sony a6000
I bought a new camera.
Actually, I bought it 3 months ago. I didn't mention it here or anywhere because the last thing I want is anyone thinking they need a new camera -or even worse, the camera I bought- to create good images.
But a few people have spotted it in my videos and asked about it. I also want to be as transparent as possible when it comes to what I use to make my images, so here we go.
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.
Cascade is the new Image of the Month for the month of January, 2020.
This is one of my earliest images -one of my favorites as well-, made in the beautiful North Cascades National Park on a very rainy and dark day. It was well after sunset when I saw this waterfall at full power. One of those moments when nature shows its power and you can't help it but to feel really small.
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.
White Badlands is the new Image of the Month for the month of December.
I made this image in the remote Badlands National Park, South Dakota, in the middle of a blizzard that brought almost a foot of snow to the park and closed all the roads around. I was probably the only visitor that day, surely the only one in that white and empty campground.
I spent most of the time in the car, waiting for a chance to get out and make some images. Eventually, I was able to get out for just a few minutes, face the freezing temperatures and do some photography. It was so worth it.
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.
Wawasee is the new Image of the Month for the month of November. I made this image on a rainy and moody day at Lake Wawasee, Indiana.
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.
Hello from Freiburg, Germany. I've been on the road for just a week but this trip is already very different in many ways when it comes to camera gear.
You might remember I was struggling with gear and decided to leave behind most of it. The result is this: I've gone compact, I've been shooting photos with my old Sony RX100ii and videos with the RX100VA.
Read MoreSaguaro is the new Image of the Month for the month of October. I made this image not too long ago, back in April, in Saguaro National Park.
I'd wanted to photograph the beautiful Saguaros for a long time, and I enjoyed every single minute of the many hours I had there.
This was the first image I made that day, and it ended up being my favorite.
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 an APS-C shooter, I was interested in what Sony had to announce today. These are some of my thoughts on the new a6100 and a6600:
I have no need for a new camera as of right now, but if I had to buy one (for stills)... which one would it be?
To be honest, I'd just go for another a6000. At $400 is half the price of the a6100, I think it's still one of the best deals in photography. Now, it's still unclear how much they've improved the sensor and the processing capabilities. The a6000 does suffer of some banding, and it'd be nice to know those issues are fixed in the new entry-level body. With what I know now, though, I'd have to go with the a6000 as my choice.
Something I'd been thinking about was to add a longer telephoto lens to my system. I really like the compactness of the 55-210mm, but sometimes I just wish I had more reach. The only choice I had was the full frame 70-300mm... until today. Sony announced the APS-C 70-350mm f/5.6-6.3 lens, a very nice 105-525mm equivalent range!
I'm seriously considering it for when it comes out in November. My only concerns are the size and the weight, it is definitely bigger and heavier than my compact telephoto, and I think twice and three times before increasing the size and weight of my backpack. We'll see.
Lastly, the 16-55mm f/2.8 looks like the dream lens for APS-C cameras but it's not something I need (neither the optics nor the speed). I'm very happy with my 16-70 f/4, a slower lens but much cheaper, more compact and with longer reach.
The Nest is the new Image of the Month for the month of August. This one took quite a bit of patience and waiting in the cold.
I made this image early on a foggy morning in NW Spain. The atmosphere was beautiful and I hope to have captured that with this picture. You can watch the video where I make it here: "Wildlife" photography with the Bronica.
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.
White Moon is my bestselling image to date. Since I released it later in the month, it's still available at a reduced price. Hurry up, the offer will end in just a few days!
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.
Finally, a new addition to the Image of the Month collection. I wasn't able to add any new images for the past 2 months as I was on a road trip across the US.
Goods news is, I have brand new pictures that I will be adding during the next few months. White Moon is the first of them.
That's not by chance. This is probably my favorite image from the trip, if not my favorite image ever.
I made it on a beautiful morning at the White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico. You can watch the video where I make it here: Minimalist and abstract photography heaven: White Sands, New Mexico.
For the first time, I'm offering this image in two different sizes: 6x6" and 8x8". I've been experimenting and they both work with my images, so I added the option to the whole collection.
The matt and frame are 12x12" for both print sizes.
Shipping is free to the US now. International shipping is a flat rate of $14.95.
The first Image of the Month, "The last of winter", went on sale exactly 1 year ago. This will be the last month I offer it at its current price, which will increase by next month.
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.
A short video showcasing the editing of my image "Moonrise, White Sands" made in New Mexico a few weeks ago, using Adobe Lightroom CC.
Utah is one of those places every photographer should visit and photograph at least once in their life.
I'd been to the southern part of this beautiful state before (Zion, Monument Valley...), but I was missing on what are probably the most visited parks: Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef, all very close to each other around this small town, Moab.
This trip wasn't supposed to change that, I want to spend some significant time in the area and this wasn't the best time to do so. I still wanted to get a glimpse of this sacred place for photographers and think about what I could create here in the future.
I only had one morning, and I decided to spend it photographing Corona Arch, just outside of Moab. This is the video of that morning.
It was a cloudy and windy day out in the Arizona desert wilderness.
Arcachon Bay is a beautiful place in SW France, in the region of Aquitaine. A few months ago, I got to spend a few days in the area and ended up making a few images.
This one is my favorite. These sticks are markers for the oyster beds, where fishermen go during low tide to get the ones that are ready.
"Arcachon Bay" is the first digital image offered as part of the "Image of the Month" collection, also a first for an image of mine made in Europe after months of shooting at this side of the ocean.
You can watch the video of how I made it here.
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.
A few years ago, my most common camera setup was a Sony A7II with a 16-35mm f/4 lens (a combo worth more than $3k at the time). While that's not a lot of money when it comes to cameras, it was for me.
One day, I got caught in very heavy rain in the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. I was on a hike, my camera got extremely wet and I didn't get to a dry place for over 2 hours. As a result, the screen stopped working and I had to send it in for repair. The bill: $400.
That's exactly what my current camera (a Sony a6000) is worth today, brand new.
Over the years, I've found that using a cheap camera has actually a lot of benefits over a more expensive one.
Read MoreThis image was one of my first attempts at wildlife photography with my Bronica SQ-Ai. I failed.
As soon as I got close, the storks flew away and never came back. I waited with my tripod and camera ready for almost an hour. They didn't trust me and I don't blame them.
I moved on and kept making images, but decided to check on them again on my way back home, and good I did. They were back, and this time I won't let them leave without an image.
Having ran out of film, I grabbed my digital camera. That would've been my choice anyway, even if I had film. The Bronica proved too big and slow for a scene like this.
I clicked a few times, but it was with this last composition that I got what I was looking for. Inmediately after, they flew away again. This time, I didn't mind.
You can watch the whole thing on this video: "Wildlife" photography with the Bronica.
This is not a good place to photograph in the snow. It does snow a few times every winter, but it's not cold enough for it to stick around. You can get a few white days in the mountains, but that's about it.
That's why I wanted to make it to the mountains so bad a couple of weeks ago. A recent storm had left some considerable snow, but the days were about to warm up so the clock was ticking.
I was lucky enough to get a few hours of cloudy weather and I was able to make some good images. I'm still hoping for some more snow in the weeks to come, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
Sometimes, the best images are the ones we don't expect to make. This is what happened on my recent trip to A Coruña.
This scene was just in front of the hotel where I was staying. I saw it on my second day there, and I visited the location multiple times over a period of 36 hours. I shot it during the day, at night, and before sunrise.
The one I shot at dawn turned out to be the best one, and one of my favorite images I've made this year so far.
I showed how I made and edited this image in a video a few days ago, so there's little else I can say about it.
Cemeteries aren't usually places I like to photograph. That day, though, I was looking for subjects that would look good with that layer of fresh snow. Things you wouldn't see covered in snow often in that area.
When I saw it, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to reach it. The path to the cemetery was covered in untouched snow, and the gate was closed. I still wanted to give it a try, and I'm glad I did. I had no problem getting inside.
After a short walk and trying a few initial compositions, I stumbled upon this one. Everything was perfectly in place, a big cross with its white tomb, and a line of other dark crosses in the background.
Once you see a composition, everything is very easy. The hardest part of photography is to recognize it when you see it.
I had to visit the city of A Coruña to get the images from my work "America Untitled" back, after one month on display.
Of course, I did some photography in that beautiful city, and this video shows some of the footage and the images I made over there. I also talk about how and why I made a couple of those.
