muikabochi 208 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Wasn't planning on going skiing today but a friend called me up and said he was off to Gunma so I looked at the weather - it said sunny - and thought why not. Brilliant day over there. Fantastic weather for most of the day and was very pleased to not be disappointed with the views up top. The resort is pretty fun too. It's not fully open yet - the steeper courses don't have enough snow but I'll be going back when it is. Snow quality was very good. Great first day out. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Sharp + stunning. Looks fantastic. Did you win one of those tickets? Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 How in the heck do you get that much contrast? Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 My fisheye and wide angle lenses always seem to give me brilliant contrast on days like today, I love those lenses. I also took out my new 16-85mm Nikkor with a polarizing filter today and messed around with that for some shots. I am very happy with that new lens, it's very sharp. I also did a bit of messing around with other settings when taking the shots, which is unlike me - I'm usually just point and shoot. Got some interesting results from that but lots of laughably bad ones too! There was some excellent contrast out there today, perfect for taking the kind of photos I like to take. I didn't really adjust those pics much apart from the b/w ones, adjusting some brightness and stuff and doing some cutting. [pie-eater - no, I paid for a ticket!] Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Very nice! The polarizer certainly helps with contrast I think but it can make the sky a little unnaturally dark blue (cool if that's the look you're after). I made the mistake of using a polarizer at high altitude in South America, the sky was damned near black! That was pre-digital days too... Link to post Share on other sites
griller 9 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 They are incredibly sharp. Love this one Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 Thanks. The sky was actually quite a deep blue at times today and I was hoping they would come out like that. We basically stayed at the top of the gondola for about an hour as the fast moving clouds took on different shapes. It is really beautiful up there, took over 300 photos. Loads of fun! Some were more insipid looking. I just chose these deep blue ones, thought they looked really nice and like I said very little playing around on the computer. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 I really like this picture Muika Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Beautiful! Link to post Share on other sites
ILoveZao 8 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Love the photographs muikabochi. I hope to get back there this season once. Link to post Share on other sites
fukdane 2 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 That's one good looking mountain. I'd say that new lens you got is working just good. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Sweet. Was it busy muikabochi? Link to post Share on other sites
andylaurel 3 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 I was there yesterday too. It was much more comfortable than Kazawa on the 19th. It was minus 11 and snowing at Kazawa on Saturday, but it was zero degrees and sunny at Malnuma on Sunday. What a great resort. They didn't have many park items out yet, though. SKI, it was quite crowded yes. Aargh, two days of riding back to back has left me so stiff I can barely move! Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 It was fairly busy. About 5-10 minutes wait for the Gondola. The narrow course connecting the top bit with the bottom got a bit crowded at times, though I would imagine it is less than that -- some of the other courses connecting are closed so once they open up there will be less bottleneck. I presume so anyway. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Setting the bar pretty high mate. I'm worried that I'm not going to be able to take my camera up on the hill here in Niseko because of too much snow! I need a clear day coz I'm not interested in getting snow on the camera. Really glad to see the photos of this resort too because I won tickets from the last snowjapan weekly prize. Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 Me too Black Mountain. I don't take the camera out if it's snowing... maybe just take the cheap digicam on one of those days, though recently I haven't even been out there when it's doing much more than light snow. Hope to see some Black Mountain. I'm totally keen on seeing any snapshots, no need to be worried about any bar other than the ones selling beer. It's just my hobby to take scenery photos. Link to post Share on other sites
quattro 1 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 muikabochi Really sweet shots. What type of camera are you using. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 It's a Nikon D300, quattro. Link to post Share on other sites
yamayamayama 2 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 It is a beaut. Can you see the top from the base of the skijo? I get the impression from photos that you can't... Link to post Share on other sites
quattro 1 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 I'm jealous Nice set up Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Looks fantastic. Link to post Share on other sites
mina2 6 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Made the most of the weather up there I see muika. Link to post Share on other sites
IIIII 2 Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 How do you get those really dark shots? Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted December 22, 2009 Author Share Posted December 22, 2009 That's really complex. And a bit of a secret. Click to reveal.. Point camera at sun. Press shutter. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts