get to know some students from my former school. Yay! Thanks again to Katja and her wonderful family!

 

High School Senior Portrait Photography | Raleigh | Melissa

Another senior portrait session with another awesome senior! It was such a pleasure to work with Melissa and her parents, and even more wonderful just to meet and get to know them. Just like my previous senior portrait session, Melissa was a natural in front of the camera! Even though it was about a million degrees, I was sweating up a storm and mosquitoes were attacking us, we managed to have a great time and come out with some great shots from her senior portrait session. There is still time for 2010 seniors to have your portrait session with Evan Pike Photography, please contact me for details!