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.

Hot Air Balloon Ride at Tokachi

Another first time for me, taking a hot air balloon ride! Once the hot air balloon ride was ready for boarding, we split into two groups to go up the hot air balloon ride. While one group was in the air, we took photographs of them from the ground up and vice versa, we helped each other to take photographs when we either up in the air or on the ground! When we were up in the air on the hot air balloon, the weather wasn’t that clear due to the misty autumn/winter weather conditions. Up in the air, while we had a bird’s eye view of the Tokachi area, the cold autumn/winter wind was upon our face and it was quite difficult to face the direction where the cold chilly winds was blowing from!

If you are keen to go on the hot air balloon ride or other outdoor activities in the Tokachi region, here are the contact details of the company running the outdoor activities

Tokachi Nature Center

Minami 12-1-12, Tokachigawa onsen

Otofuke, Hokkaido 〒080-0263 Japan

Tel: 0155-32-6116

Fax: 0155-32-6117

Email: infotnc@nature-tokachi.co.jp

After our hot air balloon ride, we returned back to our hotel Kangetsuen for breakfast and checked out from the hotel. Our travel schedule on the fourth day was to go up the mountain range in Central Hokkaido. It was a bit of a long traveling journey on the road, however, we were blessed with many awesome and gorgeous clear deep blue skies and landscapes!

The Sounkyo area is a real gem in Hokkaido’s tourism and I love this place! If there are hidden gems in landscape photography around the world, they have to visit Sounkyo!

Mikuni Touge Pass (三国峠）

While traveling uphill from one area to another area, we were entering from autumn season into winter season! Such is the natural and wonderful beauty of Hokkaido four seasons! I was amazed and went into landscape photography heaven, so beautiful and words can’t do enough justice to the natural landscape beauty of Hokkaido.

I really hope that my landscape photographs that I am sharing will tell the whole world about the hidden natural landscape beauty and gems of Hokkaido!

Stopping by Mikuni Touge Pass, there was a rest point and lookout point. We had a pit stop and we were blown away, our eyes and camera glued to the clear deep blue skyline and the mountain range. It’s so beautiful!

We continued our road trip, surrounded by snow and the mountain range, arriving at our hotel, Sounkyo Kankou Hotel (Sounkyo Onsen). Firstly, we dropped off our luggage and had lunch at Sounkyo Kankou Hotel. During our lunch, Mr. Nakajima-san of Sounkyo Tourist Association was there to visit us and host us for the afternoon! We were also very honoured and happy that a Master Landscape Photographer, Mr. Koetsu Ichinetsu Sensei will be hosting us and showing us around various locations in the Sounkyo area! Mr. Ichinetsu Sensei showed us his collection of landscape photography works and they were so amazing, so beautiful, a highly experienced Master Landscape Photographer, the Best of the Best Landscape Photographers.

Mt. Kuro-dake （黒岳）

The expectations were building up towards our next destination, Mt Kuro-dake, towering 1,984m in height, in the Sounkyo region. We were so amazed and blown away by the beauty of our surroundings and landscapes. After our wonderful lunch at Sounkyo Kankou Hotel, we eagerly traveled to the base of Mt. Kuro-dake, for our ropeway ride up to the middle of Mt. Kuro-dake, part of Daisetsuzan National Park. While waiting for turn to board, Mr. Ichinetsu Sensei brought us to a rest area at the base station and we were treated to some of his awesome and breathe-taking Hokkaido landscapes photographs printed and on display! Mr. Ichinetsu Sensei is truly a Master of Master Landscape Photographers!

Soon, it was time to board for the ropeway journey up the mountain! The photographers soon glued themselves to the glass panel, eagerly waiting to see what the landscapes would be like and getting our cameras ready for action! As the journey up Mt. Kuro-dake began, I was blown away again by the charm, aura and beauty of the landscapes of Mt. Kuro-dake and her surroundings. It is so grand, beautiful and magnificent and I am running out of words to describe them!

I started to visualize how it would be like during Autumn season while taking the ropeway up to Mt. Kuro-dake and I make a promise that I MUST return to Hokkaido during the Autumn season to photograph the bright colours and beauty of Sounkyo.

Upon reaching the mid way point station of Mt. Kuro-dake, we disembarked from the cabin and walked up to the rooftop of the station. We had a bird’s eye view from Mt. Kuro-dake of the landscapes and mountain range of Sounkyo. Our cameras went into crazy action mode, capturing as many different frames, angles and perspectives. It’s a dream come true for landscape/travel photographers to record and share the beauty and charm of Sounkyo.

After taking many photographs at the rooftop, we went down and started trekking a short distance to watch people skiing and snowboarding at Mt. Kuro-dake. We had fun too, taking photographs and playing with snow! Due to time and schedule constraints, we could not explore uphill further.

Waterfall of Meteor （流星の滝）/ Waterfall of Ginga　（銀河の滝）

We began our descent down Mt. Kuro-dake, enjoying our last few minutes’ view of the landscapes and surroundings. Next, we were heading to two famous waterfalls in the Kamikawa region, they are the Waterfall of Meteor （流星の滝）/ Waterfall of Ginga　（銀河の滝）. The Waterfall of Meteor is the female waterfall at 120m in height while the Waterfall of Ginga is the male waterfall at 80m in height. Both the waterfalls were close to fully frozen and it was a very interesting landscape sight. I am sure both waterfalls will be really beautiful during summer season!

Mr. Ichinetsu Sensei was very kind and helpful, sharing his vast local knowledge experience, photography experience and expertise with us, the band of photographers. He was showing us where to stand and how to compose/capture various views and perspectives of the two waterfalls! It was a very humbling experience (especially for me) when Mr. Ichinetsu used our cameras to shoot in order for us to learn and have a better perspective on how to compose landscape photography in Hokkaido!

Mr. Ichinetsu Sensei style of mentoring/sharing his hands-on photography experience strikes a deep chord with me on how I should and can adopt to mentor/share my photography experiences with my photographer friends and my student/disciple under my care!

Daisetsu-Asahigaoka　（大雪高原旭が丘）

After our photography adventure at the two waterfalls, we returned to our limousine mini bus and traveled towards our last official photography destination of the Hokkaido Photographers Invitation Program. This magnificent destination, the Daisetsu-Asahigaoka, is where I got some of my most memorable (and probably my best) landscape photographs of the whole travel adventure. The vast land, covered with snow on the fields, the white clouds moving in the background and the sunset rays shining through the horizon. It was like in heaven and indeed it was due to the altitude of the area.

I am now in a winter dreamland, a paradise on Earth. I always have a soft spot for traveling to Japan and Hokkaido really took my heart, mind and soul and planted it there. I really wanted to continue photographing many of the beautiful and magnificent landscapes in the Kamikawa and Sounkyo regions.

While we were immersing ourselves into the Daisetsu-Asahigaoka gorgeous and magnificent landscape, Mr. Ichinetsu Sensei was just as enthusiastic and energetic as us! Mr. Ichinetsu Sensei was leading us to various spots around there and sharing with us tips, angles, perspectives, composing and framing the landscape photography shots! The Landscape Photography Master was walking pretty fast on the snow covered ground, leading us to various spots and we had a fun time chasing after him, rather awkwardly because we were not used to running on snow covered grounds! We ran and we left our footprints, our hearts, mind and soul at the Daisetsu-Asahigaoka（大雪高原旭が丘).

As the Hokkaido sun sets over the Daisetsu-Asahigaoka horizon, we packed our gears and waved goodbye. This was the last official photography destination on the Hokkaido Photographers Invitation Program and we left with heavy hearts for she stole our photography hearts! It was an omen that Daisetsu-Asahigaoka was sending out to us, the band of photographers that we had to return one day, we must return one day!

Ice Pavilion（アイスパビリオン）

On our way back to our hotel, we had a stop at the Ice Pavilion and had some fun inside there! We were treated to a temperature of -41 degrees Celsius, the lowest temperature ever recorded in Hokkaido! We also had a chance to play on the ice/snow playground that they created! There was so much fun sliding down the ice slope/slide!

Do check out their website for more information and details!

Sounkyo Kankou Hotel (Sounkyo Onsen)

Returning back to our hotel, we rested and changed to the yukata, getting ready for our dinner. The hotel owner, Mr. Morita Shigenori, General Manager, Mdm. Chida Tamami and Chief of Reserved Seat Mr. Yasuhito Toda, hosted us to a grand and sumptuous Japanese Kaiseki Dinner. We were touched by the warm Japanese hospitality and we learned so much more about Japanese traditions and cuisines!

One of Hokkaido’s most iconic dishes is their snow crab. This was my maiden experience eating a Hokkaido snow crab in my lifetime till date and I confessed that I don’t know how to cut open and eat it properly. I was struggling and a bit lost, Dennis helped me out by telling me how to cut it and dip in the sauce. I must be a slow learner in eating crabs and Mdm. Chida Tamami saw that I was lost in the world of Hokkaido crabs. Mdm. Chida Tamami decided to take good care of me and showed me how to cut open the snow crab and how to eat it properly, with translation help from Moe-san, sat beside me. Mdm. Chida Tamami was such a great host with heartwarming Japanese hospitality!

It was a lively and fun dinner, accompanied by the sumptuous Japanese cuisines. Mr. Ichinetsu Sensei was sharing with us his photography equipment and experiences; we were amazed by his vintage Linhoff film camera. Being a photography buff and film SLR user many years ago, I could not resist asking Mr. Ichinetsu for permission to touch and feel his Linhoff film camera! It was a priceless nostalgic photography experience! Mr. Ichinetsu Sensei was also sharing with us about his thoughts when he was the group during the afternoon; we were very humbled and honoured by his warmth, hospitality, and enthusiasm. That was something about Mr. Ichinetsu Sensei that got me even more in awe of this Master Landscape Photographer; he is 75 years old and still going strong!

During the dinner, Mr. Morita Shigenori shared with us that Sounkyo Kankou Hotel is expanding their outdoor onsen and it is scheduled to open in Fall 2015, around end of August 2015! I am excited and hope to be able to enjoy at their outdoor onsen when it opens in Fall 2015!

It kind of fits nicely to my plan (hopefully it can come true!) to visit Hokkaido during autumn in mid October 2015 and Sounkyo/Kamikawa (and visit the new outdoor Sounkyo Onsen) are inside my travel schedule agenda!

All good things must come to an end; Mr. Ichinetsu Sensei had to leave early from the dinner because he had to prepare for another visit the following morning. Mr. Ichinetsu Sensei shook hands and hug with each of us before making his leave. A true master photographer that commands so much respect among the community and his humility, priceless and a great example to learn and follow. I had a light-hearted moment with Mr. Ichinetsu Sensei when he touched my belly in a friendly way (yes, I had too much good food in Hokkaido). I promised myself to slim down my tummy before I return to Hokkaido in the near future!

Our Last Photo Shoot Outing

After our dinner ended, we the band of photographers decided to head out and check out Sounkyo night sky and go for night photography/star trail photography. We walked to the ropeway base station of Mt. Kuro-dake and spent some time there photographing the night landscapes and star trails. While our works couldn’t match up to the ones we managed to capture at Lake Akan on our second night in Hokkaido, all of us had a fun time to bond and take photographs together for one final night together in Hokkaido.

Upon returning back to Sounkyo Kankou Hotel, we sat together and rested with hot beverages from the drinks vending machine in the hotel lobby. The hot beverages warmed us up from the cold chilly Hokkaido winter night. We, this particular band of photographers, were able to bond very well, having pretty good chemistry and teamwork during the whole Hokkaido Photographers Invitation Program. I am very happy to be traveling and photographing with them for this whole program.

After a while, we went back to our rooms and headed to the onsen, to enjoy and relax from an exciting Day 4 of the Hokkaido Photographer Invitation Program. As I sat and relax inside the onsen, reflecting back on my Hokkaido trip, it was very amazing and it wasn’t a dream, I am in Hokkaido and I managed to photograph and share some of Hokkaido’s finest beauty in the Central and Eastern regions. Personally, I felt that I got my best landscape shot of my Hokkaido Photographer Invitation Program on Day 4 here in Kamikawa/Sounkyo region.

An amazing day and a great finale to mark the end of Day 4 in Hokkaido! Now I will let my photographs do the talking instead.

The post Central/Eastern Hokkaido Day 4 – Kamikawa, Sounkyo appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Lake Akan （阿寒湖）

Before leaving the Akan region, we stopped by at Lake Akan and enjoyed the beauty of Lake Akan. It was tranquil, quiet and gorgeous, while walking around the edge of the lake, the morning sunshine slowly enters and gives warmth to the Lake Akan and surroundings. It was interesting to hear how Lake Akan can transform into a winter playground during winter even when the lake is frozen! Hokkaido indeed is a place for all four seasons, there’s something to see and do every season! Along the edge of Lake Akan, I discovered beautiful ice sculptures on the plants and leaves of Lake Akan. This is the power and beauty of Mother Nature in Hokkaido, the autumn and winter season coming together.

Lake Onneto （オンネトー）

Leaving the Akan region and driving to the Ashoro region, we arrived at a very beautiful lake, known as Lake Onneto. “Onneto” means Old Lake in Ainu language and while she is an Old Lake, she is still very beautiful and charming, attracting everybody there to be mesmerized by her aura.

With the grand mountain range behind her and the Hokkaido sun shining upon her clear turquoise waters on the lake, while half her of water on the lake was frozen, we can still see the other half of the lake. We spent some there, admiring her stunning beauty, photographing and collecting memories of Lake Onneto. I am sure Lake Oneeto will attract landscape and travel photographers.

Abbey Road Crossing in Hokkaido

While on the way to our lunch at Tonta, Mr. Kato-san stopped by a country road off the main road and it was lined up by a row of tall trees on each side of the road. This wasn’t an official destination on our travel schedule; it was the vast experience and local knowledge by Mr. Kato-san that he showed us this location.

Photo Courtesy of Jensen Chua Photography

Lunch at Tonta

We were informed that our lunch on Day3 would be very special because Tonta is a very famous Butadon Restaurant and you have to queue for quite a long time before getting a seat in the restaurant! Mr. Higasa-san managed to make special arrangements just for our group! We didn’t have to wait too long to have our lunch at Tonta!

Here are the details for Tonta – Butadon Restaurant

〒080-0806 16-3 Higashi-6-jo, Obihiro-shi Hokkaido, JAPAN / Tel: (+81)(0)155-24-4358 / 11:00-18:00(Mon-Sat)

During our lunch at Tonta, we had a visitor from Obihiro City Tourism Board, Mr. Furui Kentaro who dropped by and we formally exchanged name cards and greetings! Thereafter, we were served one of the best Japanese cuisines that I ever tasted! Our lunch at Tonta was like going into Food Heaven!! It was so awesome and delicious, beyond my words of adjectives and descriptions!! Simply superb and our priceless expressions and emotions upon eating at Tonta were the best testimonial we can give to our Butadon lunch at Tonta!

Tokachigaoka Observatory （十勝が丘展望台）/ Tokachigaoka Park (Clock Flower) （十勝が丘公園）

After our lunch, we dropped our luggage at Kangetsuen, the hotel that we were staying for night and drove up to Tokachigaoka Observatory for a bird’s eye view of the Tokachi area. At Kangetsuen, we met with Japanese Photographer, Mr. Takamitsu Akiguchi, who showed us around the Tokachi area.

We were able to view the ocean from the observatory deck and it was a good location to capture landscape scenes of Tokachi area and the ocean! How clear the landscape view can be would be dependent on the weather conditions, when we were up there at the Tokachigaoka Observatory Deck, it was a bit misty!

We then drove down to the Tokachigaoka Park for a short walk around, looking at the area that we would be coming on Day 4 early morning for our hot air balloon ride!

Tokachi River （十勝川）

For the Tokachi region, this was one of the highlights that I am looking forward to for this Hokkaido Photographer Invitation Program. This was where we would be visiting the Tokachi River and discovers the different species of birds that can be found staying along Tokachi River.

We walked down along the Tokachi River bed, spotted quite a number of different bird species. The EF 400mm f5.6 lens came out into action again on my Canon EOS 7D Mark II. It was a great test/shootout for the high speed AF action of the Canon EOS 7D Mark II! The Canon EOS 7D Mark II is a really good fast action DSLR and when paired with a Canon L lens, it would help in your bird photography adventure!

Walking along the Tokachi River bed, we spotted the White Tailed Eagle, swans, seagulls and salmon that swam up to the gravel shore bed to spawn and after spawning, they salmon die. This was just like a wildlife/nature lesson happening right in front of our eyes while we were walking along the Tokachi River bed. The White Tailed Eagle was very challenging to photograph, when we started walking close to them, they sensed our intentions and flew off to another location further away.

Watching the sunset along the Tokachi River bed, it was a beautiful sight, with the river in the foreground. This was also the signal for us to return back to our hotel, Kangetsuen that is very nearby the segment of the Tokachi River bed that we visited.

Rokkakutei (六花亭)

While we had some spare time on our travel schedule, we visited Hokkaido’s most famous sweets shop, Rokkakutei in Tokachi. There were many different type of sweets and it was shopping time for us, to buy gifts and sweets back home for family, relatives, friends and colleagues.

Here is the address for Rokkakutei

9-6 Nishi-2-jou Minami, Obihiro-shi, Hokkaido, JAPAN

Tel: (+81)(0)155-24-6666

Kangetsuen （観月苑）

A traditional and beautiful hotel, my room had a nice view of the Tokachi River! This was also where I had my maiden experience sleeping on a futon mattress! The staff of Kangetsuen was there to help me set it up during the evening, if not, I might be setting it up wrongly!

Here are the details for Kangetsuen

〒080-0263 14-2 Tokachigawa-Onsen Minami Otofuke-cho, Kato-Gun, Hokkaido, JAPAN / Tel: (+81) (0)155-462001

We enjoyed our food, drinks and company together over the past three days before going to enjoy the onsen in Kangetsuen! We went for an early night rest because we would be going for a hot air balloon ride early in the morning the next day!

The post Central/Eastern Hokkaido Day 3 – Akan, Ashoro, Tokachi appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Yes, it was getting colder with the snowing and strong winds!! We all got pretty excited with the snow falling down on us; it’s lovely and magical!! While it was not my first time experiencing snow, I loved playing with the snow!! We started our Day 2 journey by making a quick pit stop at Utoro harbour. It was snowing and with sea winds blowing, it was cold!

Mr. Tsuyoshi Kato was our Professional Japanese Photographer guide (he’s also our photo guide, translator and driver for our entire adventure) for our Day 2 schedule and he was very awesome, he knew when and where to stop for photographers to take photographs because he is a photographer himself!

Road to Heaven（天に続く道）

In this area, Shari, Hokkaido, there is a road named “Road to Heaven”. Why is this road so special? Road to Heaven is distinctively Hokkaido, it is the Route 334/244, Shari-cho, Shari Hokkaido, Japan / 17km straight route. The Road to Heaven is straight, with leading lines that ends at the sea. My photographer friend David, who visited Hokkaido before, shared with me about the Road to Heaven, how uniquely it is to Hokkaido and the best time to photograph Road to Heaven is during Autumn (the time that I visited) when the leaves had fallen down and the whole Road to Heaven is very distinct! While we were up there enjoying the top of Road to Heaven, we, the band of photographers had a fun time doing and taking jump shots!

As we continued driving along the road to our next stop, Lake Kussharo, we were mesmerized by the snow conditions. Along the road, Mr. Kato-san found a nice spot and stopped his mini-bus, we came down, took photographs of the snow filled landscape on the fields and trees. Mr. Kato-san also built a snowman and we took turns to hold the cute snowman for a photo! I had a fun time playing with the snow!

Lake Kussharo (屈斜路湖）

Driving on from Shari to Teshikaga, our next stop was at Lake Kussharo. The road trip was special and unique, on one side of the Hokkaido roads, it was filled with snowfall, while on the other side of the road, and it was autumn colours. The unique natural beauty of Hokkaido, two seasons, autumn and winter side by side.

Lake Kussharo is the caldera lake in Akan National Park, upon reaching Lake Kussharo; we can feel the cold autumn/winter weather with strong winds blowing ast us. I wasn’t wearing gloves when taking photographs and it can really be tough on my hands! I recommend photographers to get gloves when visiting countries during winter season! The beautiful and cute swans at Lake Kussharo were pretty friendly and not afraid of human beings! We were pretty close to them and took some close up shots of the swans!

Mt. Iou（硫黄山）

Continuing on with our travel schedule, we departed from Lake Kussharo and drove towards our next stop Mt Iou. It is an active volcano, one of the mountains in Akan National Park. With the smell of sulphur in the air and on the rocks, we spent some time there taking photos at the sulphur rocks with steam coming out from the ground and rocks.

Teshikaga-Ramen（弟子屈ラーメン）

I was told this was the best Ramen in Hokkaido (if not one of the best) and I was very eagerly looking forward to eating Ramen in Hokkaido. Nothing beats eating Ramen in Japan! Here are the details for Teshikaga-Ramen –

1-1-18 Mashu, Teshikaga-cho, Hokkaido, JAPAN

Tel: (+81)(0)15-482-5511

Opening Hours: 11:00-20:00 (Everyday)

I love Ramen and Teshikaga-Ramen was delicious and tasty! You have to try it if you have the chance!

Lake Mashu （摩周湖）

After our tasty and delicious Ramen lunch at Teshikaga-Ramen, we continued with our schedule, traveling up to Lake Mashu. This is similar to Lake Kussharo, Lake Mashu is the caldera lake in Akan National Park and Lake Mashu has the reputation of the cleanest lake in the world. It was snowing at the top of Lake Mashu, snow was covering the tracks, lookout point and visitor centre. It was rather misty due to the weather; nevertheless, we were able to view the beautiful Lake Mashu from the top.

Tsurui Village (Aza Nakasetsuri Minami, Tsurui-mura, Akan-gun, Hokkaido, JAPAN)

Arriving at Tsurui Village, we visited and stopped by a private park, where the owners reserved it for Japan’s national icon, the red-crown crane, known as the tancho zuru. The birds were given space to rest and feed at the park, away from the human beings. We were able to watch and observe the red-crown cranes from behind a wooden fence.

I took out my EF 400mm f5.6 prime lens (Thanks to David for lending me for this trip!) and attached it to the Canon EOS 7D Mark II for bird photography action. It was a pretty good combination; lightweight and portable, ideal for bringing it for travel overseas.

With my interest in avian photography, my experiences came in handy and I took a number of shots of the red-crown cranes in action. I was hoping for the cranes in flight, however, luck wasn’t on my side! However, I did manage to get a red-crown crane landing though!

We then drove to an open field near the river and was waiting patiently for the red-crown cranes to fly over here during the evening where they will be resting after feeding at other locations. We were not able to spot any of the red-crown cranes in flight and due to sunset and lighting conditions, we had to leave and drive to our next destination, Akankosou, our hotel for the second night.

Akankosou （阿寒湖荘）

Our hotel for the second night of our travel itinerary, my maiden experience experiencing a traditional Japanese accommodation!

This was also my maiden experience with Kaiseki, a traditional Japanese dinner! If you have the opportunity to experience Kaiseki in Japan, go for it!

Here are the details for Akankosou

〒085-0467 1-5-10 Akanko-Onsen, Akan-cho, Kushiro Hokkaido, JAPAN

Tel: (+81)(0)154-67-2231

The Japanese food dishes that we had during the Kaiseki, it was really awesome, beyond any more words to describe them. Our food photographs and priceless expressions after tasting the food would be the best testimonial to the amazing quality and standards of Japanese cuisine. We were in Food Heaven!

Mt Hakuto（白湯山）

Before heading into onsen, we, this band of photographers decided to go out for a night Star Trail/Milky Way shoot (after official itinerary photography outing). Akankosou was kind enough to provide us with a guide and car to bring us out! With their local knowledge experience, the guide brought us to this location known as Mt. Hakuto; 5mins drive from Akankosou, at a height of 950m.

When we stepped out of the car and looked up into the Lake Akan night sky, we were immediately blown away by the amount of beautiful shining stars right above us. The stars brightened the dark Lake Akan skyline up and it was such a memorable experience for all of us! At times, we just wanted to lie down and do star gazing instead of photographing the Star Trails/Milky Way. We played with light painting and long night exposure photography too!

Returning back to our hotel, Akankosou, we went to enjoy the onsen and relax for the night. Day 2 of our travel program had been very fun and it was one of the most memorable travel days out of the 4 days.

The post Central/Eastern Hokkaido Day 2 – Shari, Teshikaga, Tsurui, Akan 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! **

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