Nikon D80 Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G VR @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/320thThough I have never photographed in New York or London, I am still absolutely sure that Tokyo is one of the top five cities for photography in the world, if not the best. So many factors contribute to how good a city is for photography that have nothing to do with photography itself, for example public transportation, safety, regulations restricting what can be photographed, etc. Tokyo excels in all those areas with a great train system, an absolutely safe city to walk around with a thousand dollar+ DSLR at any time of night and no restrictions on what can be photographed. Want to set up on a tripod in the train station, go ahead!
Then of course it has an incredibly rich source of photography subject matter. Perhaps what I have written so far should be for another future post. The photograph above was taken in the Suidobashi area of Tokyo, Japan. It is a central part of Tokyo, more toward the older, traditional side of the metropolis. There is an amusement park right in the middle of all the roads and buildings, surprisingly.
Using all 200m of reach I framed a mother and son in what looks like a converted airline food server tethered high above the sky in a series of elongated cables. I thought it looked like a great way to see the city. I never went up on the ride myself. So that is a tip for any current Tokyo photographer who wants what will undoubtedly be a unique vantage point.
A fuller view of a most unusual sky carousel in the middle of Tokyo.