A Day Skiing in Nagano

No camera bag, no tripod, just a phone in a jacket pocket — a full day on the slopes from first lift to last light.

March 5, 2016Nagano, JapaniPhone 6s · built-in wide, 4.15mm (~29mm equivalent) · f/2.2 (fixed), ISO 25

No DSLR for this one — just a phone in a jacket pocket, pulled out between runs. Everything here is a couple of seconds’ detour from actually skiing, not a planned shot, which is its own kind of honest record of the day.

An early-morning scene on the way to the ski resort in Nagano, before sunrise — Before sunrise, on the way out — 7:21am.

Getting ready with ski gear in the early morning at a Nagano ski resort — Gearing up, 7:55am.

A wide view of snow-covered ski slopes in Nagano in the morning — On the mountain by 9:10am, the day's first proper look at the slopes.

A ski slope in Nagano during a morning run — First run of the day, a minute later.

A ski lift line at a Nagano resort in the morning — Waiting in the lift line, 9:18am.

A snow-covered ski run in Nagano mid-morning — Mid-morning, 10:17am.

A ski slope scene in Nagano at mid-morning — Two more, six seconds apart, 10:30am.

A ski slope scene in Nagano, moments after the previous frame — The second of that pair.

A ski run in Nagano before the midday break — Another run before the break, 10:38am.

A lunch break at a Nagano ski resort — Lunch break, 11:45am.

A second frame from the lunch break at a Nagano ski resort — Twenty seconds later.

Afternoon light on the ski slopes in Nagano — Back out for the afternoon, the light already lower — 3:39pm.

A square-cropped photo from the last runs of the ski day in Nagano — One of the last frames of the day, cropped square.

A second square-cropped photo from the end of the ski day in Nagano — And the last one, same afternoon.

Eight hours on the mountain, first lift to last, and not one of these fourteen frames took more than a few seconds away from actually skiing. Sometimes that’s the right trade.

#nagano
#japan
#skiing
#snow
#winter-sports