Personal Update » Now Accepting Clients in Japan + Honorable Mention Award

Exciting news: Dani Benton Photography is now officially open for business in Japan! We arrived on Ōmishima island last February, started remodeling an abandoned house in April, received a Startup Business visa in June, opened Benton Guesthouse in November, and received a Business Manager visa in December. It’s all been very fast!

While our business, Benton Homestead, will primarily focus on the guesthouse, honeybees, and small-scale natural farming, I couldn’t imagine life without a camera in my hand! So of course photography is part of the overall plan.

Ōmishima island is rural, but attracts many visitors. It’s part of an archipelago known for the ‘Shimanami Kaido’, a series of seven white suspension bridges spanning the Seto Sea from Hiroshima prefecture to Ehime prefecture. Cyclists travel here from all over the world to ride their bikes across the beautiful bridges with calm inland sea views. So we’re really in a perfect location to catch tourists who may want to stay in our guesthouse, pick up some ‘omiyage’ honey jars, or bring home some portraits to commemorate their travels.

It seems only natural that my niche focus would be portraits for tourists. What better way to commemorate your travels, than with some portraits with a backdrop of the Seto Sea, or the steep mountains covered in forest and bamboo, or the striking white suspension bridges? I learned to embrace tourism opportunities back in New Orleans, where nearly 50% of my clients were visitors to the city, from another state or even another country. I loved walking the French Quarter or Audubon Park, taking portraits in iconic scenery. So I’d love to bring that experience to Japan!

In other news, I was encouraged to enter the annual ‘Shimanami Kaido’ wall calendar photography contest, as I had seen the beautiful printed calendars hanging in many homes and shops. I didn’t win, but I did receive an Honorable Mention, which came with a ¥1000 award (about $10). The photo that received the Honorable Mention is below. This is one of the suspension bridges, with Ikuchi island in the background, as viewed from the Family Mart convenience store parking lot. I took this photo my first week in Japan, while learning the layout of our new little island home!

So, it probably goes without saying that our year here in Japan has been pretty fast-paced. Between the immigration process, abandoned house renovation, business incorporation, abandoned farm land preparation, networking, planning, and street dogs (yes, you read that right), I feel like I haven’t stopped running since we arrived! I’m even stretching far beyond my comfort zone and filming videos for our Benton Homestead YouTube channel! But of course my camera has been by my side for photography as well.

Please enjoy a small sampling of a few highlights from my first year in Japan:

First, a tribute to my dear husband, who works so hard to make our dreams become reality:

And second, a tribute to all the rescue critters who’ve won our hearts the past year. Ponkan is our beloved orange street cat; we named him after one of the dozens of citrus varieties grown on the island. He was found begging for food at the convenience store, an angry, raspy, old guy. Over the past six months, he’s made very slow but steady progress towards being a sweet, cuddly housecat. Bosco is the best dog I ever found under an abandoned house! He was the fifth puppy we rescued, and at six or eight weeks old, he immediately won our hearts. He’s now about six months old, and is growing into a wild but smart little pup! There are many more street dogs living around our houses (including Bosco’s mom, dad, and grandma), so we’re feeding, befriending, and we even managed to get one caught and spayed. More on that in future blog posts!

Now I’m inspired to start updating y’all regularly again. I was on a roll while we were in Mexico, so I just need to get back into the swing of things. Of course, if you ever find yourself in rural Japan, stop by for a night in the guesthouse and some portraits!

You can find more of our guesthouse, honeybee, natural farming, and renovation content here:
Dani & Evan Benton | Benton Homestead | www.bentonhomestead.com
Currently getting settled on Omishima island, in Imabari, Ehime, Japan »
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Personal Update » Now Accepting Clients in Japan + Honorable Mention Award

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