Tokyo Forgeries

15/06/2026

Is the decisive moment luck? Is it skill? Can it become a habit?

The decisive moment isn't a lottery ticket. A Tokyo street photographer on Ueno, a soft-rendering 50mm, and turning effort into a better, more consistent hit rate.

11/06/2026

Ask a street photographer how they work, and they'll describe their method without knowing they're describing themselves. The hunter who can't stay still. The fisher who builds the frame before anyone walks into it. New essay on the two disciplines — and what your instinct says about you. Link in comments.

Ask a street photographer how they work and they'll describe their method without knowing they're describing themselves. The hunter who can't stay still. The fisher who builds the frame before anyone walks into it.

10/06/2026

Field Notes — 10 June 2026. Spent the day moving through Tokyo — no fixed destination, just walking with mixed vintage Nikkors until something stopped me.

Most of street photography is that: staying in motion long enough for the city to give you something. Today made me work for it. In my experience, that usually means the frames are worth keeping.

— Jeff

09/06/2026

Yamanote Line at Akihabara.

07/06/2026

I was recently published in PetaPixel

https://petapixel.com/2026/06/06/twenty-years-one-city-what-tokyo-taught-me-about-patience-and-glass/

I am happy to contribute. All the best.

I've been shooting Tokyo for twenty years with vintage Nikkor glass. The same city. Largely the same lenses.

01/06/2026

The difficulty in being a street photographer. There are many days when you come home nothing. That’s not gear, the streets, or even bad luck, it’s all you. A crazy night in Shibuya that had my head spinning through all of the common street photography blocks and how I got through it.

A night in Shibuya with the Nikkor-H 85mm, five psychological blocks, and the quiet discovery that the photographs don't know the difference.

22/05/2026

Field notes on the Sanja Matsuri held this past weekend.

The Sanja Matsuri's history begins with two fishermen and a golden statue pulled from the Sumida River. Three days in Asakusa, two million people, one festival.

14/05/2026

Night time street photography with the vintage 50mm f1.4.

14/05/2026

I have spent the last several weeks with the beautiful Nikkor-H Auto 85mm f1.8 on the streets of Tokyo. here is my review.

Explore the Nikkor-H Auto 85mm lens in-depth through a review focused on Tokyo street photography, highlighting its unique and beautiful qualities.

11/05/2026

Field Notes — 11 May 2026. Spent the morning in Ikebukuro's west side entertainment district — the less-travelled streets, away from the main flow.

Locals, muted colour, pigeons and puffer fish. The vintage Nikkors suited it well. Quiet colour, nothing performing. A good morning for street photography.

— Jeff