Gallery is open!

My Instacanvas Gallery is now open and ready for business! Instacanvan.as is a new service that allows people to pick and order photos to be custom printed on canvas in three sizes and shipped directly to your door. Where do the photos come from? Instagram! the popular photo blogging service that Facebook thought important enough to pay a billion dollars for!

I personally think it is important enough to have shot and shared over 3500 photos with the application. It is fun and easy and now I have the opportunity to make some of those photos available for sale in my gallery. I have gone back and selected a bunch of shots that I like from my feed over the last three months. There is a little bit of winter photography, and some more recent shots from my two-week near Mt Fuji and even my trip to Okinawa where I am right now.

I plan to keep this gallery active and fresh and I have some interesting ideas how to utilize it. Check it out directly and bookmark if you like it check back every now and then! Thanks a lot and I hope you enjoy!

http://instacanv.as/neilhartmann

Big thanks, Big snow

A big thank you to everyone who took the time to wish me a happy Birthday on Facebook and with emails and phone calls!  It was a really nice birthday and it feels pretty good to be 40 and still snowboarding and doing what I love!  Thanks to all for the support!

It has been a crazy busy start to a new year both for me personally and for the world at large.  It has been dumping snow here in Hokkaido non-stop!  We are having the biggest winter in 30 years and it is an incredible thing to be witness to.  The snow banks keep piling higher and I am wondering where we will be putting the snow in a months time.  We are running out of spots already here in my neighborhood.  The snowboarding conditions are needless to say all time.

This week I was shooting all over, Niseko, Rusutsu, and even in the zones near my house.  Here is a little gallery selection of shots from my iPhone, enjoy!

UTMF Website

Very excited to have my photos used on the official UTMF website. As you may know the race was originally schedule to be run May of this year, but it was cancelled due to the Earthquake and Tsunami on March. So the new dates for the race are May 18th and 19th of 2012 and the 100 mile portion is already full! The half race still has room for competitors so please check it out if you are interested in Trail Running and or just checking out the area. It will be a really great chance to check out a spectacular area of Japan!

Now go and check out the website! Thanks

http://www.ultratrailmf.com

MEX to LAX to HND

Well internet access in Sayulita Mexico was rather limited and things were so busy I didn’t really have time to make an update to the blog. So here we are in the lounge at the airport with wireless connection and a few spare hours, time enough to make a post or two.

Here are a couple of travel style photo’s from the last few days in Sayulita.

USA Day 3

Tomorrow is race day, so in preparation we got up early today and drove around most of the course checking out the aid stations etc., Wanted to get an idea of the roads and driving times. We got lucky with some early morning coffee and then an epic sunrise over the city! Then more prep shopping, chinese food for dinner and now try to get to sleep asap. Tomorrow we wake up at 2:30am race starts at 5:00 Sun doesn’t rise till after 7:00am!

Trans-World Japan new issue

I have a few photos published in the new issue of Trans-World Japan.

I would have preferred a two page spread for this photo of Shunsuke @ Hikarigahara Cat service, but I won’t complain too much.

A few more pics on a Backcountry related page.

Check it out at a bookstore near you!

 

 

Kamuiimintara Exhibition

I don’t think I have ever met this photographer, Ryan Libre, but he seems to spend a lot of time exploring and photographing the Daisetsuzan National park here in Hokkaido. Great photos! and he has an exhibition happening soon, check it out. More info on his blog here.

http://blog.ryanlibre.com/

Yoshitomo

Meet Yoshitomo a 64 year old Gentleman and train fanatic who I met last month in Furano.  I bumped into him on top of a hill trying to get a photo of the Furano town and ski resort.  He was there  waiting to shoot a train that was scheduled to come by.

We chatted for a while and he even showed me some of his collection of photos shot around Hokkaido over the years.  Thanks to the the camera hanging around my neck I was able to meet another Hokkaido/Nature/camera lover and share a few minutes together.

Retired and single after his wife passed away, Yoshitomo now makes day trips around the island to shoot mostly trains and sometimes a good nature shot.  No business involved, just doing it because he loves trains and pictures.

Here is one of the trains we shot together, though not the one Yoshitomo was waiting for.

Yoshitomo shoots exclusively on print film and carry’s around a lot of his prints in his tiny mini car.  Wrinkled and well worn from showing them to people and carrying them around, those prints had a lot of flavor and history.  Great stuff.

The train Yoshitomo was waiting for.  Classic Hokkaido train shot in the Furano valley, hope to see you again Yoshi!

POW auction

Check out some of the cool photos and artwork avalible to bid on through this auction.  Put on by POW Protect out winters, this might be a good chance to pick on something to decorate your house.  Prices are still very low and many items don’t even have a bid yet.  The deadline is July the 31st!

Travis Rice does it again

Travis Rice has done it again! Another amazing project from one of the best snowboarders the world has ever seen. From his movies like “Community Project” to “That’s it, That’s all” to contests like “The Natural Selection” Travis continues to break new ground. This time he is taking on the art/gallery scene with the creation of an on line art gallery that sells prints of photography and art.

Asymbol Gallery

All the creators are in some way related to the snowboard and or surf scene so if you are looking at my blog you will probably like the pieces that are for sale. Take a look at the screen snaps below then click the link and head over to the gallery to check it out.

I am envious of the quality of the project and the great web design! Congradulations to Travis and the team that made this all happen!

Why can’t we have something like this happen in Japan? hint hint….