Alan Sund traveled to Japan with Art Wolfe in February. Here are his thoughts on the experience as well as a few photos.
A wonderful experience! I’ve been a fan of Travels to the Edge for years – and this was great to finally go along with Art to see where and how so many wonderful images were taken, to experience it on a truly personal basis, to learn from the absolute best about how to improve my own wildlife, cultural, and landscape photography, and to practice each day from before dawn until after dusk. And add on top of that, each evening, Art’s excellent lectures and feedback on participants’ images. BTW… the behind the scenes planning was flawless (Art has a great crew). Best part of the trip??? I got to wear Art’s famous wool cap!!! The only way to top this would be to go on multiple tours with Art and Gavriel. Thanks guys!
Hokkaido- And then there are the Whooper Swans. These large birds look so beautiful as they fly or float together. We have had great weather. The warm air from the water provides a cloud of mist that adds to the mystery.
Lake Kussharo, Lake Akan – Home to these beautiful cranes. Grace, beauty, dancing, humor. These birds are just amazing.
As we continued to photograph, we started getting some visitors that were curious about what was going on. First an eagle, then a buzzard, then a fox and some crows.
Finally a portrait of this really great group. We are having lots of fun!
Here are some glimpses at what we are doing and seeing in Japan. Snow has been falling and contributing to the beauty of the landscape.
We concluded our visit to Yudanaka and the snow monkeys and began our trek to Kawaguchiko.
We arrived near Mt. Fuji with poor visibility, but awoke the next day with clear skies. This allowed beautiful blue skies by day and time-lapse shots showing star trails near evening.
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Here we are in Yudanaka, Japan photographing the Macaques in their native hot spring pools. I love coming to this place and look forward to the rich images we will find as we explore Japan.
Rajasthan > Jodhpur > Manvar > Kichan > Thar Desert
On the last several days of our trip, we visited the region of Rajasthan and a small village near Manvar. Here is a glimpse of village life. Beautiful children and colorful homes show us the rich lives these people lead in the Thar desert.
I love the details they adorn their homes with and the roofs made from local materials.
India’s diversity surprises you with great images. We found women beautifully dressed in bright colors, yet carrying dung on their heads for cooking and heating their homes. Ancient erotic art adorns temples. How interesting from a culture that doesn’t allow on-screen kissing in their very large and popular movie industry. Ceremonies along the Ganges, celebrate light and life with the poorest of the poor. City life and country life are expressive via the lives of the people and animals. Even a savvy street dog is found suckling from a sacred cow.
Damoiselle cranes could easily fit into the pages of my book titled Migrations. It is a never ending theme of fascination, beauty and the power of nature that arroused me once again. These beautiful graceful creatures in large numbers are an experience that I love to revisit and watch those that are witnessing this phenomenon for the first time.
After a day of seriously photographing local color, which is hugely significant in Varanasi and India as a whole, we attended an aarti ceremony during which light is offered to deities.
Art is leading a photo workshop in India for two weeks and he’s starting to send back photos! This first batch was taken on the ghats of Varanasi. It is the holiest city in Hinduism and has been a cultural and religious center for thousands of years. A ghat is a set of stairs leading to a holy body of water, in this case, the Ganges. Some are public, some private; some are used for ritual bathing or cremation, while others are used for quotidian uses such as laundry. Whatever the use, they are always a center of colorful display—even the reflections in the water are beautiful!
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