Photographing the World: Japan II

Buy PTW Japan II and Get Another PTW Free!

With the launch of this new tutorial, Photographing the World Japan II - Discovering Hidden Gems, Elia Locardi wants to help push your landscape and cityscape photography to the next level with an incredible offer. If you buy Photographing the World Japan II, you will instantly get a second Photographing the World tutorial for FREE! Add this tutorial to your cart, and then add any of Elia's previous Photographing the World tutorials to redeem this two-for-one deal!

6 MONTH RADIANT PHOTO SOFTWARE INCLDUED!

With the release of Photographing the World Japan II, Fstoppers and Elia Locardi are also including a free 6-month copy of Radiant Photo ($90 value) with every purchase of this tutorial. This powerful software has become an essential part of Elia's workflow, and we want you to enjoy it at no additional cost by purchasing your tutorial. As with every tutorial in the Photographing the World series, Elia teaches you how to edit each image with minimal plugins and additional software, but he also wants to share the workflow he uses daily. If you want to follow along and incorporate Radiant Photo into your workflow, we are excited to give you this powerful software for six months, no strings attached!

*Once you purchase the tutorial, you will be sent an email with a link to your free software license. 

The Journey Continues: Discovering Hidden Gems

Landscape photographer Elia Locardi is back with a new tutorial that delves into many of Japan’s lesser-known gems. Part educational video and part travel guide, Photographing the World highlights Elia's most effective shooting and editing techniques against the stunning backdrop of Japan's most beautiful sites. As he explores these lesser-known landscapes and cityscape locations, you’ll witness how a seasoned photographer approaches new and exotic scenes for the first time. While this tutorial builds on his previous Photographing the World: Japan series, this latest installment introduces unique techniques and challenges designed to elevate your landscape photography.

Meet Your Instructor: Elia Locardi

Elia Locardi is a world-renowned travel photographer, keynote speaker, and experienced educator. His style of photography has been recognized and widely circulated in significant publications, including National Geographic, Elle, and Travel + Leisure. His work is frequently displayed in fine art galleries and venues worldwide.

Elia is passionate about photography and education, and his love for both has led him to work in over 70 countries and collaborate with major companies, governments, and tourism organizations worldwide. With over 20 years of experience in photography, production, and education, Elia has given more than 200 keynotes and lectures. This has led him to speak at venues such as Photokina, PhotoPlus Expo, InterBee, Visual Storytellers Conference, NAB, Post Production World, Adobe MAX, B&H Optic, Fujifilm Festival, Gulf Photo Plus, HIPA Dubai, National Geographic Aveiro Fest, and Xposure International Photography Festival. Additionally, he has worked with clients, including Instagram, Google, Fujifilm, Nikon, Adobe, Skylum, Wacom, CNET, and DJI Global.

WATCH A COMPLETE LESSON FOR FREE 

Want to watch a free lesson from this tutorial before purchasing?  Sign up for a free profile on Fstoppers and instantly stream Lesson 1 - Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple now!

The Hidden Gems in Japan

One of the greatest challenges any landscape photographer faces is finding unique locations that are both worthy of being photographed and not overly crowded with hundreds of tourists fighting for the same image. Elia Locardi has traveled throughout Japan dozens of times and has captured some of the most iconic landscapes the country has to offer, but for this tutorial, Elia wanted to mix it up and showcase some of the lesser-known locations. From the tranquil Wakayama gardens to the Daigo-ji Shingon Buddhist temple in Fushimi-ku to the boulder-clad beaches of Miho no Matsubara in Shizuoka, the locations in this tutorial are very different from the typical spots Elia has visited. In fact, during the filming of this tutorial, Elia visits many of these locations for the very first time himself.

Every one of these locations presents its own unique challenges, and each one provides the perfect backdrop for Elia to showcase his best techniques and photography tips. Whether you're gearing up for your first photographic adventure in the Land of the Rising Sun or have explored it before, these iconic Japanese landscapes offer an experience like no other!

What's Included in this Digital Download

• 11 unique video lessons (4K high-def videos files that you can stream on any device)
• Accompanying raw files and companion software catalogs to practice your own edits
• An overview of Elia's Latest Gear
• Access to Elia's private Photographing the World Facebook Group
• 6-month Radiant Photo Software license
• New Behind the Scenes Episodes of the Making of PTW Japan
• Access to discounts on many of Elia's favorite editing software, tools, and services

10+ Hours of Brand New Education

What makes the Photographing the World series truly unique is that you get an authentic glimpse into Elia's on-location experiences. You'll witness the highs and lows—the challenges, unexpected moments, and even the occasional setbacks! Each location brings its own set of trials, allowing you to see how Elia navigates his entire process from start to finish to capture the perfect shot. His aim is to not only showcase ideal conditions but also to provide a realistic perspective on the obstacles you might encounter in similar scenarios. By the end of this 10-hour masterclass, you’ll be inspired to enhance your landscape photography skills and make the most of every opportunity that arises.

Learn Elia's Latest On-Location Shooting Tips and Tricks

While many technical settings for capturing stunning landscapes remain consistent, true mastery lies in understanding how various factors combine to transform an ordinary photo into something spectacular. Throughout this tutorial, you will watch Elia explore each location to find the absolute best composition, identify the strengths and weaknesses of the scene, and work his way through the technical challenges each location offers. Because Elia has never visited these locations himself, this tutorial offers a unique perspective on making the most of your time so you can capture the best image possible in your own travels.

In one lesson, Elia books a specific hotel room overlooking Wakayama Castle so he can capture it multiple times throughout the day. Without moving the camera, Elia is able to capture three unique shots that offer a completely different perspective on the exact same location.

In yet another lesson, Elia shows how using a tilt-shift lens with a third-party adapter can allow you to capture cityscape photographs with little to no perspective distortion. Using a few different frames, he is then able to stitch together a vertical panoramic image and add car light trails to complete the final image.

Continue Learning in the Studio

As you can imagine, capturing each image in the field is just the first step in creating a great landscape photo. After each lesson, Elia takes you into his post-production studio, where he walks you through the editing process step by step. Each lesson in this tutorial includes the necessary raw files and companion software catalogs so you can follow along at your own pace.

As with all the Photographing the World tutorials, Elia begins with basic edits to help you master essential techniques. As each lesson progresses, the complexity increases, more advanced editing methods are introduced, and Elia showcases his favorite plugins and software. While 90% of his workflow relies on Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, this tutorial also offers insights into the supplemental software he uses to refine his final images.

Some of the many topics covered in this tutorial include:

• Capturing the "blue hour"
• Focus stacking images to expand depth of field and focus
• Selectively enhancing fall colors
• Luminosity masking and selective dodging/burning in Adobe Lightroom Classic
• Compound masking in Adobe Lightroom Classic and Adobe Photoshop
• Using camera profiles and LUTs
• Four-point perspective correction in Adobe Photoshop
• Combining day and night images (Elia Locardi’s signature time-blending technique)
• Adding micro-contrast to areas of skies to maximize visual leading lines
• Complex focus stacking techniques using Adobe Photoshop and Helicon Focus
• Finding the perfect long-exposure compositing and settings
• Using various solid and graduated neutral density filters
• Using a polarizer camera filter to reduce harsh lighting during daytime shoots
• Time blending and advanced layer stacking modes
• Smart Objects and using various modes and statistics
• Using 3rd Party Software: Radiant Photo, DxO Pure Raw, Helicon Focus, etc

One of Elia's signature techniques is capturing a well-balanced blue-hour shot of a cityscape and then adding additional building lights and car trails to the scene with an exposure taken later in the night. In this tutorial, Elia visits Tokyo Tower, one of the tallest Japanese structures located in the Shiba-koen district. With busy traffic, Elia walks you through his scouting process and how he remotely triggers his camera to safely capture this iconic skyline tower.

Urban landscapes are just one subject matter in Elia's quest to photograph hidden treasures of Japan. Throughout this tutorial, Elia will visit some of the most beautiful botanical parks and charming castle gardens during the highly picturesque fall foliage season. These tranquil locations are not to be missed when traveling to Japan, and although they are often excluded by photographers looking to capture the more iconic scenes of Japan, they offer the perfect backdrop for Elia to teach his techniques for bringing out the maximum separation and contrast during this vivid time of year.

Behind the Scenes of PTW Japan II

We are excited to announce that the entire production of Photographing the World: Japan II was documented, and a new behind-the-scenes series is included with this download! If you enjoy seeing what goes into producing one of these long-form tutorials, or perhaps you just like seeing Lee and Elia argue about the local cuisine, you are definitely going to enjoy watching this hilarious daily vlog.