Mother and baby enjoying some peace and quiet in late afternoon light at the green pool at the Jigokudani snow monkey park. This is a smaller hot spring fed pool far away from the main pool and rarely visited by photographers. Only a few people from my tour group were present when this photo was taken but at the same time there were 50 plus people jockeying for position at the main pool. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 600mm and Nikon D810, 1/500s, f/8, ISO 1400, EV + .0, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld. Click on the photo to launch a new larger version of the photo.
Winter wildlife hotspots in Japan
In winter time there are 4 main wildlife photography hotspots in Japan. First and foremost we find the snow monkeys in the northern Japanese alps on the west side of main island at the snow monkey park. On the northern island of Hokkaido there is the Shiretoko peninsula where we target Steller's sea eagles, Lake Kussharo for whopper swan and finally the Kushiro area for Japanese red-crowned crane.
Finally a snow flurry at the monkey park. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 440mm and Nikon D810, 1/500s, f/11, ISO 5000, EV + 1.0, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld. Click on the photo to launch a new larger version of the photo.
Snow Monkey Park
This year the Nagano area of Japan had one of the lowest snow fall totals ever recorded for this area of Japan. This area sees an average of 22 days of snowfall in February so when I saw bare ground and zero snow on our first of 3 days at the monkey parked I was a little shocked. Mother nature came through on the second and third day giving us plenty of snow flurries and a big drop in temperatures. Three days of scheduled photography at Jigokudani on my tour just about guarantees we see at least one day of snow each year. Without snow and with warmer temperatures the monkeys act a bit differently and tend not to gather together, instead they spread out giving photographers less opportunities.
Thankfully this little one took a break from cuddling to give us a look. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 600mm and Nikon D810, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 2500, EV + 0, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld. Click on the photo to launch a new larger version of the photo.
When shooting close and tight like this always try to stop down to f/11 or f/16 to try to keep as much as possible in focus. If you like shallow depth of field f/4 or f/5.6 at this distance will give you a very narrow band of focus.
The photography at the monkey park this year was just excellent. Even though it was crowded and the weather was not ideal our entire stay it was an amazing experience once again.
Fluffy young monkey looking a lot like a teddy bear. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 460mm and Nikon D810, 1/500s, f/8, ISO 800, EV + .3, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld. Click on the photo to launch a new larger version of the photo.
It really pays off to get away from other photographers at the monkey park. Every afternoon a group of young male snow monkeys would gather at the top of the hill to climb trees and roll in the snow together. This was just a short walk away from the main pool but most photographers and tour groups would just stay at the main pool and shoot the very same image they shot all morning. For best results at the park, take a break, take a walk and look for new fresh angles, backgrounds and action.
Sea Eagles and Fox
In far west Hokkaido we visited the hot spot Rausu on the Shiretoko peninsula for Sea eagles.
Steller's banking in early morning light, Rausu, Japan. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 600mm and Nikon D810, 1/1250s, f/8, ISO 720, EV + .3, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld. Click on the photo to launch a new larger version of the photo.
The biggest news this year was a the lack of sea ice in the sea of Okhotsk and the Nemuro Strait. Even though the conditions were not ideal the eagle photography opportunities at Rausu were still amazing. The steller's eagles were out in full force all over Hokkaido.
Steller's sea eagle chasing a white-tailed eagle for a free breakfast. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 600mm and Nikon D810, 1/2000s, f/8, ISO 640, EV + .3, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld. Click on the photo to launch a new larger version of the photo.
During our 3 days photographing at Rausu we enjoyed the full range of very good weather and thankfully the weather never became an issue thanks to careful planning. We dodged a blizzard on our last day by cutting the eagle photography short to get out of town before a huge storm hit.
Steller's against the sun. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 400mm and Nikon D810, 1/1250s, f/8, ISO 125, EV +0, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld. Click on the photo to launch a new larger version of the photo.
This year the mild weather meant that there was lots of time to explore in beautiful afternoon light to seek out deer and fox along the shore. One afternoon were able to watch deer eat kelp right on the beach!
This friendly Hokkaido fox followed us to the beach giving us a beautiful blue background. The water behind the fox is the strait between the sea of Okhotsk and the pacific. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 600mm and Nikon D810, 1/500s, f/8, ISO 280, EV + .3, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld. Click on the photo to launch a new larger version of the photo.
The fox on Hokkaido are a different sub-species than the Japanese fox found elsewhere in Japan. During February you see lots of roadside fox sometimes we see a dozen individuals a day and sometimes groups of 3 or 4. Seeing a group of together is really rare in places like Alaska, but not on Hokkaido since this is the peak of the mating season.
Cranes in Kushiro
-18 degrees C (-.4 degrees F) at the Otowa Bridge and a pair of cranes bathed in the pink early morning mist. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 600mm and Nikon D810, 1/400s, f/7.1, ISO 3200 EV +0.3, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld. Click on the photo to launch a new larger version of the photo.
For the second year in a row we left our eagle location Rausu early to avoided getting snowed in by a blizzard. The timing was perfect as we safely made it to Kushiro just in time to experience snow for the next two days.
Clean landing at Akan. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 400mm and Nikon D810, 1/2000s, f/8, ISO 360, EV +0.3, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld. Click on the photo to launch a new larger version of the photo.
Overall the number of cranes was down this year due to the unusually mild winter, but the photographic opportunities were still excellent. This year the Akan International Crane Centre still had a good amount of cranes and all the action you could ask for, dancing, displaying, copulation attempts, interaction with fox, raptors and even deer. Actually this year, the lower than normal numbers of cranes made for cleaner backgrounds so the only problem was trying to be selective and keep from shooting too much!
Crane pair in mid dance at Akan. Clean and clear backgrounds like this were easy this year! Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 600mm and Nikon D810, 1/2000s, f/8, ISO 400, EV +0.7, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld. Click on the photo to launch a new larger version of the photo.
The good news is that there were a lot less swans being a nuisance at Akan. The staff was doing a good job chasing whooper swans out of the park but there were less swans in Japan overall. I was told that the whoopers were leaving Japan on migration about a month earlier than normal due to the warmer winter.
The mild weather this year in Japan really created some big challenges for crane photography around Kushiro. The biggest factor was that the birds were leaving the crane parks and sanctuaries to visit thawed out farm fields for food. The cranes had a very low feeding drive, so much so that the Akan center stopped feeding the cranes fish 5 days early on Feb 29th. I watched the center staff feed the cranes live trout only to have the birds walk over and then turn around and walk away. Normally there would be a feeding frenzy and battles over the same fish in colder weather.
Display jump caught in midair at Akan. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 370mm and Nikon D810, 1/2000s, f/8, ISO 500, EV +0.3, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld. Click on the photo to launch a new larger version of the photo.
Unlike Akan, the Tsurui Ito crane sanctuary was a big disappointment this year. Even before I arrived to Japan I was told there were bare muddy snow-less spots at the Tsurui sanctuary, something I had never seen in all of my visits in Japan. Thankfully the blizzard on our first day in Kushiro buried those bare spots with a few feet of snow. If things weren't bad enough at Tsurui one of the best features of Tsurui, a large tree that sits in the center of the field, has had main limb hacked off without any regards for aesthetics leaving a big old ugly stump. The missing tree branch was really disappointing for me since this used to be my favorite spot for cranes. Also it looked like the maintenance staff at Tsurui took the summer off since the main area was filled with ugly tall brown grass. We basically avoided Tsurui this year not for lack of trying but each visit there we found very low numbers of cranes at Tsurui compared to Akan.
Tokyo City Tour
Right before the start of my wildlife tour, my group and I spent a few days having a lot of fun spending time photographing at some of the very best spots in Tokyo. This tour is a good introduction for first time visitors and I will be leading the same Tokyo pre-tour including the best camera shops and the museums of Nikon, Fuji, and JCII (Japan Camera Industry Institute).
For more information on the 2017 tour to Japan visit this link: http://www.robertotoole.com/workshop/hokkaido-japan/
Here are a few of my favorites images from Tokyo.
Pagoda and mount Fuji. Sigma 24-105 art lens @ 24mm and Nikon D810, 1/500s, f/8, ISO 200, EV +1.0, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld. Click on the photo to launch a new larger version of the photo.
Tuna being cut to order at Tsukiji market using a long Maguro bōchō or Tuna Knife. Sigma 24-105 art lens @ 48mm and Nikon D810, 1/60s, f/4, ISO 140, EV +0.0, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld. Click on the photo to launch a new larger version of the photo.
2016 is the last year you will be able to visit and photograph at the original Tsukiji market opened in 1935. Tsukiji is the largest wholesale fish market in the world and will move to a new modern facility in November.
Tsukiji and Akihabara. All with Sigma 24-105 art lens and Nikon D810. Click on the photo to launch a new larger version of the photo.
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