Minimalisms landscape photography is an all-time favorite theme of mine. And one of the best spots on our planet to successfully conduct this theme of photography is in Hokkaido, Japan., where I am currently leading back to back Hokkaido private photo workshops. 2023 has been a great winter on Japans most northern island, my group Hokkaido photo tour February, had a great bunch of chilled out photographers and birders, who enjoyed the minimalist scenes of Japans most northern island.
Minimalist photography sound super easy and straightforward because it has the word “minimalist’, starting in the theme’s name, easy, right? Sorry, but it’s not. Achieving simplicity is much more complicated than most would think, finding the sometimes complex lines in snowy fields and hills with just the right amount of contrast can be challenging, for the newbie minimalist photographer and, in some cases, even for pro photographers. In other words, achieving simplicity takes dedication and the beginner's mindset, which I will get into a little later. Photographing simplicity in the snow, white on white, is trickier than shooting in the sand. It is paramount that you train yourself on how to interpret the shadows and lines in your minimalist landscape, the tree or trees, shrubs, or other objects in your scene will affect the outcome. Even the small contours on a hill in your snowy landscape are essential, and all these elements play into the final phase of the print. Another challenge is photographers not wearing sunglasses on sunny days, which I highly recommend as you will be able to view the entire scene comfortably without squinting your eyes, most loss the perfect minimalist landscape scene due to not wearing proper sun glasses. Another setback is the camera meter, which underexposes snow to middle grey making your image dark; I have seen photographers either blow out the scene or darken it to blackness. Most photography instructors recommend to use exposure compensation to overexpose by 1 1/3 to 1 2/3 f/stops to adjust for the expected underexposing, which results from the meter’s reading of the snow. For winter landscapes, I usually don’t do this, but I recommend these settings if you are new to winter landscapes and not with an experienced photography workshop leader to help you. Generally, I overexpose manually in the snow by 1/2 an f-stop to a full 2 f-stop. I like to keep my images a little dark, protecting the shadows and highlights. I tweak the RAW image in post-processing until it's perfect. Master Photographer Jim Zuckerman taught me this technique years ago, and by doing this, I never have blown out highlights, and I am able to protect the shadows, underexposing a touch isn't enough to cause unwanted noise with today's high megapixel sensors. Also, while photographing minimalist landscapes, I always have Lee Filters on hand, they are essential, also, I still use my 35-year-old circular polarizer, that is a thick solid piece of beautiful strong glass, and not today's light multi-coated thin ones, that only last a couple of years at most. Singular tree’s are a welcome sight on my annual Hokkaido Photography Tour, we always get a dusting of snow, but blizzards are even more welcome, as they are key for winter wonderland Hokkaido minimalist landscape imagery.
Often, I experience fellow visual artists whose focus is on a single theme of photography, and can only conceive a subject in one way. As a multi-themed photography instructor, I know this is a catastrophic mistake. If these photographers are new, or have been in photography for years, I always take a moment to explain the beginner's mindset. As the Zen master, D.T. Suzuki, said, “I like Zen because everything is Zen.” My vision is to explore and always experience life with the beginner’s mind. A beginner sees myriad possibilities in each theme and pursuit, and that is the mindset I bring to each project I participate in. Many colleagues of mine and fellow photographers feverishly hold onto their pride. They feel that because they are PRO’s, they know the best expression of a theme and therefore limit the potential of the photographic subject. My goal is to discover the emotion, the personality, and connection expressed in the subject to myself and fellow visual artists. That subject can be wildlife/birding, landscapes, flowers, or street photography. Virtually anything that has light cast upon it can be that subject, even if I am the author of that light source.
As a Hokkaido local I have been leading Hokkaido photo workshops for over 25 years, I know the terrain well, and I have hundreds of winter wonderland landscapes waypoints marked for an easy find on my trusty Garmin handheld GPS. When coming to a stop in an SUV on location, most newbies appear a little confused about what to do; this is perfectly normal since it’s not what they imagined the scene would be. To be fair to them, the scene looks pretty plain and not very impressive, nothing like my prints hanging in galleries or posted on my website. First-timers can’t see a photoset; they see snow and, a tree in a field. This is normal. I give them time to look around and get a feel for the shot before I step up and do my job; it can be extremely tricky, but most photographers are able to get the shot. Still, often it is not a gallery hanging fine art print when I am not there to help newbie’s, or if your mindset is racing and you are plugged into the world around you and filled with distractions, glued to your phone 24/7 for info, even when out photographing, you won’t be excited to get up before daybreak to get that quintessential shot. So minimalist or wildlife photography may not be for you? Or it could be just what the doc ordered! And, don't worry, I have a glove box in our SUV's that locks! Just in case you're tempted to check your smart phone, I like my tables and other toys, but one thing I don’t have is a smart phone, as they are to convenient.… Kevin a participant on my 2023 Hokkaido photo workshop made me smile and laugh when he said, “people sitting across each other for dinner, can text each other and send pictures, with their smart phones. By the way Kevin joined with his partner who is the photographer in the family, and Kevin is not, but he had the latest Iphone with 48 megapixel’s RAW. And Kevin soon found himself taking hundreds of pics, and most were very cool, along with lots of video. I must say I was impressed with the Iphone Pro 14, and I think I will buy one, but without a phone subscription, and I will continue to use my portable hotspot, that I use for my iPad Pro, as I am constantly checking weather charts, plus the Iphone is more convenient for navigation then my 12.9 Ipad pro.