Church in the mountains

Austria, November 2019.

Tree with a view

Innsbruck, Austria, November 2019.

An image from back when I went "compact", made in the mountains surrounding beautiful Innsbruck, Austria.

Photography isn't a recipe

f/64, 1/12,500sec, ISO 12.

One of the things I loved the most from Austria was the tirolean dumplings. So, so good! We want to make them ourselves, so we've been looking for some recipes online.

The list of ingredients only tell part of the story, the instructions of how to make them is what matters. Usually, we can get away with replacing some of the ingredients and still get a delicious meal, maybe even better than the original!

Ilford HP4, pushed 1 stop with Ilfosol diluted under a full moon.

Photography isn't very different.

We still like to share our settings and equipment used, but forget to mention what really matters when it comes to make a great image: why we were there at that moment and what we were trying to create -if anything at all.

RX100VII first impressions

My first hours with the Sony RX100VII, just in time to photograph a beautiful snowstorm in Innsbruck, Austria.

The mountains were calling

Hello from Arco, Italy,

Sadly, we had to leave Austria one week earlier than anticipated due to bad weather. Snow and ice prevented me from doing many of the things I wanted to do there, but it was those same conditions that gifted me with a magical day that made me miss the mountains.

I lived in Portland, OR, for 5 years. While the city might not get snow every winter (we got one big snowstorm in all of those years), the mountains around it are covered in white powder for several months a year. It's easy to find snow even during the summer, if you hike high enough. I absolutely loved it.

I find snow fascinating. I grew up in a place that barely gets any: flurries are scarce, seeing the snow stick on the ground is a once-in-a-lifetime-event. The nearby mountains do get snow but it's short-lived as the warmer temperatures melt it away rather quickly.

Innsbruck got pummeled with snow last Wednesday. The locals might have found it annoying for their commutes, but it was a gift for me: unable to reach the snowy mountains, they came to me.

Placed among giants, it was easy for me to reach high altitudes by simply walking from our place near downtown Innsbruck. I walked in the snow for hours, going as high on the mountain as I could. I knew it wasn't going to last (it's still November, after all) and I wanted to take it all in.

When I left the city behind and reached the forest, it was like being back in the mountains of Oregon. I was once again walking into magical scenes from a fairy tale.

I loved my time in Innsbruck, definitely on top of my list of places to go back to. Next time, hopefully, better prepared for the winter.

The Church in Mösern

A couple of days ago and while driving around Mösern, I stumbled upon a church located in an incredible vantage point. Surrounded by mountains, it seems as though a photographer placed it there.

As the forecast was predicting quite a bit of snow up there for the next few days, I knew yesterday would be my only chance to photograph it again. So I went back.

This is the contact sheet. As you can see, I worked the scene from different angles and at different focal lengths. They require some more work, but I love two of those shots.

Building momentum

As photographers, we often have to deal with resistance. As Steven Pressfield puts it, resistance "is a force that will stop an individual's creative activity through any means necessary", including "rationalizing, inspiring fear and anxiety".

After a long trip through Spain, France and Germany, I took a break for 3 days. It was a short one, but enough to "break the momentum" I had.

In this video, I face that resistance and try build momentum again. From beautiful Innsbruck, Austria.

Fall 2019 trip

It was only a couple of weeks ago when we got back to Spain but the next trip is coming up quickly.

In just three weeks I’ll be hitting the road and visiting some spots in Spain I’d never been to, like Bardenas Reales. Then I’ll be heading to Germany where I’ll be joined by Rachel. We’ll be there for a week before driving south and entering Austria for the first time. Three weeks in beautiful Innsbruck followed by a couple of weeks in the Italian Alps and Genoa. Then back to Spain in time for Christmas - and fog season!

As you might have guessed, I’m beyond excited. Plenty of new places to explore: deserts, mountains, coastline... and of course, cities.