Currently, I am leading my annual Essence of Autumn photography workshop.  This morning, my participants and I woke up well before sunrise at our 4-star accommodations in Niigata.  We headed for the highlands of Minamiuonuma to photograph the sea of clouds, sometimes referred to as the sea of fog, or in Japanese 雲海, ‘Unkai’.  In ancient Japanese folklore, these regions were known as the valley of the dragons, and you can see in the image in this newsletter the reason why.  Who knows how many mystical dragons still inhabit this valley, popping in and out of alternate dimensions?  Certain regions of Japan have unique geographic and weather conditions which allow the sea of clouds to form on and over land, giving the impression of Nirvana dreamscapes, the surrounding mountain peaks with ancient trees and some land masses appear to hover just above the cloud cover.  I’m introducing my participants to the same mysticism I’ve photographed for close to a decade here in Niigata.  After sunrise, and hundreds of amazing images, we headed back to our lodgings for breakfast, freshened up, and I spent a few minutes refreshing myself in the milky white hot springs before heading out to continue our entire day of autumn leaves photography.