Takeshi Hanatani

Takeshi Hanatani
Profile
Born in Kyoto, Takeshi Hanatani studied photography by himself, before moving to Canada in 1998. After crossing the country from the west coast to the east coast by car, he lived in the Canadian Rockies, where he became fascinated with bears. His photographic destinations gradually moved north, to places such as Alaska and the northernmost regions of Canada. After becoming a permanent resident of Canada in 2007, he settled down in White Horse in Yukon Territory.

Hanatani has always been searching for a way in which people can live in harmony with other creatures as a part of nature, rather than as an adversary. He continues to pursue his interest in wildlife, capturing images in the harsh, natural environment of the northernmost territories.

Official website:
https://www.yukon-bearspirit.com/

HD PENTAX-DA 15mmF4ED AL Limited

Because I specialize in wildlife photography, I naturally use super-telephoto lenses most of the time, In fact, I probably use them in 90 percent of my photographs. My next choice is wide-angle lenses. When I can move close to animals, wide-angle lenses let me capture the subject in larger, livelier images. Even when there are no animals to be seen, wide-angle lenses at least let me capture spectacular images of beautiful scenery. I can’t work without them. But because I use wide-angle lenses much less frequently, I prefer smaller, lighter wide-angle lenses, such as the HD PENTAX-DA 15mm F4ED AL Limited. Since I seldom close down the aperture in scenic photography, the maximum aperture of F4 works fine for my purposes. Its extendible lens hood is also easy to attach and remove. I also appreciate its very compact dimensions during storage.

These are the practical advantages of the HD PENTAX-DA 15mm F4ED AL Limited. I believe, however, that this Limited-series lens offers something more than just practical advantages.
It creates an extremely sharp image with very little distortion — a high-quality image almost unimaginable for such a small lens — especially when photographing against backlight. Perhaps I should call it a little giant! Despite its tremendous imaging power, its exterior is amazingly beautiful. This is a magical lens that makes me eager to shoot, and leads me on to the subject.

Sample Images

By Takeshi Hanatani