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Maedori photography in Winter.
Winter in Japan is an amazing season which has a lot to offer in terms of seasonal foods, activities and sceneries, if you don’t mind the cold!
And even if you do, a warm jacket, a pair of gloves, a matching scarf and some hot beverage will suffice to allow you to have a proverbial wonderful winter time.
During this season Japanese pre-wedding photography becomes somehow limited in terms of locations, due to the ubiquitous presence of naked branches and dormant flora which is not particularly preferred by Japanese (however most of our foreign client have found beauty even in winter Japan). It is this barren time in nature that, here in Kyoto Maedori Bishouen, we like to use as an excuse to turn our lens towards the elegant examples of traditional Japanese architecture that are abundant in our city; temples and shrines, as well as the traditional neighborhoods of Kyoto become the main stage for most of our winter sessions. It is during this season that we make use of the temple’s wood floors, tatami rooms and paper screen doors to highlight the groom and bride’s Kimonos and to capture the uniqueness of these traditional Japanese spaces.
Thanks to some of Kyoto’s vernacular location’s own traditional colors and aesthetics, places like Gion are still within the range of favorable options for winter wedding and pre-wedding sessions. At times these places offer sights as delightful as the ones you could find during sakura o autumn leave season; for example, sometimes luck smiles in our way, and Yasaka’s Pagoda covered in snow offers itself in this winter dress for some lucky couple posing in front of it, other times it is in the form of snow gently falling during the session that we are able to create beautiful bokeh images within the streets of Gion or Yasaka.
When having a session during winter time, here at Kyoto Maedori Bishouen, we ask from our costumers two simple but important things in order to ensure the session runs smoothly. First, it is very important to come after having a good breakfast, this for two reasons, first that the session requires a lot of energy from part of the bride and groom, and second, because wearing a Kimono with an empty stomach can be very demanding to the body, specially on those that wear a Kimono for the first time.
The second thing we ask is for the broom and bride to bring thermal underwear. Although the bride’s Kimono requires several layers and she wears a formal wedding coat (Irouchikake) the lower part of the body can be a little cold. The groom’s attire is completely the opposite, quite light on the upper and lower parts, therefore in the case of men thermal underwear becomes a crucial point for a comfortable session. The groom should bring a long sleeved, wide v-neck thermal underwear. It is very important that the v-neck is wide, if it is too short and close to the neck it will show, and become a visual hinderance , a problem that can be easily avoided with the proper clothes.
If you are planning to visit Japan this winter, and are thinking about having a photographic session in Kyoto, do not hesitate to contact us, we are happy to receive your mails, phone calls or zoom calls and to help with any and all questions you might have and to provide you all information you might need.