Biei Larch Row Hokkaido

About the photograph

I made this on 7 March 2018 at 06:35, on the larch row on the hill in Biei. I left my room in Biei around 4am and drove out in the dark, then photographed until the light came up. The exposure was 60 seconds, long enough for the cloud to move across the sky while the trees stayed still. On most days of my Hokkaido trips it was -10 to -15C.

What it does for the room

The 2:1 panoramic shape is made for wide walls: above a sofa, above a bed, or over a low console or sideboard. The 12×24 suits a narrow wall, a hallway or the space above a desk. The 20×40 sits well above a standard sofa or a queen bed. The 30×60 holds a large living room wall on its own. The tones are soft whites and gentle greys rather than hard black, so the print reads quiet and warm next to light oak, linen, cream walls and stone, not cold. Most of the frame is open space, which gives a busy room somewhere to rest.

Real photograph

Two exposures of this scene, made minutes apart from the same spot, blended for a sharp moon over moving cloud. No composites beyond that, no generated content. Tone and light are refined in editing, as with any fine-art print.