Fun, smile-filled outdoor photo shoots!
Okinawa Photo Shoot: Kokusai Street & American Village
A beer on Kokusai Street and photos of the bride and groom in a windy American Village
Haisai! I’m author S.
Today’s photos are from an Okinawa photo shoot. I’ll show you the photos I took on Kokusai Street and in American Village. I prefer shooting on bright, sunny days with strong sunlight.. but I kept getting rain, strong winds and all sorts of chaos whenever I went out to shoot.. so I’m a little embarrassed to show you photos with filters I don’t even particularly like.
Okinawa Photo Shoot Summary
A shoot with a bride and groom that began on Kokusai Street and continued in American Village on another day.
Details
The wind was strong, but at least it was warm enough that day to take photos like these. Kokusai Street is closed to vehicles every Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., so I can shoot right in the middle of the road with ⭐️TOTAL⭐️CONFIDENCE⭐️.
I can plan shots and direct poses too, but candid photos are in fashion these days, so I often shoot as though I’m photographing celebrities at the airport. Left to your own devices, you won’t do anything, so I keep offering hints about things you could do.
Just relax when you come along and enjoy an easygoing shoot. There’s really nothing difficult about it. I’ve done over 4,000 photo shoots.
When I was in Korea, I did a lot of work photographing celebrities’ airport outfits and everyday lives, and I’ve met plenty of business leaders too.. so unless you’re, say.. Donald Trump? Or Elon Musk, you’re unlikely to faze me.
No cars? Got to make the most of it. I usually do this sort of shot.. on shoots with kids, you see? I tried it without thinking much about it, and I think it turned out pretty well.
Individual portraits come out of shots like these. I don’t specifically have you stand separately for them. Of course, I can if that’s what you’d like.
I had something planned.. Blue Seal hadn’t had a single customer before we met, but by the time I went over to take photos, it was packed.. February always seems to have it in for me. Even when the weather’s nice, the moment I head out for a shoot.. it starts raining..
There’s a lot of eating in my photos.
Eating is what you do most with the person you love, after all. Things feel a bit dull without food.
Well.. no need to make a big production of it. I work at lightning speed.
Time for you two to take a walk with your gelato.
I also try shots that look as though they haven’t noticed the camera while browsing the market. Of course, you do your thing, and I take the photos.
That almost supernatural skill I used on Charles Bridge (Karlův most) in Prague, keeping every Asian person out of the frame, is no use here. Because everyone’s Asian.. So I let you blend into the crowd a little. I still make sure you stand out in the photos, though. You look like people genuinely enjoying a trip.
When you see lanterns like those while walking along, nine times out of ten it’s an izakaya. I had them stop briefly for this shot.
Photo proof that you’ve been to Okinawa. This one is posed, of course.
I don’t direct every last finger the way I would on a wedding shoot. Just easy and relaxed 😀
I capture shots like these too. Enjoying a beer together!
Who’s going to take photos like these for you? I am.
Honestly.. I came to Japan because I wanted to take photos like these.
They feel so true to life, don’t they? Or is that just me? When I take photos like these.. I think, yes.. this is real life, this is what candid photography is all about! Something like that?
They enjoy their conversation.. and I capture them just as they are. Of course.. if things get too flat and dull, I step in.
Don’t ask me. The bride just did this, so I took the photo.
I told them to drink their beer as slowly as possible.. but the food took forever to grill -_-;;
Good food and a fun shoot. That’s all that matters!
🍤🍤 Grilled shrimp to go with the beer~
I showed them how to do this a few times, and they kept using it xD
After a beer like this.. we wrapped up the shoot on Kokusai Street. We arranged to meet in American Village to continue the shoot next.
A different day.. and the weather has it in for me again.
The shoot starts at sunset.. and it’s a total washout. Can’t give up, though. I find a way to keep going!
Good thing the bride came with her hair tied back.. otherwise she’d have looked like Sadako..
Well.. the wind is so strong I can barely do anything properly, so I take shots like these.
The wind.. is really just too strong. It’s hard even to stand properly.. and I thought it could be dangerous if anything came flying at us, so I took one shot and we got out of there straight away.
We stopped at a café inside American Village.
When I was in Korea, I used to take so many café shots during couples’ photo shoots. There was barely a café near Hyehwa-dong (혜화동) or Bukchon (북촌) I hadn’t been to..;
Conditions are hopeless for a shoot, so I take shots like these. That day.. had the strongest winds I’d experienced since coming to Okinawa.
I didn’t ask them to do this, but it’s fun, so I capture it too.
Just casual souvenir photos. Of course, I shot them in 10K, so they’ll still look crisp by the time you have grandchildren.
This is the area where you’ll find Churahama, a place I recommend. Taking in American Village at night~
🥰 I did ask them to kiss.
Your everyday tutorial on making a headlock look pretty 🧐
You can discuss the kinds of shots you’d like during the booking consultation. Unless you have any particular requests, I just go with the flow 😀
Time to catch a moment. I’m quite far away from them here, so it’s hard to communicate. It’s good to go over shots like these beforehand. Well.. just do what you normally do together. I’ll spot the moments to capture.
No need to make every photo grand and dramatic. They look so lovely just walking like this!
Because the groom’s surname is Lee..
And that’s how we finish, nice and relaxed!
Easy, right? During the booking consultation, they asked for easy, relaxed, natural shots, so that’s how I approached the shoot. Well.. that’s how I’ve been working lately, but if you’d like lots of planned shots, I can do that too! It’s just.. I’ve done so many shoots that I can handle pretty much anything xD
That’s it for today’s photos from Okinawa.
Mata yasai! 👋
Booking Information
I’m currently doing a lot of shoots in Gyeongju. You’ll find booking information and contact details on the Sarangbi Snap page.
I’m not currently taking bookings for Okinawa photo shoots, and I’m sharing this post as a portfolio. My Okinawa rates were 250,000 KRW for a 1-hour daytime shoot and 300,000 KRW for a 1-hour sunset or night shoot, including 20 edited photos and 300 original photos. I’m currently based in Tongyeong, Geoje, Changwon and western Busan. For booking information and contact details, please visit the Sarangbi Snap page.
- The vehicle closure hours stated in the post are every Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. With no cars coming through, I could take photos in the middle of the road too.
- The shoot was meant to start at sunset, but the wind was so strong that it was difficult. It was the strongest wind I'd experienced in Okinawa, and in places where it was hard even to stand, I took one shot and we left straight away.
- Individual portraits come out of the shots I take while photographing you together. I don't specifically have you stand separately, but I can take separate portraits if you'd like.
- It means the photos are around 10,000 pixels wide. I used the term while describing the casual souvenir photos.
- I said that because the sign visible at the top of the smartphone in the photo reads “Lee.” People with the surname Lee often take photos in front of this sign.