journal
This is going to be my couch for the next few weeks, here in Portland, Oregon.
I've lost count of how many different couches I've had during the last year and a half. How many places where I've had my morning coffee. How many homes.
Tomorrow, I might not be here. Today, this is home.
A short video showcasing the editing of my image "Moonrise, White Sands" made in New Mexico a few weeks ago, using Adobe Lightroom CC.
I take a lot of pictures. A lot. That means I'll have to go through hundreds if not thousands of photographs after a trip, which can be overwhelming and take a lot of time.
I've developed a process over the years that is relatively fast and painless. This is how I select my best images.
I had to wake very early and drive for almost 2 hours to get there, but it was totally worth it. What a morning at the Salt Flats.
I had found this pyramid (governor Hunt's tomb) on Google Maps. Placed on a hill within Papago park in Phoenix, seemed like something worth photographing.
This place is very close to the airport and you can see planes taking off and landing all the time. I wasn't expected to get photobombed by one, though.
I then tried to include them in the frame. I still have to go through these to see if any may work. Having quite a few shots of this scene, it might not be an easy task.
A month ago, I saw a shadow on top of a wall. The sun was setting and all I could see was the silhouette of the little cat. I knew I had to capture this scene but I didn't have any camera on me at the moment, luckily I was able to take a few snapshots with my phone.
I only visualized the cat and the building on the right when composing this image, it wasn't until I copied the files to my computer that I saw the second cat resting in the background.
Hello from Vancouver, Washington.
I'm back in the PNW and it feels amazing. This place was home for more than 5 years, it was here where I fell in love with nature and photography, and I couldn't be more excited about getting to spend the next few weeks in this very special place.
This means that the road trip across the Southwest is over, though. These are some of the numbers:
You never know how things will turn out when you are on the road for so long. We had everything booked ahead of time which could mean that a problem with one of the hotels or AirBnBs, or even worse, a mechanical issue with the car, could ruin the whole trip. A chain reaction of sorts.
Luckily, everything was near perfect and I couldn't ask for more. I had an amazing time and I believe I made some of my best images on this trip.
Now it's time to rest for a few days before starting to photograph the amazing places of the PNW. I will be using this time to reflect on the work produced in the last few weeks, and of course to share it. Not only images and videos but also some thoughts I've had and lessons learned in the field.
Utah is one of those places every photographer should visit and photograph at least once in their life.
I'd been to the southern part of this beautiful state before (Zion, Monument Valley...), but I was missing on what are probably the most visited parks: Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef, all very close to each other around this small town, Moab.
This trip wasn't supposed to change that, I want to spend some significant time in the area and this wasn't the best time to do so. I still wanted to get a glimpse of this sacred place for photographers and think about what I could create here in the future.
I only had one morning, and I decided to spend it photographing Corona Arch, just outside of Moab. This is the video of that morning.
I had an amazing time at Great Sand Dunes National Park. I had to drive quite a lot to get here, but it's one of those few locations on my list of "places I must go back". A breathtaking landscape.
I almost didn't make it to this location. I'm very glad I did, because I made some of my favorite images ever that morning in White Sands National Monument, New Mexico.
It was a cloudy and windy day out in the Arizona desert wilderness.
I love making these silent videos. Sometimes, there's nothing to say.
Consistency:
consistent behavior or treatment
In photography, being consistent means creating images that look similar. Maybe we shot them with the same camera and lens, maybe we made them look that way in post-processing.
Let's talk about consistency, when we should be consistent and when it's ok to switch things.
I am a big believer in telling stories through a collection of images, be it in a zine, book or exhibition. Let's call it a project: a vision we have, a message we want to deliver, something we want to tell.
Generally speaking, I want to make all the images in a project look very similar, to have the same aesthetic. Otherwise, it might confuse the viewers.
Think of a book: all the words, letters and sentences are the same color and size. Only titles are different to make them stand out, to mark an end and a beginning. All the pages follow the same layout as well. It'd be too distracting otherwise.
There are a few things we want to keep constant or very similar: if an image is monochrome or color, the amount of grain, the contrast, the aspect ratio.
We can emphasize the importance of an image making it bigger, spanning through two pages, for example, or even changing the aspect ratio just for that one.
Different projects might require completely different approaches, though. I believe it is ok to not be consistent between projects: one could be in color, shot with a phone; the next one could be in monochrome using a medium format camera.
If we pick up a different book, we don't mind to see another font being used, more or less margins, a different size altogether. As long as it's kept consistent through the whole book.
I try to apply the same principle to my photography: to be consistent in a project, treating all the images the same way, so they form that body of work where none of its components is more or less important but just another piece of the puzzle.
That's what consistency offers: being able to create a cohesive collection of images that tell a story.
In this video, I wonder about the value on buying photo books. Taking into consideration that we can look at images from our favorite photographers online, at any time and from anywhere, are books still a good investment?
I don't mean a financial investment, by the way. I mean an investment on our photography, to improve our vision and to get inspired.
Also in this video, I venture on the streets of Lisbon looking for a photo book. It'd be the first of my new collection. The chosen one: "Genesis", by Sebastião Salgado.
Arcachon Bay is a beautiful place in SW France, in the region of Aquitaine. A few months ago, I got to spend a few days in the area and ended up making a few images.
This one is my favorite. These sticks are markers for the oyster beds, where fishermen go during low tide to get the ones that are ready.
"Arcachon Bay" is the first digital image offered as part of the "Image of the Month" collection, also a first for an image of mine made in Europe after months of shooting at this side of the ocean.
You can watch the video of how I made it here.
A new image will be released every month and offered at a reduced price during that time. After 30 days, it will be sold at full price. They will never be on sale at any time in the future, the rate during the first month will be the lowest, ever.
You can find more information about how I create my images and all the details about pricing on The Art and Craft behind my prints.
The coast of Portugal never disappoints.
In my quest to minimize and downsize my camera gear, I decided to look for a replacement to my beloved but bulky Sony a6500 + Sigma 16mm f/1.4 combo.
A few days ago, I purchased a Sony RX100VA. Interestingly, this is full circle for me since the Sony RX100II was the camera that got me started in photography, and the one I used for video for many years.
I spent this past weekend in Lisbon, where I had the chance to test the new camera. This video shows some footage and images from this beautiful portuguese city, and I also talk about the good and bad things about the Sony RX100VA.
I embrace the struggle to find images. Photography isn't easy and actually, the harder it gets the more rewarding it becomes. I love the journey.
That being said, there are a few things I like to do to try to find some inspiration before giving up.
One of them is to think about other photographers and what they would do if they were to photograph what I'm attempting to capture. I try to visualize them next to me, and look at what they do -and hey, sometimes they just leave!-.
I also think about their work from similar locations, "can I make something like that around here?".
I love to explore locations that photographers I admire have visited in the past, and place myself at the spots where they made their images. Being able to see what they saw is priceless and can teach you a lot about photography.
Next time you are struggling finding images, try to think about what your favorite photographer would do if they were in your position.
When planning a photography trip, one of the worst things you can do is to plan everything down to the minute.
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