Winter in Tohoku

January-February 2021 / Tohoku region

Photographer / Yuta Murakami

Before I begin talking about Markins and me, Murakami, I must first apologize. To tell you the truth, I don't really like the combination of a ball head and a quick shoe, so I haven't used either a ball head or a quick shoe since I started taking photos. That's right, I've been using a regular screw-in type 3-way type ballhead. As I wrote in my previous report, I honestly didn't have a good impression of the ball heads from other companies that I tried out a few times, so I've kept my distance from them since then.

One day, Hirokazu Nagane, a senior photographer who uses Markins, gave me some advice: "Markins are great!" So I decided to go for the Q10i-BK, which has a ball head and a quick shoe. I was so surprised at how convenient it was and how easy it was to use that I immediately attached a second tripod, the Q10i-RD, in a different color. It's been a while since I first encountered Markins, and I'm feeling the benefits of it, especially when shooting in the winter.

When I think of a ball head, I always feel a "rocking" sensation when I loosen the knob to compose the shot, which I didn't like when I was making fine adjustments, but the Q10i doesn't have that. Another nice feature is that there is a separate knob for the pan direction. In the past, I felt that a 3-way head that allowed you to adjust each direction individually was convenient, but now I've gotten used to the speed of a ball head that allows you to move freely in all directions with one knob, and I feel that the ball head has a great advantage because I can frame things quickly even when using a tripod. This was the same in cold conditions, and the temperature difference did not change the feeling of operation. Aomori Prefecture was forecast to be sunny that day. However, the temperature seemed to be freezing. I slept in my car near the shooting location and waited for the next morning.

The first Tohoku Shinkansen "Hayabusa" arrived with the morning sun. The temperature was about -13 degrees. My skin exposed from the cold weather gear hurts. It was so cold that it was a little dangerous to touch the Q10i with bare hands. This shooting location is close to the station, and the first "Hayabusa" that stops at the station does not come at such a high speed. Therefore, there is not much snow smoke, but on this day, perhaps because of the cold, the snow around was powdery. Even at a low speed, snow smoke lit by the morning sun flew behind the train.

When it comes to railway photography, most shutter opportunities are "the moment the train comes". Also, when thinking about it on a commercial basis, it is not uncommon to take both the orthodox "horizontal composition" and the "vertical composition" that takes magazine covers into consideration with one shutter opportunity. The Q10i of course supports vertical composition, and ensures the same convenience as horizontal composition.

The Tohoku region is known for its snowfall, but the Pacific coast does not actually get much snow. However, the intense cold this season has brought a lot of snow to the Pacific coast as well.

Next, we will introduce the Yamada Line, a local line that connects Morioka Station and Miyako Station. The scenery changes with the seasons, but in fact, snowy scenery can sometimes be found in areas on the Pacific coast, making it a little rare.

In fact, I was actually heading to a different area that day.
The weather forecast didn't predict much snowfall along the Yamada Line, and the live camera on the national highway that runs right next to it didn't show any snow. I was heading to an area where snow was definitely present, thinking, "Maybe I'll strike it off if I go," which was a decision that was in a sense "not taking risks."
However, you won't know until you get there. With the feeling that if there's no snow, then that's when it happens, I turned back at night and headed for the Yamada Line. When I arrived, my bad feeling was right, there was almost no snow, but I stayed there with a glimmer of hope, and it started snowing all at once during the night. The next morning, the view I had hoped for was unfolding.

For vertical composition, one option is to use the L-plate series. Using this, you can fix the camera vertically while maintaining the feel of a horizontal composition, so I think many people use it. I also use a tripod, but I always carry my camera with me wherever I go, and I also like to take snapshots on the train while wandering around with just a 35mm prime lens, so recently I've been using only the camera plate "PC-R5" to make my camera more compact. I don't find it particularly inconvenient to hold it vertically, and there's a pin to prevent the plate from slipping, so I don't have to worry about it being fixed in place. Depending on the situation, I may also use the general-purpose plate "P20", which is attractive for its small size.

When shooting in the snow, I always wear gloves to protect myself from the cold. I prefer thin ones instead of thick ones to operate the camera, but I still get confused when doing detailed work. It's especially difficult when the camera is fixed with screws like a normal tripod. Furthermore, with the recent increase in high sensitivity of cameras, there are many opportunities to take pictures even at night, and I often continue shooting late into the night. It's obvious that a quick shoe is more convenient when it's cold, I'm wearing gloves, and my hands are dark. With a ball head, I can quickly decide on the composition.

Before going home after a day's location shoot, I headed to the station at night to take my last photo. The temperature had risen during the day, and the snow on the trees had already melted, but I was interested in the contrast between black and white, and the presence of the train headlights, so I composed the photo.

The benefits of being able to quickly fix a tripod when you want to use it and quickly finalize the composition are limitless.
I would like to tell the past me who used to say, "Ball heads and quick shoes are inconvenient," "Yuta, your opinion will soon change 180 degrees!"

Yuta Murakami

Born in Tokyo in 1987. Graduated from the Department of Photography, College of Art, Nihon University. Since 2017, has been a freelance railway photographer, presenting works on the theme of "people, railways, and life." During high school, participated in the "Photography Koshien" held every summer in Higashikawa, Kamikawa-gun, Hokkaido. Executive Director of the Japan Railway Photographers Association (JRPS)
Lecturer at Canon EOS Academy Tokyo School