What a beautiful day of photography at the coast! It was so packed and productive that I learned 7 lessons I want to share with you.
7 Photography Lessons in 1 Day
in journal
cedeira
"Door", San Andres de Teixido, June 2018
in photographs
Windmill near San Andres de Teixido.
I loved the way this door "to nowhere" looked in the fog, and I had to make an image of it.
"Light", San Andres de Teixido, June 2018
in photographs
I had very different plans for this morning. I was supposed to be photographing the beautiful cliffs of the Costa Ártabra, but ended up shooting rather dramatic, mysterious shots in the thick fog that devoured the whole landscape just after dawn.
You know I love shooting in the fog: you can create beautiful images (like this one, "Light"), that otherwise would be impossible to get.
The key of this image, for me, it's the door and the light that peaks out from it. It's subtle, but it's there. And you can't avoid lookint at it.
See more images of Galicia here.
Watch the video of this morning.
"White Horse", San Andres de Teixido, June 2018
in photographs
I loved photographing the horses on my trip to Cedeira a few weeks ago.
I was looking to shoot the dark ones against the sky, silhouettes on the horizon.
The white ones were more rare, but beautiful creatures. These ones I would try to photograph with a dark background to create contrast.
I got a few exposures, and this one was my favorite.
Landscape photography in Cedeira, Day 3
in journal
Last day of my trip to Cedeira!
As usual, the forecast completely missed it: I was expecting "mostly cloudy" and I got "rain and wind". Even though I got rained on, I still made some images (one of them was one of my favorites from the trip).
In these conditions, make sure you protect your gear appropiately. I've already ruined cameras in the past, and believe me, it isn't fun. Use a plastic bag to cover your camera, and if it's raining a lot, just don't shoot at all or use your phone (if it's weatherproof).
Landscape photography in Cedeira, Day 2
in journal
My second day of landscape photography in Cedeira was an intense one. I found dense fog, which made impossible to photograph the big vistas. But I found something much better: intimate and mysterious compositions.
Landscape Photography in Cedeira, Day 1
in journal
First day of my landscape photography trip to Cedeira and the Costa Artabra, in NW Galicia.
House of Ligh, Cabo Ortegal, June 2018
in photographs
I love the unpredictability of the weather at the coast. To get this image I had to make quite a few long exposures at this location in NW Galicia.
I took 16 long exposures of the same subject, until I got the one I was looking for.
It was sunny and bright when I arrived at Cabo Ortegal, one of the most beautiful lighthouses I've seen around here (not just because of the lighthouse itself but the landscape surrounding it). Light was very harsh. There were a few clouds but not enough to block the Sun.
After an hour or so, I had gotten a few long exposures, and I actually liked a couple of them. I was ready to leave the place, but I decided to stick around and look for some other compositions. In the next 15 minutes, the weather changed and it became windy and overcast.
I then repeated some of the compositions I had been taking earlier, until I finally got the image I was looking for.
They say landscape photography is all about patience, and I agree. Patience tends to reward you much more at some locations though (like the coast and the mountains), where weather can abruptly change in just a few minutes, giving you a completely different landscape to capture.
The first of summer, Cedeira, June 2018
in photographs
A few months ago, I made one of my favorite images: The Last of Winter. That one was a cold, foggy morning that I spent walking on ice and snow.
The image I'm publishing now was made on a foggy day as well, but very different conditions: it was much warmer, there was no snow nor ice, and it was made in a different continent.
But somehow, when I was composing it I was thinking of the image from Indiana. So I called it "The First of Summer".
Horse, San Andres de Teixido, June 2018
in photographs
I saw hundreds of horses during my trip to Cedeira last week. But I hadn't been able to make a good image of one of them. Most were cautious enough to put distance between me and them as soon as I'd gotten within a few hundred meters of them.
On the last day, and already leaving the town of San Andres de Teixido, I saw this horse in the yard of a nearby house. It started neighing at me, but didn't go away when I approached it. The horse let me take a few portraits, staring at me all the time.
Only at the end I realized about the empty bucket next to it. It'd been asking me for food all this time.
I hope they fed it well that morning.