While working in Japan during the winter of 1995, I woke up one Sunday morning to a beautiful snowfall. I walked from my hotel to Matsumoto Castle to photograph the 16th century castle in the snow with my little Pentax point-&-shoot film camera. The falling snow was wonderful to walk through - very quiet & peaceful. When I arrived at the ideal spot to make the photo, a photographer with a medium format camera on a tripod was already there working the scene. I photographed him & the castle as he worked. When he saw me behind him, he extended his arm toward the castle and, with a smile, motioned me to join him at his spot. Since I didn't speak Japanese, there was little verbal communication between us as we photographed together. It ddin't matter; we both shared the joy of photographing a beautiful scene. I made the same photos that he did (although his quality was probably much better with a larger format camera), but I didn't post any of those photos. I thought that this photo told a better story of the experience. Details: Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Scanned Kodak Gold Max 400 negative.

photog-Mot-Castle-JP_wBorderMatsumoto Castle, Matsumoto City, Japan. Winter 1995. © Fred C. Schulze