In the months of January and February 2015, the progress was pretty alright from the two articles that I wrote down and shared with my supporters and readers. My work in progress and producing my draft photo book, they were key milestones, timeline and crucial learning experiences in producing my own photo book. The journey was a bit of ups and downs, frustrations, dilemma, which photos to curate, what’s the flow and placement like etc etc. Meeting and chatting with photographer friends helped me to reach my mid way point of producing and printing my draft photo book that defines my own personal and unique photojournalist style.

A very talented fellow photographer, Zinkie Aw, she introduced to me this particular printer, that a group of photographers in Singapore worked closely with. That printer is Grenadier Press Pte Ltd and after the email introduction by Zinkie, I went down and had a chat with them on printing my personal Hokkaido Black and White Landscapes Photo Book. They are very friendly, professional and very knowledgable in the printing line. There is one X-factor that stands out, that is they understand photographers and knows what photographers want. During my first appointment with them, I had a chance to view some of the photo books printed by Grenadier Press for some of the established and well known photographers in Singapore. From that day, I know my photo book printing is in good and experienced hands!

They are willing to share and guide me, this newbie in printing photo books. I confessed that I made some stupid newbie mistakes and the folks from Grenadier Press helped me a lot to get it right for my photo book print when I met them for my second appointment to submit my draft photo book layout/write up/photos in for printing. That is something that I am very grateful and thankful for, their guidance and priceless assistance in getting my first photo book printed!

Photographers in Singapore, if you are planning to print your own photo book, I highly and strongly recommend Grenadier Press, here is their website and go contact them!

After I submitted draft photo book layout/write up/photos in for printing, Grenadier Press took over the process. Since I wasn’t rushing for the photo books to be printed, we had a good time frame that both parties can work on. Once they got the final final draft up, I made an appointment to go down for the final confirmation of my photo book prints, inspected each photo book page proof, signed and acknowledged. That was the moment, the final lap of my photo book printing adventure.

Finally, a message arrived from Grenadier Press, my photo books are ready! Yes, I have produced my FIRST Photo Book! My personal Hokkaido Black and White Landscapes Photo Book. As much as I wanted to rush down and collect my photo books, my work commitments did not allow me to and I waited for about a week plus before collecting them.

The moments, feelings and emotions when I collected my photo books from Grenadier Press, it’s a mixed bag comprising all of the above. I was proud yet humbled, happy beyond words when I collected 50 of my photo books, they are my very own photography style and artwork. It’s not perfect, there is definitely room for improvement in terms of producing my next photo book. The support and encouragement from friends were great, I am very grateful and thankful for their continuous support!

I would like to say a big Thank You to the following photographer friends for their inputs/opinions/help in the curation of photos, flow and lay out of my photo book.

– David Tay

– Wong Renhao

– Marcus Lim

– Jude Yue

– Zinkie Aw

– Dave Koh

My write up and photojournalism story telling were edited by Ms. Chrissy Priya and Mr Michael Tay, both were very strong in their English language proficiency.

Thank you very much, Grenadier Press for producing and printing my FIRST personal photo book! My goal and objective is 3 photo books for 2015, I have to work a lot a lot harder to achieve producing and printing my 2 other photo book!

The post My 1st Photo Book – Hokkaido B&W Landscapes appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

A brief history of The Hokkaido Invitation Tour, it was started in 2012 by Hokkaido Tourism Board to introduce the charms and beauty of Hokkaido to Singapore and to encourage more Singaporeans to visit Hokkaido. In the first year, local tour agencies were invited and in the second year, professors of the local schools were invited. In the third year, Hokkaido Tourism Board decided to invite photographers from Singapore. There were 5 photographers that travelled together for this Central/Eastern Hokkaido Familiarisation Trip from 23^rd November to 28^th November 2014. They are a great band of photographers with different unique strengths, skills, fun and views in photography. You will know them soon!

Hokkaido is such a gorgeous and beautiful place, especially for photographers. Hokkaido is a great destination for photography, all 4 seasons. That’s always something to photograph! During the period that we went to Central/Eastern Hokkaido, we were blessed with experiencing winter season and autumn season together, bringing out the colours of both winter and autumn season together. It’s not just about beautiful and gorgeous landscapes in Hokkaido; we spotted Hokkaido wildlife such as the deer, fox, cranes etc. Besides that, you can also discover some of the delicious Hokkaido food and the accommodation that we stayed in!

I will be writing my travel adventure stories on a day-to-day basis, the destinations and regions that we covered. I hope that my travel photography adventure itinerary for the Central/Eastern Hokkaido Familiarisation Trip and stories can help you in planning your own travel photography itinerary to the Central/Eastern Hokkaido regions.

I will also be sharing with you what is the photography equipment I brought to Hokkaido, that you could use it as a reference for your own travel photography planning to Hokkaido

• Canon EOS 7D Mark II (for wildlife/general travel photography)
• Canon EOS 5D Mark III (for landscapes/general travel photography)
• Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 (for wildlife photography)
• Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM (for landscape, wildlife, portraits and action photography)
• Canon EF 16-35mm f/4 L IS USM (for landscape, street and general travel)
• Canon Professional Backpack RL PB-01 (great to put all the camera bodies, lenses and gears, here’s my review of the Canon Professional Backpack)
• Tripod (I didn’t bring it for this trip, however, I am encouraging you all to bring a travel tripod!)

Over the next few days, I hope that I can bring you along to Central/Eastern Hokkaido through my travel photographs and stories from my heart, soul and photojournalistic eyes.

This special Hokkaido Invitation Tour to Central/Eastern Hokkaido was made possible by the following organisations – Canon Singapore for my nomination to the Hokkaido Invitation Tour, Hokkaido Tourism Board, the organizer Hokkaido District Transport Bureau Nippon Travel Agency Co Ltd and Nippon Express (Singapore) Pte Ltd for the Singapore arrangement.

I would also like to give Mr Tsuyoshi Kato, a special mention and thanks! He’s a great photographer, an awesome and highly experienced photo guide and travel planner. He was with us throughout our Central/Eastern Hokkaido Familiarisation Trip. If you are planning a travel photography trip to Hokkaido, he’s the man to look for!

I would like to sincerely thank each and every one of them from the bottom of my heart for this wonderful Hokkaido Invitation Tour to Central/Eastern Hokkaido.

** This will be a landmark article post for me! This is my number 1,000^th post! A special milestone to launch one of my biggest photography and travel portfolio works to date! **

The post Central/Eastern Hokkaido Familiarisation Trip – Introduction and Overview appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.