journal

"Examples of the PNW": my new free eBook

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Examples of the PNW cover.jpg
 

I'd been wanting to write this book for a long time, but I always found an excuse to put it off. Now that I don't live in Portland anymore, it seemed like the perfect time to do so.

In "Examples of the PNW", I showcase 15 of my favorite images I made during my time in the Pacific Northwest. I tell the story behind them, how I made them, I give some advice about the location, and I talk about the post-processing involved.

I also thought that it'd be the perfect way to say thank you to the subscribers of my (also new) monthly newsletter. I intend to make this newsletter the link between this website and the people interested in my work, something I can control completely unlike social networks or other websites.

So if you are interested in getting this book (and many more to come in the future), or in signing up for a monthly newsletter about my work and much more, please follow this link.

Thanks for your support!

American Road Trip Journal #19: Joshua Tree

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As I've mentioned before, the week we spent in Palm Springs was a lazy one. I was planning on going to Anza Borrego (didn't happen) and spend at least a full day and night at Joshua Tree National Park.

At the end, I only spent a few hours in the park, and that was a mistake that I still regret today. Definitely somewhere marked in red on my list of places I "must-go-back-to".

With very little time, I spent most of it driving through the park and trying to grasp what it had to offer. I did walk through a Cactus Garden and went on a tiny hike to a nearby arch, but that's nothing in such a vast land.

This video showcases my two sunsets in the park and some photos I took over there. Hope you enjoy it!

See photos of Joshua Tree National Park.

Location constraints in landscape photography

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I'm back from Portland. I had a blast visiting some of my favorite places once again: I drove over 800 miles in 3 days! But while doing so, I couldn't stop thinking about how bad that was for my photography and how different it is back here in the Midwest, where my choice of location is much more limited.

I must admit, I'd gotten used to have a million beautiful landscapes to photograph within a couple hour drive. I took it for granted.

I'm experiencing the opposite situation here in our temporary residence in the Midwest: the hundreds of miles of wilderness have been replaced with a few small city parks, and the (very limited) shoreline of one of the big lakes has taken the place of the vast ocean.

It might seem unintuitive at first, but I think this change has been really good for my photography.

This past week in Portland reminded me of most of my time there: jumping from one location to another, always struggling to choose just one. This might sound like a good problem to have, and it really is, but I've come to the realization that having some constraints can be really good.

Here in the Midwest, having limited locations has had a positive impact on me in a few ways:

  • Images are much harder to find. But the good news is, there are images to be made here. Since they are not in plain sight in front of thousands of tourists and hikers, they'll probably be very unique as well.
  • I don't jump from one location to another. Because there aren't many locations to jump to, I can focus on one and try to get the most out of it.
  • You have some very needed "time off". Back in the West, there were so many places to go to that I never stopped and thought about what I wanted to do with my photography. All I wanted was to take more and more photos, make more images all the time. Now, and while this is going to be a work in progress for a long time, I know what I'm doing and where I want to go. I also have more time to reflect on my images.
  • The world is my canvas. I used to think that I could only make beautiful images at beautiful places. Therefore, I was somewhat limited about where to go. But now that I've made some of my favorite images in a very harsh place for photography, the whole world has potential.

Amazing places are awesome for any photographer. But living in more limited places shouldn't have to mean fewer opportunities to make images, and most importantly, it doesn't mean lower quality images.

American Road Trip Journal #17: Salton Sea

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After a month on the road and a week of heavy eating in San Francisco, we were a bit tired when we got to Southern California. Hot temperatures (for December) didn't help either.

We tried to visit LA but the smog was so thick that we decided to skip it. Palm Springs, a small town farther inland, was a nice place where I recharged batteries before the second half of our trip.

One of those days, I drove to the Salton Sea. It was the most surreal place of the whole trip and an experience that will not be easy to forget.

I found incredible post-apocalyptic, decaying landscapes, but the mud and the putrid, fetid smell I found once I got out of the car weren't things I was hoping to find there.

That night's sunset was one for the books. It was quite spectacular and it helped to make me feel like I was in some other planet, in a decaying, abandoned, fallen planet in a Star Wars universe.

Not the best photos of the trip by any means, but what an evening I had there.

Shooting Film: Indiana Dunes

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The Indiana Dunes is one of the very few places I have here (within driving distance for a one-day trip) where I can take somewhat outdoors photos.

I'd never been to the place before, so I'm not sure what's going to look like when the snow melts. I've seen photos and to be honest, it's a bit "blah".

But now, in winter, it's a landscape I'd never seen before. This video is the first of my already multiple trips up there, and probably not the last one to come (last time I was there, the lake was frozen as far as I could see - truly an amazing view).

American Road Trip Journal #16: San Francisco

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This was my 6th or 7th visit to the city of San Francisco, and after trying and failing all of those times, I was determined to get the shot I always wanted: the San Francisco fog, at the Golden Gate, at sunrise. It took me a few days and a few toll payments, but I finally got it.

Some more things in the video, along with some random comments about some of the photos.

See more photos of San Francisco.

Developing HP5+ at 1600 using D-76 and TF-4

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Short video about developing Ilford HP5, shot at 1600 ASA, using Kodak D-76 and Photographer's Formulary TF-4 as the developer and fixer respectively.

Recipe is as follows:

film stock: Ilford HP5+, 120 film
temperature: 70F - 21C
developer: Kodak D-76, 1+1
...notes: 18 minutes, agitation / inversion of 10 seconds
stop bath: water
...notes: 3 rinses, 1 minute agitation
fixer: Photographer's Formulary TF-4
...notes: 6 minutes, agitation / inversion of 30 seconds
wet agent: Kodak Photo-Flo

Shooting film in Chain O Lakes, Indiana

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There aren't many places where you can go out and enjoy nature here in Northern Indiana, and they require some driving to get to. But they are going to be my playground for a couple more months, so I'm spending some time getting to know them.

The first one, Chain O Lakes, is 40 minutes away from where we live. It's far from being "wilderness", but it does offer some nature that you can enjoy mostly by yourself at this time of the year, as long as you avoid the smaller lakes, crowded with people ice fishing.

As usual, I shot Ilford HP5+ with my Bronica SQ-Ai, although I also loaded Fuji Acros 100 for the first time. I only got to get one shot with this new film (for me) over there, and it's at the very end of the video.

7 Bronica SQ-Ai Shooting Tips

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7 Bronica SQ-Ai Shooting Tips

I've been shooting quite a lot with my Bronica since I got it last year. I brought it with me to the mountains, to the desert and to the shores of oceans and lakes all across the country (see my [American Road Trip series on YouTube).

I sat down and I thought about some tips I would've loved to know about when I started shooting it. Hoping they help someone, here they go in no particular order.

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Shooting film in Notre Dame, South Bend

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If you follow college football, you know Notre Dame. Their team is very popular nationwide, or at least that's what I've been told (I'm not a huge football fan, although I do watch games from time to time and I have my favorites - the Seahawks and the Ducks, of course!).

ND game in Fenway Park, Boston. The only football game I've been to so far. It was fun!

Even though we are now very close to South Bend, I'd never been to the actual campus. So taking advantage of a trip I had to make there, and given that the hotel where I was staying was literally next door to the university, I finally paid a visit to the place.

I only had one hour at the one parking lot I could find that didn't require a permit, and it was very, very cold (as usual). So the photos are nothing amazing - they could've been much better if I got there just 5-10 minutes earlier though, while the snowstorm was still strong.

I'll have to go back and spend some more time there.