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Slideshow: Japan's 'Blue Pond' Photographer Captures a Color for Every Season

January 30th, 2013
Kent Shiraishi's "Blue Pond" was chosen by Apple as one of its desktop backgrounds and won Honorable Mention in last year's National Geographic Photo Contest. (Kent Shiraishi)
"Green Pond and First Snow" is, unbelievably, a picture of the same pond and was an editor's choice in the 2012 National Geographic Photo Contest. (Kent Shiraishi)
"Blue Shadows of a Hill." (Kent Shiraishi)
"Deep Autumnal Tints." (Kent Shiraishi)
"Frozen Trees." (Kent Shiraishi)
"One Tree in Blue Moment." (Kent Shiraishi)
"Hills of Late Autumn." (Kent Shiraishi)
"Two Colors." (Kent Shiraishi)
"Blue Pond and Autumnal Leaves in October." (Kent Shiraishi)
Enlarge Hide captions

If you are a Mac owner, you might recognize Japanese photographer Kent Shiraishi's striking photo "Blue Pond" as one of your available desktop backgrounds. A resident of the northern island of Hokkaido, Shiraishi enjoys photographing the natural scenery of his home, including the same stunning pond location during all four seasons. Because the pond, located in Biei, has a dramatic ability to  change colors daily, it has been a very fruitful subject for Shiraishi. "Blue Pond" also won Honorable Mention in last year's National Geographic Photo Contest, and his photo of the same location when the water was a beautiful shade of green was an editor's choice in this year's contest.

The above slideshow surveys Shiraishi's photos of Hokkaido scenery, and we contacted him via email for a short Q&A:

How did you first get involved in photography?

I had a camera presented to me by my grandfather when I was a schoolchild. Then, by the time I was in junior high school, I received second place in a large photo contest for a newspaper. However, I didn't like the unnatural color of early film cameras. Now, in the time of digital cameras, I can work with the colors much better. I think that this is a gift from God to me. I take a picture now and feel maximum happiness.

Can you tell us about the blue pond location? How did you find it?

Professional photographers have been photographing the blue pond since the old days, but I think that previously there was no opportunity for those photographs to become known by the rest of the world. The pond is beautiful, and hardly anyone was capturing the scenes in my photos, such as where the first snow of the season is falling in "The Blue Pond." I feel that this image has been the most beautiful of this spot so far. I am certainly surprised that people all over the world have now seen the photograph!

What are your favorite places in Japan to photograph?

My favorite place is Hokkaido, because it has the most beautiful nature in Japan. I live there now and love it. I want to be able to show photos of Hokkaido all over the world.

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About the Author

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Liz Flora is a contributor to Asia Blog. She has a master's degree in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University.
 @Liz__Flora

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