2018 Kameido Tenjin Wisteria Festival

The 2018 Kameido Tenjin Wisteria Festival was disappointing. A sudden warm snap caused them to bloom early. It caught me unprepared. Even though the festival ran to May 6, it was over before April 22nd when I took these photos.

It shows that there are times when you can’t win in photography. No matter how hard you try, it is impossible to get what you want. A sudden change in the weather ruined my plans. Such is life!

I should have gone a week earlier, but I can only shoot once a week. It was a choice of either the wisteria or the azaleas at Nezu shrine. In the end, I chose the latter as there was a chance that the wisteria would still be blooming. My plan didn’t work out.

There was a chance that Kameido Tenjin’s wisteria wouldn’t look very good. But, it was still shocking when I finally walked onto the shrine’s grounds. It was mostly green, not purple. Only one section of the trellises had wisteria on it. Everywhere else was almost devoid of flowers.

Still, what was there in one section looked good.  While the flowers weren’t at their best, they were good enough for a few photographs.  But there was no way I’d give in and go home in defeat.  I worked with what I had and ended up with reasonable pictures.

In the end, it was another lesson in photography. No matter what the situation, it is important to try. If you work with what you have, you can get something. Never walk away without putting up a fight. Make sure you get some type of photo!

In the beginning, I was hoping to get some photos of the wisteria from Kameido Tenjin’s drum bridges. And maybe I’d get Tokyo Skytree too! But that was impossible as there was so much green. I decided to shoot from ground level and incorporate the shrine, torii gate, and people. It seemed to work out well. These pictures are satisfactory.

The shrine also has a chrysanthemum festival in autumn. That is well worth checking out. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.

What Fujifilm camera gear did I use for the 2018 Kameido Tenjin Wisteria?

Body:  Fujifilm X-T2

Lenses: Fujifilm XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR

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