journal
The advent of touch interfaces was supposed to bring a new era of computing, and while they have certainly achieved that as devices for content consumption, I'm not so sure when it comes to content creation.
Read MoreI always say that I like to destroy my images: I push film and work on my digital images to add grain, increase the contrast, remove details in the shadows and highlights. I seek imperfection.
It was this imperfection that allowed me to find my own style and to feel more free in my photography.
Read MoreA few weeks ago, I decided to go on an adventure that will be hard to forget: I walked the last 130 miles (200km) of the Camino de Santiago. I followed the most famous route, the French Way. It was in late December and I got hit by 3 storms and got plenty of rain, wind and even snow and ice. Doing the Camino in winter comes with many more challenges than bad weather, though: you'll need more gear, many places will be closed, limited hours of daylight, fewer fellow pilgrims... but I believe it's the best time to do it. I wanted to share a few tips that might help those of you thinking about doing El Camino to decide whether you should do it in winter or wait for warmer months.
Read MoreGolden Gate is the new Image of the Month for the month of February, 2020.
It was my birthday and we were getting ready to celebrate in this little bar in the Mission. I looked at the TV and saw some fog starting to roll in, and I soon realized that that evening was going to have the conditions I'd been chasing for so long on my previous trips to the Bay Area.
I only had my compact camera with me, and the battery was almost dead. Luckily, the bartender had a charger that I used to get some extra power. I grabbed the camera and ran to get a cab, as I cancelled all the birthday plans for that night.
It was freezing cold on that bridge, and traffic was loud, very loud. It was an evening I won't forget: the scene that unveiled when the lights were turned on in the dark mist was all I was hoping for.
Remember: there are two sizes to choose from, 6x6 and 8x8 (inches). In both cases, the matt and frame are 12x12 (this means a bigger margin for the 6x6 print).
Shipping is free to the US. International shipping is a flat rate of $14.95.
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.
As you might know, a few weeks ago I did El Camino and walked over 130 miles in 6 days. Little did I know that after that experience I'd become -even more- addicted to walking. I went from averaging around 4 miles a day last year to 9 miles during these last two months. These are some of my thoughts on walking.
Read MoreI've always performed better when I had a clear task and I was under some pressure, as it was the case when I had a day job. Being an artist is a very different story: it hasn't always been easy to see what I needed to do, and there's no one waiting on me so I'd tend to procrastinate and put things off.
Read MoreWindowless Homes is the working title of a project I've been working on about the architecture in my hometown. This project had been mostly digital, I wanted to add some film images so I took my Bronica, loaded some Rollei Retro 400s and hit the streets.
A few days ago during my morning walk, I reached for my RX100 (always in my pocket!) to photograph something I'd seen. As soon as I turned it on I could see the most dreaded message: "NO CARD".
It wasn't the first time I forgot to put the memory card back in the camera. I made that mistake once, and I learned my lesson. Since then, I keep spare memory cards almost everywhere: my wallet, my camera bags, in the car... they are cheap 8gb cards, not the fastest or highest capacity, but enough to make some images.
This little trick has saved me multiple times already, so I'd really encourage any digital photographer to do the same: buy a pack of cheap SD cards and leave them in places where you might need them.
Why I believe that contact sheets can be useful to a digital photographer, and how to create a contact sheet with Adobe Photoshop.
A beautiful morning out with my RX100VA.
While not unexpected, I was a bit surprised to see the amount of concern raised by my video Shooting the Bronica in the rain.
"What had the Bronica done to you to mistreat it that way? Honestly, I didn't enjoy watching this video"
Let me be clear: I'm against camera abuse.
But also, don't forget: it's just a camera.
Some people like to collect cameras, put them on a shelf and enjoy seeing and touching them. I understand and respect that.
A camera that is not part of a collection, though, is a tool: a machine to make images. And like any other machine, it will eventually die.
"We must all either wear out or rust out, everyone of us. My choice is to wear out" -Theodore Roosevelt
I do choose to wear my cameras out (film and digital). This doesn't mean I'm careless, but I'm not going to think twice about exposing them to some rain, cold, heat, wind, snow or whatever the weather throws at me.
This wasn't the first rodeo for my Bronica, and it won't be the last. I can't think of a better way to honor it than using it to create beautiful images, so when the day finally comes it can proudly say: "I've done my job".
A short video where I try to clarify the process of making long exposures with film. Remember that I wrote a whole book about this topic that you can download for free. I also have a few articles about Long Exposure Photography on this blog. Please don't hesitate to drop me a line if you still have any questions.
These are a few tips for those who might feel stuck in their photography.
Read MoreMaking an image on days when everything falls into place -the right conditions, the right place, the right time, the right mood- is easy. Those days hide a big danger, though: when one of those elements is missing, we might think it's not even worth trying to make images.
I love to make images in the fog or even in severe weather conditions, but most days are just sunny, clear, boring. I have a hard time finding the motivation to get out on those days because I know the chances to make a "good image" (an image that fits my style) are very slim.
Those are the most important days, though, because they are the ones that make you a photographer.
First, they show the world as it usually is - in order for us to see the extraordinary we need to sense the ordinary first.
Second, they force you to think out of the box. In a sense, a foggy day is bad news to me because I usually end up creating something similar to what's worked before. A sunny day, though, is unpredictable: unlikely to generate great images, but potentially the spark for new ideas and projects. It was on some of those boring and flat days when most of my ongoing projects were born.
I'm currently reading Susan Sontag's On Photography - definitively a thought-provoking book, to say the least.
In Heroism of Vision, she mentions photographer Edward Weston and his supposedly vision of photography as "elitist, prophetic, subversive, revelatory". Sontag attributes to him the following thought:
Photographers reveal to others the world around them [...] showing to them what their own unseeing eyes had missed
This vision does sound a little elitist, painting the photographer as a prophet.
While I distrust truth-tellers, I do believe our photography can be self-revealing and we can become our own prophets. Photography has led me to places where I would normally not be and to situations I wouldn't necessarily put myself in.
It makes me feel alive.
I see image making as the excuse to connect with a forgotten part of the world that doesn't seem to affect us (me) anymore. We live in these little bubbles, away from nature, and photography helps me to find part of that lost connection. It's worked for me and that's why I share my work and passion for photography, because I believe it can work for others as well.
An approach to photography not as a means to show anything to others, but to reveal the world to ourselves.
There are very few places that remain mostly untouched, pure and wild. Places that we used to call home and that somehow, still feel that way. The Devesa da Rogueira is one of those places, it's The Last Forest.
"I don't count the sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting because they're the only ones that count. That's what makes you a champion" - Muhammad Ali
One of the things you first realize when you start exercising is that it should hurt. If it doesn't, you aren't doing it right. Pain is the body's way of telling us we are reaching our limits. This is how we become stronger.
Perhaps, photography works in a similar way: the goal shouldn't be to make easy images, but to chase the hard ones. Perhaps, the more uncomfortable we feel, the more challenges we have to face to make an image... the better that image will be.
So maybe by trying new compositions, capturing new subjects, limiting our options, visiting new places... we become stronger photographers.
I got a new lens, the Sony 70-350mm f/4.5-6.3 G OSS. This APS-C lens has a reach of 525mm in full-frame equivalent and I couldn't be more excited about that: I'd never had a lens that could reach this far! In this video, I give you my first impressions from the highest peak in the province of Lugo, the Mustallar at almost 2,000 meters or 6,500 feet.
For the last 2+ years, we've been living nomadically across several countries. Before that, I'd moved from Spain to the US where I lived for 5+ years. All these travels have changed me and my art in very profound ways -and it could change you, as well. Let's see how.
Read MoreFog is my favorite element to shoot in: many of my images have been made in foggy conditions. These are 5 things I look for when I run into fog.
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