The Long Journey of Trees: Exploring Japanese Woodworking with the Sigma 16-300mm Zoom Lens

Woodcutters have been a recurring subject in my photography. I’ve always wondered what happens to the trees after they are cut down and leave the forest.

The life of a cedar tree begins as a seed in a tree nursery. After about three years, it is transplanted into the forest, where it will grow for decades. Once it reaches maturity, it is felled, milled, cut and processed, and eventually becomes part of our everyday environment. During its life, a tree goes on a long journey.

With these thoughts in mind, I visited Manaka Mokkou, a furniture manufacturer in Tokyo, with the Sigma 16-300mm F3.5-6.7 DC OS | Contemporary on my camera.

Entering the factory, I immediately smell the scent of wood. Here, the trees I’ve known from the mountain forests have taken on new shapes and forms. With great respect for the wood, the artisans carefully create each piece of furniture.

As I photograph the artisans, I take care not to get in their way. The high-power APS-C zoom lens, ranging from 16mm to 300mm, proves to be a reliable asset. With a full-frame equivalent of 24mm to 450mm, I find endless excitement in opening up new worlds simply by turning the zoom ring.

Standing in a corner of the factory, I turn the zoom ring to the 300mm setting, and the skilled hands of the artisans working at the far end suddenly appear in my viewfinder. I press the shutter button and capture the moment. From this distance, they remain undisturbed – the sound of the camera doesn’t reach them. I love working like this.

When I photograph near the artisans or shoot from a low angle, I try using the 16mm setting of the lens. I’m surprised by how close I’m able to get.

Using a 16mm lens with a minimum focusing distance of 17cm is an exciting experience. The compact size and light weight of the lens also allow me to shoot freely from unusual places: under workbenches, through gaps and crevices in furniture pieces, and more. Most importantly, I notice that my subjects never feel intimidated or imposed upon, thanks to the small size of the lens.

Something an artisan told me after the shoot left a deep impression on me:

“We can’t do anything without our tools. We couldn’t cut down the trees, we couldn’t plane the wood, and we couldn’t hammer in nails.”

The same is true for photographers. Without a lens, we couldn’t take photos.

All the moments and memories I want to preserve exist only thanks to tools I can trust.

The Sigma 16-300mm F3.5-6.7 DC OS | Contemporary, which braved the sawdust in the factory during this shoot, will surely become one of these trusted tools for me.

Enjoy the Sigma 16-300mm

16-300mm F3.5-6.7 DC OS | Contemporary

Now for Nikon Z mount, Sony E, Fujifilm X, and Canon RF

Behind the Scenes