Shot on the final day of a week-long trip to Tokyo earlier this year, this photo series was an experiment in capturing the beautiful Hama Rikyu Gardens (a location bursting with colour on a sunny February afternoon) in a black-and-white format.
Equipped with a Panasonic Lumix S5IIx, plus a 20-60mm kit lens, I used the pre-installed Leica Mono LUT with exposure compensation set a few notches darker to counteract the overly harsh sunlight, allowing me to focus on deep shadows and carefully chosen highlights. My goal was to ignore the obvious colour available in the location and instead try to capture the calm atmosphere provided by this zen-like garden. The tree cover gave interesting light and texture that indulged my tendency towards a cinematic, film noir look.
Location: 1-1 Hamarikyuteien, Chuo City, Tokyo 104-0046, Japan
Hama-rikyū Gardens is a metropolitan garden in Chūō ward, Tokyo, Japan. Located at the mouth of the Sumida River, it was opened to the public on 1 April 1946. A landscaped garden of 250,216 m² includes Shioiri-no-ike, and the garden is surrounded by a seawater moat filled by Tokyo Bay. (Wikipedia)