Spent an amazing 12 days in Hokkaido photographing the winter snowy landscape with Martin Bailey's on his workshop. Our group consisted of 14 photographers from around the globe! Australia, UK, New Zeland, Portugal, Washington, Seattle & of course da 2 local boys from Hawai'i! Everyone got along so well, no drama & lots of Aloha!
We started out in Haneda & flew to Hokkaido as a group. From the time we arrived in Hokkaido we started shooting as we made our way to Biei. My most favorite place to shoot on this whole trip was in Biei!!! The trees & snow-covered slopes were, in my opinion, the highlight of the tour with the Torii Gates in Haboro a very, very close 2nd!!!
I was able to capture 1 sunrise & 2 sunsets. However in this climate, setting up for the capture, something that would normally take me 5 minutes, here at home, to set up my camera, tripod, ND filters & shutter release, took me 15 minutes as I was encumbered with my thick gloves & heavy jacket. I ended up taking off my gloves & enduring the pain from the cold until I was finally set up & ready to shoot.
We had a fairly tight schedule but there were some down times to relax & catch up on my editing. After dinner, I learned a few tips & tricks from Martin & Eric's mini-workshops. 12 days & 6 hotels later it had to come to an end sadly. Made friends with some wonderful like-minded people & came away from this experience a better photographer & person! Aloha to all my new friends & goodbye to the cold, cold snow, which isn't that bad for this local boy!!!
A big Mahalo to my bruddah Dave, for showing me around Tsukiji Marketplace & keeping me company throughout the tour!
If anyone is interested in Martin's 2020 Hokkaido Winter Landscape Adventure, please follow this link to his website. Unfortunately, I just checked his website & the 2020 workshop is SOLD OUT, but you can signup to be put on the wait list, if there are any cancellations. I would highly recommend indulging yourself to take this tour, I promise you won't regret it!
https://www.martinbaileyphotography.com/hokkaido-winter-landscape-photography-adventure-2020/?aelia_cs_currency=JPY
One last thing, I finally finished my edits on the images I took while in Hokkaido & the gallery can be viewed under “BUCKET LIST” on the main navigation bar or follow this link,
https://www.ryansakamoto.com/bucket-list/ A few of my images are posted below…enjoy & Aloha.
Aloha a hui hou my friends!
www.ryansakamoto.com
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