How I predict fog

I love fog. Fog is very important for my photography, as it creates the atmosphere and the mystery I look for with my images.

As you can imagine, being able to predict (or at least have some degree of confidence) where and when fog happens can make a big difference. That’s why I always keep an eye on some key numbers that are a good indicator of possible mist.

I use an app called Clear Outside. It’s not a good one, it’s old and hasn’t been updated in years, but I love how simple it is. I can see everything I need in one quick glimpse, with no distractions.

What I look for is:

• Wind: as little wind as possible, ideally no wind at all.
• Rain can create its own fog, but most of the time it will leave you with images that look like they were taken on a cloudy day. Only that you got wet to make them.
• Humidity: has it rained lately? is the ground wet? are there lakes nearby? Here where I live, fog won’t happen if humidity is below 90%.
• Temperature: a cold night followed by a warm day can fill the air with all that humidity present on the ground.
• Dew point: the closer to the actual temperature, the better. It is when these two values are the same that fog appears to be the thicker, at least in my experience.
• Topology: valleys are more prone to fog, as they “trap” that humidity.

This is not an exact science, quite the opposite: predicting fog is really hard. But with the right numbers, and some knowledge about the location, you can have a rough idea of what to expect. And maybe have your camera bag ready to go, just in case.

Hiking to Lacs d'Ayous, in the french Pyrenees National Park

One of the most beautiful hikes I've done in the Pyrenees. The lakes reminded me a lot of the Enchantments in Washington State, another of my favorite hikes.

This is a moderate hike, a 9.5mile / 16kms loop with some 2,500 feet / 800m of elevation gain. Rocky terrain, it was also a bit slippery due to the rain of the day before.

Photography wise, there are plenty of opportunities. The hike starts through a dense forest with some very beautiful trees, and then opens up once the lakes start. You get incredible views of Midi d'Ossau, and there are other peaks as well.

As always in the mountains, it's all about the light. Conditions can change quickly, especially on partly cloudy days. If you find a composition you like, it might pay off to wait a little bit to see if the light improves.

Look within

My photography book collection is rather small: just a handful of volumes I really adore.

Books are an important source of inspiration, and I'd definitely have more if I had a permanent home. But I can't help to think that keeping it small has helped my photography in many unexpected ways.

I lack formal education in the arts, even less in photography. I didn't have a mentor either. I learned many things from work I was seeing online, and from the books I do own, but most of what I know, I gained from experience alone. From the daily practice of photography.

Of course my work and myself as a person are heavily influenced by others. We are humans after all, we don't live in a vacuum. But the lack of formal knowledge and understanding of photography made me freer than I would be otherwise.

Free from comparisons, free from following the rules, and free from not following the rules. I was doing photography for the sake of photography.

This is still true today. For example, I try not to look at other photographer's images of a place I'm going to visit soon. I like to see it myself first, to take it all in with an empty mind, free from preconceived ideas, and make the images I see. Then, I might take a look, often to realize just how different or how similar we saw that location. It's fun.

There's a lot value in studying someone else's work, but sometimes, it's more fun to go somewhere with an open mind and try to create something different. Something that comes from within.

Where is photography headed?

As new cameras are announced, I can’t help but to feel like digital cameras have peaked, when it comes to photography at least. Most of the innovations of the last few years have been about video. We do get more megapixels and better AF with each iteration, but they are minor iterations.

That’s not bad, though. Today, pretty much any camera in the market is capable of producing amazing photographs. It’s a good time to be a photographer.

But I wonder, where is photography headed from here? Surely, computational photography will play a big role in the short-term. In my opinion, smartphones are not the future of photography, but they are hinting at where standalone, interchangeable lens cameras have to go in the next few years. I can’t wait to see what’s coming next.

After that? Who knows. And who cares, really. Instead of longing for a future better camera, let’s enjoy the features we do have today that we were longing for just a few years ago.

A human touch

Nature was, is and will always be what inspires my photography. The beautiful landscapes of Oregon were the reason why I picked a camera up and started to take photos a few years ago.

Over time, though, and as I looked for more ways to practice my photography every day, subjects other than nature started to sneak into my images.

Hiking in Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park

A beautiful hike I got to do in the Pyrenees mountains, in Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park.

On social media for photographers (and how I use it)

Social media is probably the most powerful tool creators have to show their work today. There's nothing even close to its reach and convenience.

But with great power comes great responsibility, and social media apps come with plenty of dangers we should be aware of.

I personally try to focus as much as I can on the platforms I do control (my website and newsletter), and use social media as a tool to get new eyes to see my work, keep people updated, and to let everyone know where else they can find me. Relying solely on social media is a trap, it's not under your control, and it's not under your own terms.

I also schedule my posting on social media, so I don't have to open the apps to share my work. I don't even need to have the apps, since I do all of this from my computer.

Hiking to Ibon de Anayet in the Pyrenees mountains

This is a place I'd been wanting to see with my own eyes for a long time, and I finally made it happen. The light was not the best the firs time, so I went back another time. I made a few images, including one that I love, and got to see the lake with the beautiful Midi d'Ossau in the background.

Perseverance makes the photographer

It took me 4 days to make these images. Four days going to the same spot, hoping to find the right conditions. Until it finally happened. But as I was taking the photos, a car stopped by, someone stepped out with a camera, took a couple of shots, and left. Just like that, they got the same image it had taken me several days to make.

Anyone can get lucky - I have gotten lucky more times than I can count. Luck plays a very important role in photography, especially in outdoor photography where very few things are under our control.

Photographers must seek that luck, though. We have to put ourselves in situations where luck has no option but to find us. Perseverance will give us a better chance to get lucky.

Bardenas Reales: the Spanish badlands

I spent a few hours at the Bardenas reales, the Spanish badlands. A beautiful, vast, and desolate landscape. This is what I saw, and the images I made there.

Sponsored by my wife (and by you!)

Making money with photography isn't easy. It takes a long time and a lot of hard work to even make a few $$$, but it's totally worth it if you love the process. And I do.

Starting today, I want to offer the option to those of you who can afford it to support me even further. I opened a Patreon page where you can choose one of the different tiers. Your contribution will allows me to keep doing this that I love so much.

https://www.patreon.com/adrianvila

A morning of photography

It's a nice morning. Let's go out and shoot some photos.

Always look for the light

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I made these two images last week, in my parent's farm.

When I saw the ladder, I knew I had to capture it. The light was just so beautiful! While trying to find new angles for the ladder, I saw the cloud and the power lines crossing in front of it. Of course, I took a photo of that too.

Light can happen at anytime, anywhere. Always look for it.

Creative ways to use editing tools

Today, editing software offers us more tools than we'll ever need. Some of them can be used in ways they might have not been intended too, expanding even more the creative possibilities of today's photography.

Photographing a medieval castle in the fog

Come along with me as I photograph a medieval castle on a very foggy morning.

Camera gear I carry on my daily walks

I love walking, and I love photography. So, of course, a big part of my photography is done during my daily walks.

The camera gear I carry with me has changed quite a bit over the years, as I try to find the balance between flexibility, versatility, convenience, image quality, and low light performance. In this video, I talk about my current gear.

You can find a more exhaustive list of the camera gear I use for photography and video here: my camera gear.

Why photography can't be mastered

To master something is to:

1. gain control of; overcome

Photography is rarely under your control, unless you are shooting in a studio. Ask any landscape photographer, street photographer or journalist. No, you are always at the mercy of the elements.

2. acquire complete knowledge or skill in (a subject, technique, or art)

While there's some knowledge and skills involved in photography, knowing how to use a camera or how to print doesn't make you a good photographer.

In fact, technology has made photography much more accesible, exposing what has always been the most important part of this art: seeing.

No, I don't think photography can be mastered.

You can master your camera, or the printing process. But not the art. That is inside you, it's the way you see the world. You can't master yourself.

Take a look at the early work of the "masters" of photography. Yes, their images evolved over time, but their vision was always there. You won't find a point where they "became" a master.

I believe photography is a lifelong journey, there's no finish line. There's no "I've made it" in sight. No 10,000 hours.

No mastering. Just practice.

Leave room to reframe your photographs

One of the things I noticed when I switched from 120 medium format film back to digital, was the extra step I had to take with every single one of my photographs. I had to crop them to square. Digital sensors are usually rectangles, 3:2 ratio, so I was capturing more of the scene than I really needed.

At first, I thought that was a waste of my time and of space. After all, after cropping the RAW files to a square, a third of the "negative" was going unused. That could add up quickly, especially if you shoot a lot of images like I do.

Anyway, over time, I started to see how useful that information to the left and the right of what I had seen in the field could be. It allowed me to reframe images where I could have done better, or to discover slightly different compositions from the one I had seen in location.

I liked it so much that I wanted to do the same on the top and bottom of the frame. So every time I was about to take a photo, I'd take a step back to capture a little bit more of the scene.

Talking ONE on Biblioscapes in Discussion

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure to talk about my book ONE to Euan Ross from his podcast Biblioscapes in Discussion. It was a lot of fun, and you can listen to the conversation here. You won't regret taking some time to go through some of the past episodes with some very talented and interested photographers.

How to shoot more photos of anything every day

Nature was the reason why I got started in photography. The beautiful landscapes of Oregon awakened my senses, and I felt like I had to create something with what I was seeing, hearing and smelling. For a long time, that was what drove my photography.

Even though I was documenting my everyday life with photographs as well, I never thought of those moments as situations where I could create art. They were just snapshots.

i was wrong

I was wrong. Very, very wrong. Any moment, any situation, no matter where you are, no matter what you are doing, is a good moment to create art. I shot the image above while I was writing this post, from the window in my bedroom.

no limits

Not just that, but anything could be worth of your attention. Why limit yourself to a tiny subset of the world, when there are so many interesting things to photograph everywhere?

just try it

Sometimes, all it takes is to try it. Before judging a place or an object worthy or unworthy of a photo, just put your camera up to your eye and try it. Walk back a little and show the whole scene, or get close and look for the details. Try to find the beauty in everything.

everything photographer

Going from landscape photographer to everything photographer was one of the most profound changes I made to my photography. It opened a whole new world of imagery for me, but also showed me that I could do photography at anytime, anywhere. I didn't have to wait to go anywhere, I could do right at home.

all photography is practice

All photography is practice. The more we practice, the better we get. And because we don't control most of what happens outside, the more we get out, the more chances we have to make great images.

some ideas to shoot more photos of anything

• always carry a camera with you
• take at least 25 photographs every day. go through them at the end of the week (Sundays, for example), keep only the ones you like
• try to notice one new thing every day, in a familiar place. photograph it
• don't label yourself: don't think of yourself as a landscape photographer, a street photographer, an anything photographer. give yourself license to shoot whatever you want. you are a photographer, period. no labels
• not inspired? never forget: inspiration comes from action
• don't overthink your compositions and shoot in P mode. focus on what matters, the feeling you are trying to capture / share
• even when you go somewhere on a photography trip, don't wait until you get to the location. start taking photos right away, even before you leave the house. that will get the ball rolling and will be hugely beneficial for your trip

don't stop

The most important step is also the hardest: don't stop.

Photography is a long-term game - it takes a long time (perhaps a lifetime!) to have a portfolio full of good images.

But it's a game we must play as often as we can. Showing up every day will give us a much better chance to create what we want.