His photos take flight as every step is precisely thought through. When it comes to scenery, Takahiro says, the chances of capturing the right moment is very vague. Having a camera with good lenses is not enough to make a person a good photographer, he stresses, the key is careful precision. Simulation, preparation and persistence are essential factors when wanting to capture the perfect moment.
“This is the greatest difficulty that us photographers need to overcome. I have to be well prepared, or I risk the chance of taking the perfect shot when the opportunity comes. The most important factor is perseverance. The opportunity to take a good photo with landscape photography is very demanding. Nature, planes and fireworks all do not appear at the exact timing, as you desire. Which means to capture those exact beautiful moments, you need to stand by and wait for hours and at times, you need to carry the equipment and move frequently. To be able to do that, you need endurance.”
His impulse to capture images of airplanes at a moving force tells us much about his role in photography and his constant desire to distil these adrenaline-riddled moments into images. He has recently been focusing on taking shoots at night.
“The set up for a shoot shifts during different times of the day. Even the set up for takeoff and landing shots are different. Recently, I have been primarily focusing on takeoff shots at night, based on the premise that the plane will stop. At the place where I normally shoot, the plane takes off at a distance between 400mm to 500mm at 35mm full size. First, it starts with placing the focus precisely on the right spot, then changing the ISO gradually from 64 to 400 to adjust to the brightness of the sky.”
“At twilight it is set between 64 to 200, and at nautical twilight it is between 200 to 400 ISO. Generally, the aperture stays at maximum. But if it’s a very bright lens, the depth of field becomes too narrow so it is maintained at f/4 to f/5.6. With this setting, to shoot the plane in the dark on a dim runway, you need to at least have the shutter opened for 5 seconds. Depending on the state of the airplane, the bulb mode is generally set up to be on 5 to 10 seconds on the runway or when the sky is dark. Taking landing shots is much more difficult compared to the takeoff shots because of the aircraft’s force plunging through at an enormous speed.”