Spring is one of the best times to see and photograph Kyoto and great shots are to be had regardless of the gear you're using. I've always found it difficult to shoot the cherry blossoms, so I decided to focus on something else and use the out of focus blossoms as a frame instead of the main subject. The blossoms were bright so I dialled in a value of +1 1/3 on the exposure compensation so we can still just see the man's eye in the shade of his hat. The exposure compensation function on your camera is a valuable ally in getting correct exposures in-camera, and is something we explore on our workshops. To learn more have a look at the workshops page.
Canon EOS 50D 1/100 second F/5.6 ISO 100 235 mm