Koi turning through dark water in Japan

Japan

Liquid Gold

Shunkaen is Kunio Kobayashi's Bonsai museum in Tokyo, and the reason to go is the trees. He has a shimpaku juniper that's roughly 1,200 years old, and we got to watch him work. The grounds behind the building are full of specimens, and a small artificial stream runs through the back of them with an arched red bridge over it.

The koi were the surprise. Standing on that bridge you're looking straight down into a school packed in tight at the surface, orange and yellow and black and white, mouths open, waiting on food. They knew what a person on a bridge meant. Bodies overlapping bodies, no space between them.

I shot it as an abstract. The water is black, so there's no bottom and no edge to the frame, nothing to place it. Ripples break the scales into shapes that stop reading as fish and start reading as poured color. The gaping mouths are the only thing that tells you what it is.

Nikon Z 7II · Nikkor Z 24-120mm · 91mm · f/10 · 1/100 sec · ISO 80

Limited Edition Print

Available as a limited edition fine art print, produced on demand in four finishes. Full sizing and materials are on the prints page.

Editions & certificates

Each image is released as a limited edition of 50 — that's 50 pieces total, across every size and every finish combined, not 50 of each. When an edition closes, that image is retired and never offered as a print again. A few signature images are released in smaller editions.

Outside that count, I keep one Artist's Proof of each image for myself. It's occasionally available by private request, at a premium.

Every piece is numbered and comes with a matching signed and numbered Certificate of Authenticity. Paper prints are signed by hand before they ship; the face-mounted pieces travel straight from the lab to you, so the certificate carries the signature rather than the panel.

As an edition sells down, the price steps up. The earliest pieces of an edition carry the lowest price.

Full details on The Prints page →

Request a quote

Every piece is made to order. Choose a size and finish and I'll confirm availability, the price in effect for that edition, and timing.

Buying for a client? See the trade program.

Which finish should I choose?

Lumachrome Face-mounted to TruLife acrylic

The deepest, most luminous finish I offer. It's especially suited to backlit scenes, where the glow comes about as close to the real light as a print can get. Arrives ready to hang.

Best for: Deep color, dramatic light, anything you want to stop people in their tracks.

Chromaluxe Dye-sublimation on aluminum

The most durable finish, with color that reaches beyond what standard prints can show, so bright scenes, water, and big skies come off the panel. Arrives ready to hang.

Best for: Bright scenes, water, snow, big skies. Also the most durable option.

Supralume High-gloss canvas on aluminum composite

Canvas texture with the fine detail and deep blacks of a gloss print. Arrives ready to hang.

Best for: Texture and detail — rock, bark, forest, anything intricate.

Fine Art Paper Canson Infinity Rag Photographique, 310 gsm cotton

100% cotton rag, hand-signed, and shipped unframed for your own framer.

Best for: Quieter work, black and white, and anyone with a framer they trust.

Full details on The Prints page →

No payment now — I'll reply with confirmation and next steps.

Prefer email? hello@jeradrainesphotography.com

Frame 20 of 30

More from Japan

View the full gallery
Fushimi Inari shrine at night with diagonal light, Kyoto, Japan Gates of Prosperity Kyoto, Japan 01 A seated Buddha in Japan, framed by the trees around the grounds Middle Path Japan 02 Colorful Japanese pagoda in the forest of Nikko Forest Kami Nikko, Japan 03 Street view of pagoda temple at sunset in Kyoto Japan Glimpse Into the Past Yasaka Pagoda, Higashiyama, Kyoto, Japan 04 An abandoned interior in Japan, the seats still in rows and the light coming through what is left of the windows Empty Seats Japan 05 Two sika deer appearing to whisper in Nara Park, Japan Sharing Secrets Nara Park, Nara, Japan 06