How I come up with new ideas

August 06, 2020 in journal

I love the default Notes app on iOS - because it synchronizes across all my devices, it's like having a notebook always with me.

One of the ways I use the Notes app is to capture all my thoughts and ideas, in whatever form they might happen. Every day, I create a new note and I start filling it with everything the day might bring: from a rough schedule of how I expect the day to go, to notes from books and articles I read, or podcasts I listen to, including images of stuff I find interesting, inspiring quotes, audio recordings of ideas that come to mind, and in general, anything that goes through my mind that might be useful or inspiring in the future.

Every once in a while, usually on the weekend, I'll go through my notes and pick the most interesting parts. This is how I come up with ideas for my videos / blog posts, places I want to photograph, and how I learn (some of the things I write down are good starting points to research more about the topic).

Be consistent, stay flexible

October 18, 2019 in journal

Consistency is key to great photography: we want to have similar aesthetics and subject matter across a collection of images - be it a book, a zine or any other kind of project.

I believe that new ideas are very important as well, though. Staying flexible, experimenting with new mediums, shapes or textures, creating something new and different to push your creativity beyond its previous limits.

The balance between consistency and flexibility is a delicate one: we don't want to be all over the place and try to do everything, but we don't want to get stuck at doing things the same way over and over either.

As you know, I like the square format. I find square images very pleasing to the eye and it also brings consistency when I put them together (there's no landscape vs portrait debate).

Lately, I've been experimenting with panoramas: very long images. I don't always take them with that idea in mind, I "see" during the editing instead. I don't even use special equipment or software to create them, they are just crops.

I've also been shooting with my phone using an app called Slow Shutter Cam, which lets me take longer exposures than the stock camera app. I like the effect it creates when used walking or even from a moving vehicle.

These are just two of the things I'm doing to switch things up and keep my mind fresh and away from doing the same thing over and over.

Remember to be consistent and to stay flexible, find the balance that works for you.

6 ideas to create minimalist backgrounds in your images

March 02, 2019 in journal

When we see something that catches our eye, it's very tempting to focus on that and start shooting from where we’re standing. This is a mistake.

A good subject is not enough to make a good image.

It's very important to stop and give the scene some time, see beyond the obvious and pay close attention to the background and the edges of our frame. They can make or break an image.

Even the most beautiful subject will make for a bad image with the wrong background.