This is part of the reason I enjoy pre-dawn to early mornings driving though amazingly dramatic snow-covered hilly sceneries; they are artistically minimalist, especially with the right lightings and dusting of snow the night before.   The snow has done naturally what I tell my participants to do consciously, reduce distractions from their field of view.  On all my Hokkaido photo tour itineraries, I include minimalist landscape photography, but again the light has to be just right. Twenty years ago, I used to religiously photograph in Biei, Hokkaido and visit the blue pond several times per year. The color of the blue pond ranges from vibrant turquoise to emerald to cobalt blue, depending on the seasons, the wind, clouds, and rain can all change its color appearance, which is uniquely beautiful before the ice covers the pond and there is snow in the trees.   Unfortunately, Biei has become so popular that it is now more of a tourist trap than an untouched element of nature, illuminated with blue lights in the evening to accentuate its stunning sapphire water.  And they have a Cappuccino or tea house in the vicinity of the pond for tourists.