Is a Tokyo Photoshoot Worth It?

A Tokyo photoshoot is worth it if you want to be in your own travel photos, and almost certainly if you travel alone or are always the one holding the camera.

Check Cinematic Street Photoshoot dates

For about US$100 to US$250 you get an hour with someone who knows where the light is, gets you to relax and catches the moments between poses, and 70 to 150 edited photos. It is not worth it if one photo at Shibuya Crossing is all you want.

What the money buys

You could take a selfie at the crossing for free. What you are paying for is everything around it: a photographer who knows which side street is quiet at 9 pm, who directs you so the pictures look like you rather than a pose, and who works the light. On the Cinematic Street Photoshoot, that is 80 to 100 colour-edited photos and 15 fully retouched ones from 45 minutes, for about US$118 each for a couple.

What reviewers say

The reviews are consistent about the experience as much as the photos. One couple booked it to mark the end of their holiday in Japan and were taken through Shibuya by photographers they called energetic; another arrived exhausted on their last day and said that once it started it was the best part of it. On the neon photo tour, two people who were not used to posing say the photographer made them comfortable straight away.

When it is not worth it

• You want one photo. Ask another visitor at the crossing, or book the 15-minute Shibuya Crossing session instead of an hour.
• You want to learn photography. That is a photo tour with lessons, not a photoshoot.
• Your day is too full. A shoot squeezed between trains is rushed; give it its own hour, ideally after dark.

The cheaper ways in

The cost guide has the full ladder. The neon night or daylight photo tour is the best value per person at about US$96, and for a group the custom vacation photographer at about US$281 for up to eight works out cheapest per head.