PhotoHokkaido · Hokkaido Prefecture

Snow photoshoot in Hokkaido

In short

A snow photoshoot in Hokkaido costs $330 for 30 minutes and 15 edited photos, online within three days. We shoot from December to March, choosing between the Biei hills and the Otaru canal on the snow and road forecast for your date, with a warm-up stop in the car built into the 30 minutes.

Starting from: $330
Duration: 30 min
Edited photos: 15

Why here

Why choose Snow photoshoot in Hokkaido?

Snow elsewhere in Japan is a gamble on a cold week; in Hokkaido it is the default from December to March, so the planning goes into cold and roads rather than hoping for flakes. The trade-off is daylight: in December the sun sets around 16:00, and Biei is a 2 h 30 min drive from Sapporo.

How the shoot is planned

How the shoot runs around Shirogane Blue Pond

The route

In Biei the 30 minutes cover one stop, chosen on the day: the Shirogane Blue Pond, where the frozen pond and its larch trunks give frames from behind the rope, or a farm-road pull-off where you walk the plowed verge while the camera stays on the road, so the untouched field behind you is never stepped on. With an extra hour we drive between several, finishing at a lone tree or a line of birches seen from a public viewpoint as the light turns blue. On a blizzard day the session moves to Otaru, where the canal walk towards Kitaunga is reachable by train.

The timing

January and February give the deepest, driest snow and the bluest shadows; December has less cover on the fields, and by late March the roadsides turn grey. Biei mornings are often −10 to −15 °C, so we shoot in the late afternoon rather than at dawn, ending as the sky colours. If your trip overlaps the Sapporo Snow Festival in early February, book Biei for another day: the city is busy and rooms sell out.

What’s included

What Snow photoshoot in Hokkaido includes

In the package

15 edited photos
Location chosen on the snow and road forecast for your date
A warm-up stop built into the 30 minutes
Private online gallery within 3 days

Book online

Inspiration

Snow photoshoot: ideas for your shoot

Frames by photographers on Unsplash, credited below — the mood to plan your own shoot against, not our portfolio.

Photos: Adrian Siaril, Dominic Kurniawan Suryaputra, KWON YOUN, Darth Liu, jet dela cruz on Unsplash

Before you book

FAQ — Snow photoshoot in Hokkaido

How much is a snow photoshoot in Hokkaido?

$330 for 30 minutes, with 15 edited photos in a private gallery within three days. The drive to Biei and back is not part of the 30 minutes; if you have no car, we quote a pick-up from Asahikawa or Biei station.

Can we stand in the snowy fields for photos?

No. Under the snow is farmland, and the owners have asked visitors to keep off; the Tree of Philosophy was cut down in 2020 after years of trespassing. We frame from roads and public viewpoints with a longer lens, which makes the field look endless anyway.

Will our phones and cameras survive the cold?

Phones often shut down below −10 °C; keep them in an inside pocket. When you come back into a warm car or café, leave cameras in a closed bag for 20 minutes so condensation does not form inside the lens.

Same shoot elsewhere