2017 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan | Seagulls in Rausu

Apr 01 | Evan | No Comments |

Greetings from Tokyo, Japan! I’m posting this just at the start of my 2017 Cherry Blossom tour of Japan and glad I could finish the report from the 2017 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan before the cherry blossom tour goes into full swing! The last stop for or photography tour of Japan was Rausu, Hokkaido. The reason our group went to Rausu and why our Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan included Rausu was because of the Steller’s Sea Eagles that can be found in abundance. When I knew I had enough, or rather probably too many, photographs of Steller’s Sea Eagles, I turned my attention to the seagulls in the same area.

After reviewing the photos, wished I had spent more time photographing the seagulls in Rausu! As you can see, the seagulls were quite dynamic and certainly provided a change of pace from the Steller’s Sea Eagles. Also, while the eagles were catching fish with their talons, the seagulls were scooping up the fish in their mouths.

In collaboration with Magic Is Photo Safaris, I escorted a small group of wildlife photographers for a Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan in search of Japanese Snow Monkeys, Red Crowned Crane, Swan, Steller’s Sea Eagles and whatever else we could find! To see more photos from our photo safari in Japan, view the 2017 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan Trip Report.

2017 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan | Steller’s Sea Eagles Catching Fish

Mar 29 | Evan | No Comments |

Even with subfreezing temperatures and early morning starts on a boat, our small group of photographers touring Japan was having a great time in Rausu. The Steller’s Sea Eagles were not disappointing at all and whether hanging out or flying through the sky, the eagles provided ample photographic opportunities for our guided tour of Japan’s Winter Wildlife.

Of course one of the more dynamic parts of photographing the eagles was when the Steller’s Sea Eagles would swoop down from the sky and capture it’s prey! Capturing the moment while having the eagles not going away from me (got plenty of photos of eagle butts) was somewhat challenging but we had plenty of time and opportunities to create these photos of the eagles in Rausu.

2017 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan | Steller’s Sea Eagles Flying

Mar 26 | Evan | No Comments |

Spending a few days in Rausu to photograph the Steller’s Sea Eagles was an amazing experience! Our Winter tour of Japan was coming to an end but our small group of photographers was determined to make the most of our time with these amazing birds. Everyone came back with many photographs of the eagles and for me, it was probably too many!

As most of my work is portraiture, sports and sometimes street or landscape photography in Japan, it was really difficult for me to edit down my Steller’s Sea Eagles photos from our trip to Hokkaido. Well, at first it was easy to sort out the photos I wanted to reject but getting from the first edit of eagles to the final edit was difficult! Take the two shots above for example. I love both the photos of that Steller’s Sea Eagle, but can’t easily say which one is better like I can with portraits, sports or landscapes. If there are any bird photographers that feel like sharing, I’d love some feedback!

2017 Winter Wildlife Tour of Japan | Short Video With Olympus OMD EM1 Mark II

Mar 23 | Evan | No Comments |

I’ve been a Nikon guy since my first photography class in 1998. First was film but quickly switched over to digital and never looked back but now it’s time to look forward. Mirrorless cameras have been around for a while but the technology is now reaching a point that I believe is similar to when digital was starting to seriously challenge film. In December Olympus released their flagship mirrorless micro 4/3 camera, the OM-D E1 Mark II and I was eager to get my hands on one. The main attractions to me were the smaller size (less weight makes a huge different for my physical condition while traveling), amazing image stabilization (I can hand hold what is essentially a 840mm lens and get great results with photo or video), and other features like live composition and pro capture. I might do a review OM-D E1 Mark II after my next tour of Japan in cherry blossom season but the short answer is that so far so good! Partly because of the image stabilization I wanted to do a little test video. It’s been a while since I’ve done any kind of video really, but I was quite happy with the results in the limited testing I did with it. Of course I probably only had about 5 minutes of raw footage to make this 2 minute clip out of, which really isn’t anywhere close to having enough for amazing footage, but as a short test, I’m pleased! Though it could have been user error, I do wish that autofocus during video was a little snappier!