Join myself, Jonas Paurell and local photographer Yuto Hirasawa in the snowy, minimalist photographic paradise of Hokkaido, Japan.  A stark and almost monochromatic landscape, Hokkaido in winter is a place of abstracts and simplicity.

From lone trees standing atop snow covered hills to Torri gates standing next to the ocean, Hokkaido offers winter landscape photography distilled to its absolutely essential elements.

We’ll be travelling there deep in the winter to find pristine winter landscapes, starting our tour in Sapporo and exploring the island in a private bus to take in crystelline lakes, snow covered hills, and fishing villages.  We’ll learn how to work with austere winter landscapes to create  simple minimal images as well as the big wide scenics, and with myself, Jonas and a local photography guide you’ll have plenty of guidance in the field to work on everything from composition, to exposure and capturing mood, pushing your creativity and ensuring you come home with a unique portfolio of images, as well as some fantastic memories from this incredible place.

THE AGENDA AND THE WEATHER

The winter weather on Hokkaido island is snowy and unpredictable. Just the way we like it! Some areas of Hokkaido get 600cm (19 feet 8 inches) of snowfall annually which is what makes Hokkaido unique. Each day we will study the charts and the local weather conditions to plan our day. So, pack your gear, and get ready for an unforgettable expedition!

THE ACCOMMODATION

We'll be staying in a mix of charming Japanese and comfortable Western-style hotels. Some of them offer access to private or communal hot springs (Onsens) for your relaxation. Everyone will be automatically booked into a single occupancy room unless you request to share with your partner.

FOOD

Our hotels feature delicious meals tailored to diverse palates based on Japanese Cuisine. Please let us know if you have any food preferences, allergies, or dietary restrictions, and we'll do our best to accommodate your needs.

WORKSHOP INCLUDES

Landscape photography and shooting in unforgettable winter locations

Guided photography sessions in the field with 3 guides (client/guide ratio of approx. 3:1)

All dinners and breakfasts during the tour

All transport during the tour in a comfortable bus

All accommodation in single rooms

Theoretical sessions

Post-processing sessions in Lightroom and Photoshop

Airport Pick up/drop off: Start: Chitose Airport 12 Jan noon | End: Chitose Airport 21 Jan 1pm

NOT INCLUDED

Flights to/from Sapporo Chitose Airport

Insurance. All participants are required to have their own insurance appropriate for hiking in mountains, such as health, accident, mountain rescue, repatriation, cancellation, personal liability, etc.

Lunches and snacks

Alcoholic beverages

Outdoor clothing

Photographic Equipment

Our aim is to take you to beautiful locations and give you every opportunity to get great images while improving your technique over the course of the workshop.  We believe that spending plenty of time in the field each day means that participants get into a shooting rhythm and can quickly put into practice new skills as they are learned.  We ensure we spend plenty of time with everyone in the field, and from the beginning of your time with us we can  identify your photographic level and what you’d like to focus on.   We can then tailor the sessions to your precise needs and provide each participant with plenty of one-to-one tuition both in the field and in the post processing sessions.  

We’ve carefully timetabled this workshop to ensure that while you get to experience some the most beautiful locations Hokkaido has to offer, from the iconic locations to some lesser know spots which are stunning in the winter. I know from experience that it’s wonderful to go home from any trip with a varied portfolio of images that really capture the range of scenes we’ll be seeing and tell the story of our trip across the island, so we’ll be shooting a wide range of locations which will give you the opportunity to improve and broaden your skills and vision. January is a great time to visit Hokkaido as we’re pretty much guaranteed to get deep snow essential to these kind of winter landscapes. We’ll also make time to do some editing, which we believe is an integral part of getting the absolute best out of an image looking at techniques in Lightroom and Photoshop to bring out the best of your images. Additionally we’ll have multiple theory sessions on everything from composition to story-telling in images, and a final critique session to give constructive feedback on people’s work.

Finally, we want to share with you our passion for nature and landscape photography in this incredible  place. We’ll aim to build a great learning environment where people feel comfortable together and at ease with asking questions and making the absolute most of the trip.  We want to make your experience here in the beautiful landscape of Hokkaido a memorable one and a trip from which, as well as getting some great images from amazing locations, you’ll also go home having had a true adventure with great company in a very special place.

IN THE FIELD

• Understanding the light and choosing the best exposure

• Composition. Balance and harmony, leading lines and creating depth. Using negative space.

• Lens choice. From the wide-angle vista to shooting landscape abstracts with a telephoto lens.

• Capturing mood.

• Shooting multiple image panoramas

• Controlling light in scenes with a wide dynamic range using graduated filters and/or multiple exposures

• Photographing snow

• Shooting in the blue hour and overcast weather

PROCESSING

• Deciding which direction to take post processing according to the mood of an image

• Using Lightroom to apply contrast locally

• “Shaping” the light using contrast tools in Photoshop and Lightroom

• Different techniques for blending multiple exposures of the same image

• Stitching multiple panoramas together

• Finishing touches for processing to give images dramatic punch

• Sharpening images

ANDY MUMFORD - CREATIVE GUIDE

Andy is a Lisbon based professional landscape and travel photographer. Andy grew up in the UK loving nature and travel and took up landscape photography over a decade ago. Since then he has travelled extensively photographing all over the world and his photography and articles have featured in publications and books worldwide. He is a passionate photographer teacher and has been leading both group and one-to-one workshops for five years.

He is a Fuji X Photographer and a brand ambassador for Fujifilm in Portugal, although he also has extensive experience with Nikon and Canon cameras

JONAS PAURELL - CREATIVE GUIDE

Jonas is the founder of Terra Photography Expeditions. He has been a photographer for well over 20 years. He is a certified International Mountain Leader (UIMLA) that has spent a lifetime exploring the world's wild areas. Jonas will be leading the expedition.

Jonas loves working with developing photographers to strengthen their technical foundation and support them to unleach their inner creativity. Jonas achieves this through engaging lectures, educative assignments and hands-on teaching in the field.

Terra Photography Expeditions