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.

After returning back to Singapore, I wrote and uploaded my Hokkaido travel articles along with the travel photographs that I took during the trip. Hokkaido pulled many heart strings inside me that I was inspired and motivated to produce a travel photo book of my Hokkaido trip. The photo book was part of my Photography Resolutions for 2015, however, something phenomenal happened, I started to post process selected Hokkaido landscape photographs into Black and White. It was mind blowing, an eye opener and I was hooked. My attention diverted from producing my Hokkaido travel photo book to Hokkaido Black and White Landscapes Photo Book.

This journey was addictive, challenging, self searching and self learning. It was my maiden journey in producing my own personal photo book, I was discovering something more about my photography, how my eye, heart, mind, soul and perspective of photography makes my photographs stand out. The process of curation from approximately 1811 photographs to approximately 63 Black and White photographs to 26 photographs before another round to 19 photographs. Printing out the Black and White photographs on 4R photo paper was key and essential to producing my mock up Hokkaido Black and White Landscapes Photo Book. I learned the method of printing 4R photos to have a better visualisation of my photo book flow and placement from photographer friends Callan and Jingwen who produced and printed awesome photo books before.

With the help of my photographer friends, I was able to reach the placement and flow of this photo book. I would like to say a big Thank You from the bottom of my heart to the following photographers and friends for their continuous support, advice, suggestions, views and opinions during the initial curation, placement and flow of my personal Hokkaido Black and White Landscapes Photo Book –

– David Tay of WK Photography & Services (for teaching me the 2 by 1 crop for landscape photography)

– Wong Renhao 

– Marcus Lim

– Dave Koh

– Zinkie Aw of I Shoot Habits – Zinkie Aw Photographer 

– Belinda Tan

– Jude Yue

– Ellen Chia for her energy and continuous support of my photography works!

– Tsuyoshi Kato, our Hokkaido Photo Guide for this program!

– Fellow Hokkaido Photographers Invitation Program photographers ~ Jensen Chua, Weng Seng and Manami-chan!

I am going to do a test print of my Hokkaido Black and White Landscapes Photo Book using iPhoto app. It will be just one draft photo book and I will go around to my photographer friends and seek their opinions and views on the pricing and quality of the photo book, and whether I can continue with them or I should go to local printers to get my Hokkaido Black and White Landscapes Photo Book printed.

Curating and producing this personal Hokkaido Black and White Landscapes Photo Book had been very exciting, at times anxious and frustrating. I will remember every step of this journey and I am looking forward to the day when I collect my Hokkaido Black and White Landscapes Photo Book prints. For a glimpse into what could be the Black and White photographs that would appear in the photo book, this Black and White Photos set on my 500px portfolio would be able to give you some answers!

This is my first photo book, there is no price to it because it’s very personal and it’s priceless.

The post Work in Progress – Hokkaido B&W Landscapes Photo Book appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Moe Anan – our beautiful and kawaii tour coordinator, translator

Dennis Seow of Superadrianme.com

Jensen Chua of Jensen Chua Photography

Yip Weng Seng of YipWengSeng Photography

Manami Iwatani, the pretty and bubbly Ran-san of Ninja Girls

Departing on Japan Airlines JL36 to Haneda Airport, Tokyo at 2200hrs Singapore time, we arrived at Haneda Airport at around 0530hrs Japan time. It was a pretty smooth flight to Tokyo and we cleared immigration and customs, proceed to domestic flights section for a bus ride to the domestic terminal at Haneda Airport for Japan Airlines JL1183 to Memambetsu Airport in Hokkaido at 0700hrs Japan time. The domestic flight from Tokyo to Hokkaido was smooth, arriving at around 0830hrs Japan time. During our descent to Memambetsu Airport, we had our first glimpse of the beautiful Hokkaido from the air! Walking out of the plane onto the aerobridge, we can feel the chilly cold autumn transiting into winter weather. The warmth inside Memambetsu Airport was most welcome for us!

At the arrival hall, our local Japanese hosts met us for our Central/Eastern Hokkaido Familiarisation Trip –

Mr. Higasa Kazuma – General Manager, International Travel Division of Nippon Travel Agency Hokkaido Co Ltd.

Mr. Tsuyoshi Kato – Hokkaido Photo Guide, Travel Planner, Photographer, Translator and Driver.

We went to the washroom and change to warm winter attire first before we formally exchanged greetings, formalities and name cards with Mr Higasa Kazuma and Mr Tsuyoshi Kato. After the introduction and briefing, we loaded our luggage into the mini bus for our start to Central/Eastern Hokkaido photography exploration! Our first destination was the Utoro area in the Northeastern part of Hokkaido, the journey from Memambetsu Aiport was around two hours and this was our first taste of long travel between destinations that we were visiting in Hokkaido. During our drive to Utoro, we were introduced to Mt. Shari-dake, with the peak at 1,545m!

Lunch was a quick pit stop at a local 7-11 convenience store in a small town along the route to Utoro. We had to rush over to Utoro since we had a professional Japanese Photographer, Mr Junichi Yamamoto, waiting for us at Utoro to bring us around Shiretoko National Park!

Furepe Waterfall (フレペの滝）/ Mt Rausu-dake (羅臼岳）

Our first stop was Furepe Waterfall; it was a short trek inside to the edge of the cliff/plateau, through the forest. During this short trek, we were able to view the beautiful and grand Mt Rausu-dake, standing at a height of 1,661m, with the peaks and ridgelines covered with snow! The landscape was amazing and very beautiful, snow white peaks, blue sky, amazing cloud formations and the foreground of trees, and grassland in autumn weather conditions.

When we reached to the edge of the cliff, there was a lookout point/hut that visitors can go up to catch a better view of the Furepe Waterfall. Initially, I couldn’t see any river flowing down the cliff forming the waterfall. Where is Furepe Waterfall, I ask myself? Soon, it dawned upon me with words from photographer friend of Yamamoto Sensei, who explained to us that the waterfall was from the underneath the rocks formation! Zooming in close with my telephoto lens (Canon EF 70-200mm f4 L USM), I saw for myself Furepe Waterfall!

Mr Yamamoto Sensei brought us to the next destination, not too far away from Furepe Waterfall. While trekking through the forested area, we managed to spot wildlife, the deer! Being in the wild, the animals were very sensitive to human beings and once they sensed us moving close towards them, they would start to move away to somewhere else. It was a very fun experience to be that close to the deer grazing and my Canon EOS 7D Mark II with 70-200mm f/4 L USM is perfect for photographing wildlife while on the move!

Yunohana Waterfall （湯の華の滝）

We continued with our photography and travel exploration to Yunohana Waterfall, not too far down the road from Furepe Waterfall. Trekking to Yunohana Waterfall was very interesting whereby we spotted more wildlife in the forested area. Yunohana Waterfall is very similar to Furepe Waterfall, the waterfall is from the underneath the rocks formation! Mr Yamamoto Sensei was really very nice and showed us good photography spots to take photographs of the Yunohana Waterfall, besides that, Mr Yamamoto Sensei was sharing with us his local knowledge of the wildlife and vegetation, it was very useful learning and very interesting!

Oshinkoshin Waterfall (オシンコシンの滝）

This is a very beautiful waterfall, along the costal road of Utoro. When we reached there, it was getting close to sunset and the sunrays that shined brightly on the slopes of the waterfall, giving it a golden brown landscape and waterfall. At Oshinkoshin Waterfall, we started to experience the cold winter weather coming in and we can feel the coldness! From the steps leading up to Oshinkoshin Waterfall, we were able to have a nice view of the sea and the upcoming Hokkaido sunset. Oshinkoshin Waterfall is really beautiful and we spent a bit more time there!

Hokkaido Sunset (Route 334 between ‘Oronko Rock’ and ‘Base of the Setting Sun’)

I am a photographer that loves taking photographs of sunsets especially when visiting different countries. When I saw the incoming Hokkaido Sunset at Oshinkoshin Waterfall, we knew we were going to get a beautiful Hokkaido Sunset and we were all looking forward to it! There was a bit of rush to this location along Route 334 between ‘Oronko Rock’ and ‘Base of the Setting Sun’. Once we disembarked, the band of photographers started firing away with their cameras. I was very happy to capture a beautiful Hokkaido Sunset and the Hokkaido Sunset memories still stays inside me today!

Landscape photography tips: I shot the Hokkaido Sunset at Utoro using 2 Canon DSLR bodies setup, namely Canon EOS 5D Mark III with EF 16-35mm f4 L IS USM and Canon EOS 7D Mark II with EF 70-200mm f4 L USM. The Canon EOS 5D Mark III combination caters for a really wide angle landscape view while the Canon EOS 7D Mark II caters for a tighter crop landscape photograph especially when the landscape scene is very big!

We said Sayonara to Mr Yamamoto Sensei for spending precious time with us that evening, each of us got nice Hokkaido photography postcards from Mr Yamamoto Sensei for memories! We took a group photograph with Mr Yamamoto Sensei before going to our hotel Shiretoko Daiichi Hotel.

Before we could setup our group photo shot, a Hokkaido wildlife animal came pretty close to us, watching and observing the whole group of us in action, the fox was curious at us human beings and observed us for a while with cute mesmerizing eyes. With the fox that near to us and we all photographers could not resist concentrating our cameras on the fox!

I wonder what did the Hokkaido Fox say?

Shiretoko Daiichi Hotel （知床第一ホテル）

The Shiretoko Daiichi Hotel is a beautiful hotel, nice and comfortable! Love the view from my hotel room! The Shiretoko Daiichi Hotel was also where I experienced Onsen for the first time in my life and wearing a Yukata to dinner and Onsen! The buffet dinner was delicious and there was a widespread of local and international cuisines! I am grateful to Mr Kato-san for sharing with me how to wear a Yukata properly for the very first time!

My first ever Onsen, at Shiretoko Daiichi Hotel, was simply magical, the experience was unforgettable, therapeutic and relaxing! With the conclusion of my first ever Onsen experience, it also marked the end of Day 1 of our Hokkaido Photographer Invitation Program.

The post Central/Eastern Hokkaido Day 1 – Utoro 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.