Kiyose Sunflower Festival 2018
I’ve never been a big fan of sunflowers. So, I thought I wouldn’t enjoy this festival as much as others like hanami, the azaleas, and the plum blossoms. But, I had a change of heart after spending time with them in Kiyose City. It was fun photographing them in scorching hot. No, I’m not joking, it was a summer day of high temperature.
The festival surprised me, to be honest. Of course, I’d seen sunflowers before, but I’d never been to a farm filled with them. I didn’t think they’d be so big. They are enormous, and you can walk through 24,000 square meters of them. It was fun to walk through the fields of huge yellow flowers.
I took two lenses, the Fujifilm 10-24 and 55-200. The shorter lens would be the best performer, I thought. How wrong I was! I shot at 10 mm and f8, thinking that would yield sharp results.
When the shots were on my computer screen, I realized I had shot too close to the flowers. The backgrounds were a little out of focus; the bokeh didn’t look right. That was a blow. Next time I’ll shoot with the lens stopped down a little more, or I won’t get so close to the flowers.
The winner was the 55-200 mm. On the screen, its image quality looked great. The bokeh that the lens produced was superb. Stand back far enough from what you’re shooting, and it nearly doubles as a wide-angle lens! Well, a ghetto wide-angle, I should say. Shooting with that kind of lens for close-ups also requires more thought. And that means better photographs. In the end, it worked out well.
It was surprising how many people were there, even though it was a weekday. Next time, I might include more of them in my pictures. Humans are a part of the festival, after all!
If you ever go, you need to prepare. It is a summer event, and the heat can be considerable. There is very little to cover from the sun. They do have a couple of tents, but they get crowded. So, take hats and sunscreen because you could burn very quickly without them. And make sure you keep hydrated. It was 34°C with almost no cloud cover when I went, so I got sunburned.
And last, the bus from Kiyose station will be the best way to go. At peak times, they leave about once every twenty minutes. You might think that is pretty good. But as many people use them, wait times can be long. There is a shuttle bus on the weekends, but I haven’t used it yet.
For flower lovers, I recommend the Kiyose Sunflower Festival. If you are in Tokyo or will be one day in the future, make time to see this fantastic event. You’ll like it as much as I did.
2018 Kiyose Sunflower photo gear:
Camera body: Fujifilm X-T2
Lenses:
- Fujifilm XF 10-24 mm F4 R OIS WR
- Fujifilm XF 55-200 mm f/3.5-4.8 R LM OIS
Rohan Gillett
Rohan has lived in Tokyo for 30+ years. He loves photography and plans to capture the entire city.
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External related websites
- Kiyose City Sunflower Festival (official website)