Kylie & James’s Pre-wedding in Kyoto

Kylie and James came to Kyoto in April for a pre-wedding shoot, drawn to the city's old streets and temple architecture for a set of portraits with a classic, unmistakably Japanese backdrop.

They didn't want a generic couple's shoot. What they were after was Kyoto itself: the kind of laneways, gates, and rooflines that don't exist anywhere else, worked into portraits that would still feel like them years from now. April gave us soft, early-spring light to shoot in, gentle enough to hold detail in both the architecture and their faces without fighting harsh shadows.

The day moved at their pace rather than a shot list. We let Kylie and James wander through the city's classic corners, catching them mid-conversation and mid-laugh as often as posed. That's usually where the strongest frames come from: not the moment they arrange themselves for the camera, but the moment just after, when they forget it's there.

As a documentary-style wedding and elopement photographer based here in Japan (with a bilingual English and Japanese team, and work featured in British Vogue), this is the kind of story I love most: a couple already drawn to this country, letting its streets and light become part of how their own story gets told.

Vendor credits‍

• Photography: Sofia Hiramatsu Photography

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If you're dreaming of the same

Kyoto has a way of making a pre-wedding shoot feel like a small piece of cinema, and Kylie and James leaned into that fully. If you're picturing something similar against Japan's classic backdrops, I'd love to hear from you. For more on planning the timing around it, take a look at our guide to the best time to get married in Japan.