On assignment
Paul Gallagher captured every conceivable snowy scene during a 10-day research trip to the Japanese island of Hokkaido
On a 10-day research trip to the Japanese island of Hokkaido, Paul Gallagher experienced an amazing winter
This series of photographs explores the simplistic and minimalist nature of a landscape in the depths of winter. During this season, the landscape is transformed and essentially simplified by the deep snow leaving a very elemental canvas with which to work. This provides both photographic advantages and challenges.
I have always loved working in winter conditions. The extremely cold temperatures can be very challenging, but the rewards are immeasurable. I had been to many countries during the winter, including Iceland, Norway and Scotland, but as ‘true’ snow conditions were never really guaranteed, I had to travel further afield.
One location that I knew would tick all of the boxes was Hokkaido, the most northerly of Japan’s four main islands, and in February 2017 I headed out there for the first time. I had intended to travel there for many years because of the perfect winter snow and had decided to one day run a photography workshop – and this ended up being the research trip. The best way to make efficient use of my time was to employ a local guide/driver who knew all the best locations and how to get there without problems.
A typical body of my work is normally built up over an extended period of time and is often only achieved through several visits to a location. Hokkaido, on the other hand, was entirely different. During my ten days there I had every conceivable type of winter conditions, including blizzards, snow with no wind, sunlight and black storm skies. It was perfect! I worked flat out and seized every opportunity I could. In the end I could hardly believe how lucky I was.
Nature obliges
I had seen photographs from Hokkaido and other deep winter landscapes from all over the world, so I pretty much knew what I wanted to get while I was out there. The problem with other locations I had been to was that I was hoping for conditions that sometimes did not materialize. Simplicity and negative space was my aim and I was surrounded by this every day. In most landscapes, the photographer is trying to distil the composition to make the photograph less cluttered. In Hokkaido, the snow did this for me. The kit I used for the trip was a Nikon D800E. The lenses I had with me were the 24-70mm, 24mm PC-E tilt-shift lens, 16-35mm, but the real workhorse was my new 80-400mm telephoto zoom! I love my Nikon kit, and when I get a rare opportunity like this I know it will deliver the results. The quality of the files from the D800E are exceptional (I now have the new D850 and those images are even better!), but the 80-400mm lens almost never left the camera. Given the depth of the snow, it was incredibly difficult to walk across the landscape without being waist deep in it. The long focal length of the 80-400mm lens enabled me, in many situations, to get tight into the subject. The solitude and pristine nature of the landscape and fresh snow every day made this trip a winter landscape photographer’s dream.
During my time there, I was hardly ever stuck for subjects to photograph. In fact, the challenge was forcing myself to move on to new locations during the day’s shooting.
Other tricky elements were the temperatures, and the problem of trying to keep my camera kit dry during blizzards. The cold temperatures did not hinder the Nikon kit at all, but my fingers did gradually stop working when it reached -18ºC!
During my ten days there I had every conceivable type of winter conditions, including blizzards, snow with no wind, sunlight and black storm skies. It was perfect!