12 visits to Hanegi Park: Lessons from a 10% Success Rate

Hanegi Park, located in Setagaya, Tokyo, is one of the city’s premier destinations for the Setagaya Ume Matsuri (Plum Blossom Festival). Featuring over 600 plum trees, the park typically reaches peak bloom between mid-February and early March. Achieving a ‘success rate’ in photography here requires precise timing, as peak flowering lasts only a few days.

Hanegi Park has a plum blossom festival every spring. I’ve skipped it maybe three times, once when the pandemic was on, another when I was sick, and the last was due to bad weather and timetable problems. The event has a bunch of street stalls that sell yakisoba, sausages, okonomiyaki, and amezaki, all the typical Japanese street food. Some homemade and garden items are on sale, too. I skip that entirely. My target is just to photograph the flowers. But, I’ve a secret. I’ve only ever had one year that I’ve been happy with the images I’ve taken there.

Can you imagine that? I was only happy with one out of twelve. That’s a pretty bad success rate. After reviewing these photos, and reliving that sense of disappointment for another year I started thinking. What am I doing wrong?

There’s a saying attributed, probably wrongly, to Einstein. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Do you know it? I think he said it with me in mind.

Lack of intention and storytelling

For the first few years at least of my photography career, I suffered from “pretty thing click” syndrome. I just aimed the camera and pressed the shutter button. No attention was paid to composition, lighting or anything else for that matter. It’s a problem I’ve been struggling with for years.

Why HSS flash changed the game

Shooting flowers, especially small ones in natural daylight isn’t a good look, as far as I’m concerned. Shooting them with an HSS flash is the way to go. The darker background and bright subject look stunning. Those images really pop. Of course, this is subjective. You might have a different opinion.

The best plum blossom shots I ever took were at Hanegi Park in 2021 using HSS. Those photos will be my next post, so you can judge for yourself.

The struggle: Gear weight vs. creative vision

Why haven’t I taken out my flash more I hear you say. Well, one reason is that I didn’t discover that technique until about 2018 or 19. But there’s more of course.

Then there is the gear factor. Carrying around all of this stuff gets heavy. Since I can only shoot one or two days a week maximum (sometimes none), I try to squeeze in as much as I can. There was a time I’d do two or three locations a day. Carrying around cameras, flashes and everything can be quite a load especially when making multiple train trips. Travel light is a message I hear from my subconscious.

Moving beyond “Meh”

Another problem is that I go to places, take photos, go home and process them, eager to put them on my website. The images aren’t bad photos. They’re in focus, they’re exposed correctly, for the most part. In short, they’re just ‘meh.’ They have no soul. I doubt they turn anyone’s head.

Maybe Einstein was right

So, what can I say? I’ve been doing pretty much the same thing over and over. There are a few good images on my hard drive, but they are far and few between. Am I repeating the same mistake endlessly?

Does anyone suffer from a similar problem? How do you deal with it? I’d love to hear how you push past these problems in the comments below. By the way, if you want to learn more about this event, see the official Setagaya Plum Blossom Festival website.

Photography gear for this shoot:

Camera body: Canon EOS R5
Lens: Canon RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM

Date of Photos: 15 February 2026

Are you ready to see the blossoms for yourself? I’ve compiled [A Guide to the Setagaya Ume Matsuri at Hanegi Park] which has all the information you need to know about the event.