“Yoshi Onii-san” takes a photo shoot at the Matsuzaka Castle ruins! Learn how to take photos from photographer Masashi Asada [Part 1]

``Yoshi-oni-san'' is a former gymnast and is now the father of a 2-year-old child. In preparation for his debut as a dad cameraman, ``Yoshi Onii-san'' joins the Mie Travel Camera Club for one day only! Yoshi-onii-san will be taught basic camera operations and how to take family photos by Masashi Asada, a photographer from TsuCity who is the head of the Mie Travel Camera Department.

*This article is based on the content of the September 15th episode of ``Yoshi Onii-san is starting to look more like a dad'', which is broadcast every Wednesday on CBC TV's ``Chant!''.

What is “Yoshi Onii-san”?

His real name is Yoshihisa Kobayashi, who is the 11th generation gymnast on the NHK program "Okaasan to Issho." His nickname is "Yoshi Onii-san". After graduating from the program in 2019, he opened a Youtube channel `` Let's play with Yoshi Onii-san!''. The theme of the channel is "videos that are fun for children and safe for adults to watch," and the channel has over 100,000 subscribers.

Who is Masashi Asada?

Born in 1979 TsuCity, Mie Prefecture. After graduating from Japan College of Photography and Imaging, he became independent as a photographer. Publishes the photo book "Asada Family" (Akaakasha), which is a collection of family photos taken while attending vocational school, and wins the 34th Kimura Ihei Photography Award. He has held solo exhibitions both domestically and internationally, and has written many books. The photo books “Asada Studio Mannen” (Seigensha) and “Asada Studio Sennen” (Akaakasha) are also on sale.

What is Mie Travel Camera Club?

The Mie Prefectural Tourism Federation collaborates with photographers who love Mie to promote the Mie Travel Camera Club (launched on April 1, 2021), a club activity that communicates the charms of the prefecture through proud photographs. The club includes one advisor, manager Masashi Asada, and six other members, and they publish articles about what Mie has to offer from their respective perspectives.

"Yoshi Onii-san" learns how to take pictures

The meeting place for the two was the historic Matsusaka Castle Ruins in MatsusakaCity City, Mie Prefecture. This is the site of Matsusaka Castle, which was built by Ujisato Gamo in 1588, and a splendid stone wall still exists. Since it is also maintained as a park, it is a location where even beginner photographers can easily take pictures.

The Matsuzaka Castle ruins were also the filming location for the live-action movie Touken Ranbu, and the History and Folklore Museum inside the castle ruins displays scripts signed by the movie director and notebooks signed by the actors. There was a period when

Yoshi-niisan, who is new to SLR, is first taught the basic operations. He learned how to press the shutter and was enthusiastic about taking pictures.

The first photo point was the stone wall of the Matsuzaka Castle ruins. Unfortunately, it was raining that day, but the stone wall has a moist and solid appearance that you can only see on a rainy day.

Overwhelmed by the power of the stone wall, Yoshi-san immediately clicked the shutter. Here is one of them.

Yoshi Onii-san photo shoot ①

Photographed the upper part of the stone wall. This photo shows the stone walls stacked one on top of the other with no gaps between them.

Masashi Asada: ``It might be a good idea to keep in mind the moss on the stone walls when taking photos.Next time, let's take photos from a low angle.''

Both of them got into a low-angle position and began frantically firing the shutter. Here is a photo of Yoshi Onii-san who felt a sense of satisfaction.

Yoshi Onii-san photo shoot ②

Compared to the first photo, this photo shows the unevenness of the stone wall. The moss is also clearly visible.

Masashi Asada: ``You can see raindrops on the lens, but it's a good thing to see on a rainy day.''

Yoshi-nii-san may have amazing photography skills that can turn his natural enemy, the rain, into an ally.

Tips to take better photos

Masashi Asada: “There is a way to improve the quality of your photos.”

The method is called "plus-minus correction." This is a technique for adjusting the brightness of a photo by controlling the amount of light.

I want to make the photo brighter. This is a convenient function that can be used when you want to darken the image for an impressive effect.

Masashi Asada: ``When you set the brightness value to the negative side, it becomes darker, and when you set it to the positive side, it becomes brighter.''

After learning this method, Yoshi-san tries again with low-angle photography!

Yoshi Onii-san approaches the stone wall and holds the camera at a low angle. Here is one of my best photos.

Yoshi-onii-san photoshoot ③

By setting the brightness value to a negative value, the entire photo became dim, giving it a solid feel. This is a photo that can only be expressed by a stone wall.

How to adjust brightness on iPhone

Masashi Asada: ``A sun symbol will appear on the side of the screen, and you can do the same thing by moving it up and down.''

Yoshi-niisan, who didn't know about this method, looked surprised.

Faces that were dark due to backlighting now appear brighter. If you have an iPhone, you can put it into practice right away, so please give it a try.

"Yoshi Onii-san" photographing young ginkgo leaves

The two of them head to the next photo spot, "GojobanYashiki." Along the way, we come across young ginkgo leaves.

Despite the heavy rain, Yoshi-nii was so captivated by the sparkling greenery that he couldn't help but snap the photo. Here is one of them.

The young green leaves are shiny and a sight that is a feast for the eyes. The yellow-green ginkgo fruit adds to its cuteness.

Masashi Asada was surprised by how good the photo was! Yoshi-niisan's photography skills are steadily improving.

Yoshi-nii: “What are you thinking when you start taking pictures?”

Masashi Asada: ``When I think I'm beautiful, when I think I'm beautiful, when my heart moves, I try to find ways to express it in photographs little by little.''

Yoshi Onii-san: “After all, if your heart doesn’t move, your photos won’t turn into something good.”

Masashi Asada: “Basically, yes.”

``Yoshi Onii-san'' learns the secrets of photography from a photographer. Next, we will try our hand at taking family photos at GojobanYashiki.

(Next preview) Practical photoshoot at GojobanYashiki

The photo shoot at GojobanYashiki will be published in an article on September 22nd. You can read the article about the September 22 broadcast of ``Yoshi Onii-san is starting to look more like a dad'' on CBC TV, so please look forward to it.

Photo/Text: Fugamaru-chan

Regarding "Yoshi-niisan, you're starting to look more like a dad"

A segment aired every Wednesday on the CBC TV program "Chant!" Introducing the charms of Mie Prefecture, located almost in the center of the Japanese archipelago, from a father's perspective. This is a program in which ``Yoshi Onii-san'', who is growing as a father every day, uses the knowledge of Mie Prefecture he has learned so far to convey information about Mie from a more mature perspective.

Past broadcast contents are published on the official website of "Chant!"​