Hokkaido has always been one of the many destinations that are on my travel bucket list for my years, having heard so much about the beautiful place and viewed landscape sceneries photographs taken by my friends and photographers who visited Hokkaido. When I was nominated and invited to a photographers invitation program to Central/Eastern Hokkaido, I was very thrilled and very happy (and some stress too!) to be nominated for this photographers invitation program. After going through the application process, I prepared the photography gears and got ready for Central/Eastern Hokkaido familiarisation trip, one of the most fun and exciting travel photography trips.

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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 23rd November to 28th November 2014. They are a great band of photographers with different unique strengths, skills, fun and views in photography. You will know them soon!

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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!

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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.

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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!

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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 1,000th post! A special milestone to launch one of my biggest photography and travel portfolio works to date! **

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