Crazy Photographers

[ndwgolf]

On one of the days that we were in Hokkaido Japan we went to Otowa Bridge Kushiro (south east Hokkaido) I went to shoot the early morning sunrise with hopefully the red crowned cranes in the shot (unfortunately they weren't there) but I still got a nice picture of the river frosted trees and steam coming off the water.

On that morning I arrived at the Otowa Bridge at 5am (sunrise 7 am) I arrived that early from a tip on Youtube saying that this location can get very busy and need to get there at least 2 hours before sunrise. When I arrive just before 5am, already the car park was nearly full and the bridge had a row of 30 plus tripods set up waiting for the sunrise ........it was minus -23 degrees. I grabbed my gear and went onto the bridge and found myself a spot into a 3 foot gap between two other tripods, I got some funny looks but being 6"3" nothing was actually said (we later chatted about this and that so it wasn't that bad,
The problem for me though was standing on that bridge tor 2 hours in -23 degrees, I would say the first hour was okay but after that even with all the top Columbia cold weather gear on I started to get cold. I initially had the X2D and 135:2.8 sitting on the tripod but when I stared seeing frost on the lens hood I took it off the tripod and put both camera and lens inside my jacket and kept it there until I actually stared using it around 06:30. I took about 40 pictures the battery was now in the red, but more so I couldn't stand the cold anymore plus 2 coach loads of Chinese tourists arrived all with there selfie sticks and the likes.........I couldn't stand it any more and left just after sunrise. CRAZY PHOTOGRAPHERS

Picture below

 

[Micro-four-thirds]

Wow, amazing story and I have to say well worth braving the extreme temperatures for.
Thanks for sharing

 

[ancient_mariner]

2 hours standing still in -20 is a crazy long time, and no surprise that the battery started losing charge. Nice picture though.

 

[ndwgolf]

2 hours standing still in -20 is a crazy long time, and no surprise that the battery started losing charge. Nice picture though.

I was there mate along with 30+ other crazy photographers

 

[ancient_mariner]

A few years back I wanted to photograph sunrise at Lac Moraine in Canada, and knowing it was popular I got there around 6am with about 1 hour to wait. The carpark was already almost full and I had to scramble over rocks to find a good spot. It was nothing like as cold as for you, but I was still chilled through by the time I finished.

 

[Topsy]

That shot was worth it Neil, IMO.

 

[ndwgolf]

That shot was worth it Neil, IMO.

The frost on the trees made it for me, after living in Thailand for 30+ years and originally from Scotland it brought back memories .............notice I didn't say fond memories

 

[Bristolian]

How an artist suffers for his art. All the wait and cold was well worth it for that image

 

[Brendan Mulachy]

you can buy heated jackets, trousers and socks, come with a power bank and are toasty warm, you just have to worry about your head,feet( unless you have the heated socks ) and hands

 

[A_S]

Question is, is it worth it to get the same photo as everyone else? Wouldn't it be better to do some research and find something a bit different?

 

[Bodian]

Learn from the Germans and their towels! Set up your tripod and all the stuff - pop back and sit in the car for an hour.

 

[ancient_mariner]

Question is, is it worth it to get the same photo as everyone else? Wouldn't it be better to do some research and find something a bit different?

Nobody else's photo would be the same as mine. Very often photos are special not just because of where they were taken, but because it's us that takes them.