Showing the Bigger Picture Mike Langford GM HF LMNZIPP GM FAIPP
Before lockdown, two years ago, while in Japan photographing the snow monkeys with our Japan Autumn Workshop Tour, I realised that I had never seen a published photograph that showed what the place really looked like ̶ what it looked like when the monkeys weren't there, what it looked like when it wasn't cold enough for there to be steam. Neither had I ever seen a shot published that showed all the tourists there, photographing the monkeys. Even more than that; I had never seen a photograph of the local spa town, where it's best to stay when you go to photograph the snow monkeys. This article is about photographing a bigger story and asking you to think about what that can give you that you haven't achieved before. I call this The Bigger Picture.
The Japanese Snow Monkey Express Somehow, everyone just gets totally focused on the monkeys sitting in the steaming water of the mineral springs. They forget that all around, there are dozens, sometimes hundreds of other people, all photographing the same thing. All totally forgetting to show the bigger picture of the event. For most people the Snow Monkey experience starts in Tokyo, early in the morning, with a ninetyminute “shinkensen” trip to Nagano in the Japanese
Outside the Snow Monkey Park 1/320 sec, f4, ISO 320 Canon 5D Mark IV body, Canon EF 24-105mm f4L IS II USM lens This is my establishing shot at the entrance to the Snow Monkey Park.
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Alps. This is followed by a forty-minute train ride on the Snow Monkey Express to the alpine spa town of Yudanaka. (This train is a true classic, straight from the history of Japanese rail travel. It has something of an art deco look about it, with its sleek, streamlined front and popped-up top where the driver sits. It's worth getting on early; you can sit up front in the bubble and watch the driver climb up to his little cabin by way of a pull-down ladder.)
Empty Snow Monkey Park Pool 1/40 sec, f8, ISO 200 Canon 5D Mark IV body, Canon EF 24-70mm f4L IS II USM lens This is what the Snow Monkey thermal pool can look like when the park first opens in the morning, with no steam, monkeys or tourists. This is also an establishing shot, as it shows the same environment without all the clutter and activity of both the monkeys and tourists.
