My new YouTube photography channel... in Spanish

I have a new YouTube channel. It's about photography, of course. But this time, it's in Spanish.

Don't worry, my channel in english is not going anywhere, and it will remain the main one.

Why have I created this new channel? Well, you see, YouTube has plenty of photography channels in english. Hundreds, thousands. You can lift a rock and find a landscape photographer. The market is very saturated, and it feels like whatever you do, it has already been done (and better) by someone else.

The situation in Spanish isn't quite the same. Yes, there are a few of them, but there's plenty of room for some more. While I hesitated to talk about some of the more technical aspects of photography on my main YouTube channel because everyone had already done it, I think that can make a bigger difference in Spanish since there's not as much information out there.

I'm still not sure if the content in both channels is going to be similar (for example, I will use the trailer above for the other channel as well), or completely different, or... but I'll figure it out. I do enjoy making videos and this will let me experiment and learn much faster. It will make me a better filmmaker and storyteller.

Feel free to visit the channel and subscribe.

American Road Trip Journal #24: Hoover Dam and the ghost town of Two Guns, AZ

It's been a month since the latest episode of the American Road Trip! Way too long, so I decided to fix that today.

In the previous episode, we camped at Valley of Fire in Nevada. This time, we drive from there to Flagstaff, Arizona. On our way, we stop by the Hoover Dam. And the next day, also in this episode, I visit the ghost town of Two Guns, near Flagstaff.

You could say this episode is a filler. Necessary to tell the story of our road trip, but not the best video from a photography point of view. I hope you still enjoy it.

Landscape Photography at Cañones del Sil (Sil Canyon)

Finally, I was able to get out and drive somewhere to shoot some landscape photography. This time, I went to the nearby Sil Canyon, a beautiful place just 25 minutes away from where I live now (and where I grew up).

Carved by the Sil river, this canyon is short but very spectacular. Its other attraction is also its biggest flaw: it's full of wineries since the sides of the cliffs are very good for grapes. On one hand, you get amazing wine. On the other one, the canyon has been worked for hundreds of years and it doesn't look as wild as one could hope.

I managed to get one image for sunset, but I wasn't too crazy about it. The next morning, and even though I woke up late for sunrise, I was able to make an image I was happy with.

See you soon, America. Hi, Portugal.

A short video of our trip from Newark, New Jersey, to Lisbon, Portugal. Also some footage from the portuguese coast where I had time to make a couple of images.

Shooting digital in Michigan City, Indiana

I made some of my favorite images of this past winter in Michigan City, Indiana. The black and white fits perfectly the wintery landscape, but I also saw the potential for some color once the weather improved a bit.

That's why it was the first place that came to my mind to try my two new lenses for the Sony a6500.

I decided to pull the trigger on these two to finally upgrade my digital kit (I'd been shooting with the very inexpensive kit lenses forever), rushed by our imminent move overseas. Everything is much more expensive here, as I explain in the video.

It was a nice morning at Lake Michigan, as I was able to make the three images I was hoping for. Not exactly what I had in mind (especially the one of the hut on the beach), but still time well spent outdoors.

The Badlands: Day 4 (and 5)

This is the last episode of the Badlands: day 4... and 5.

The cold and the snow had won this battle. I really couldn't hike anywhere without sinking in mud, nor could I try to make images at night (8F, -13C, was too cold for me), and the light very harsh during 99% of the day.

I was also tired after 5 nights in the back of the car, with no contact with other human beings.

So I dediced to call it a trip and leave a day early.

All in all, I had a lovely time in South Dakota and I'll be releasing the images soon.

The Badlands: Day 3

Day 3 was a very hard day in the Badlands.

It was very cold, with a high of 24 degrees F (-4C), and everything was covered in ice. The road was closed for most of the day so I decided to walk to the Badlands. Luckily for me, it opened just in time for sunset. I was limited to the viewpoints from the side of the road, but still had fun and enjoyed a beautiful place.

The Badlands: Day 2

My second full day in the Badlands was a very long one. Stuck in the car in the middle of a snowstorm that brought more than a foot of snow and winds of up to 60mph, I only had one chance to get out of the car and use my camera. But I think I made a couple of photos I'm proud of, probably the best ones of the trip as well.

The Badlands: Day 1

After all these years traveling all over the West, I feel a little bit sad now that my time in the US is coming to and end. I needed to say goodbye in a proper way.

A couple weeks ago, I decided to pack my things and drive all the way to the Badlands National Park, in western South Dakota. A drive of more than 1,000 miles that took me over 16 hours in two days.

In this first episode, I drive to the park and explore it, trying to get to know the landscape and the places I would be photographing the next days.

Buying a new tripod

For almost 3 years now, I've been using a Manfrotto BeFree as my main tripod for both photography and video. It's light and compact, and stable enough even for my Bronica SQ-Ai.

My recent road trip to South Dakota seems to have taken a toll on the Manfrotto though. One of the sections was already loose, but the mud and snow in the Badlands broke it for real, and also made me lose the three "feet" (if that's the correct name) on all three legs.

After looking at tripods for a few days, I decided to go with Manfrotto again and get the heavier, but also taller Manfrotto 055XPRO3 (what a name) with a sturdier ball head, too (I was having some problems with the old one when using long lenses).

I'll have it in my hands this week, and I'll be reporting on how it feels very soon.

American Road Trip Journal #23: Valley Of Fire

After a month exploring California, it was time to move on and start heading east. On our drive from Lone Pine to Flagstaff, we decided to stop by the beautiful Valley Of Fire in Nevada where we spent a night.

I didn't take many film photos as I explain on the video, but rather just enjoyed the place and the experience of camping in the desert (just an hour away from Vegas, but it still feels like "the middle of nowhere").

The last American road trip

I'm (almost) back from what will be my last road trip in America for a while.

Last week, I drove over a thousand miles to visit the Badlands in South Dakota. Since then, I survived a blizzard that left a foot of snow, I slept through 5 freezing nights in the back of my car, I sank in mud more times than I could count, I saw more wildlife than almost anywhere before, and the best of all, I practically had the whole place to myself.

During these five days, I struggled as the landscape challenged me as very few landscapes have done before. I don't know how many good images I made there, but not many.

I'm exhausted and looking forward to sitting down and look at the results of this trip.

For now, I feel like this was a very helpful time in nature with tons of time to think and reflect.

Talk to you soon.

Fixer stinks

Putting aside the accusations of using stolen images in his piece for Adorama, my opinion is that Mason Resnick makes good points as he explains why digital works better for him.

And let's face it, fixer stinks.

I was fine with the article until I read this:

So go ahead and indulge your film fantasies. You’ll learn the basis for good photography and this will ultimately make you a better digital photographer. And then, I predict, you’ll return to the convenience of digital.

Here, he stops talking about his personal experience and puts every photographer on the same box. As if you, a film photographer, are someone who is still experimenting and will, eventually, come to his same realization that tool A is better than tool B.

He also makes the mistake of thinking that, in general, convenience is good.

There's a reason why people still use pencil and paper to draw or take notes; why people still walk places instead of driving; why physical books are still being sold; why people still send letters and postcards; and a long list of things that have gotten more convenient with the advent of technology but we humans insist on making more complicated.

One can see why explaining to the general public why film is still relevant nowadays is so hard, when professional photographers still don't get it.

And by the way, please don't think I've missed this gem Mason left in his article:

Dude! I can shoot both color and black and white images at the same time! I simply set JPEG to black and white, and shoot RAW simultaneously. Most digital cameras have this feature. I don’t have to decide which way to go until post-processing.

As a black and white photographer, I have a lot of problems with the last sentence. I made the same mistake when I started shooting black and white, but I wouldn't expect a professional photographer with almost 40 years of experience to be pressing the shutter button without having the final image in mind.

Maybe, that's what digital and taking 25,000 photos a year will do to you.

People don't care about film

Nico's Photography Show is one of my favorite YouTube channels. Nico's passion and love for film photography show on every video.

A couple days ago and thanks to YouTube's auto-play feature, I found myself watching his 6-month-old video "No one cares if you shoot film".

I do like going through the darkroom making my own prints. But that doesn't mean, because I make a print in the darkroom, I think it's going to be better than if you make a print from a digital scanned negative or from a digital picture.

He's right. Mostly. People care about the final result, the print or online image, and not about the medium you used.

But while I agree on the medium of choice being irrelevant, I think that people also care (a lot) about stories. They care about how you took it, the struggle you had to go through to make that image.

Take Ansel Adams, for example. This might sound like heresy, but I don't think his images would stand out from the work of other photographers nowadays. They were technically perfect at a time when that wasn't easy to achieve, but modern cameras have (mostly) closed the gap between amateur and professional photographers when it comes to sheer image quality.

I still find great inspiration on how he made those images, especially the early ones. Carrying pounds and pounds of camera gear and having just a few shots available certainly adds a lot of drama to the story behind some, otherwise, just decent photos by today's standards.

"Moonrise over Hernandez" is one of his most famous photographs, but at this point, the story of how he made it has changed so much and has become so dramatic (compared to the original explanation), that one has to wonder how much of its current popularity is due to the photo itself or the story behind it.

The photo is all that matters when viewers don't have any context; if it was made on film or using a digital camera doesn't really matter. But providing a (good) story can add a lot of value to an image.

American Road Trip Journal #22: Mono Lake (and the White Mountains)

Episode 22 of the American Road Trip Journal.

Still in the Eastern Sierra, I drove more than 2 hours from Lone Pine to Mono Lake to photograph the sunrise at one of kind lake.

I took some long exposures of the tufas, but it was so cold that I couldn't focus on the photos too much.

On my way back, I stopped by June Lake and the White Mountains, where I visited and photographed some of the oldest trees on Earth.

Back in Oregon, Day 5

Last video from Oregon! On the last day, I only had a few hours left with the rental car so I decided to visit the Japanese Gardens. An episode a bit different this time, I know, but the place is beautiful.

Back in Oregon, Day 4

Fourth and second to last episode from Oregon. I drive to Silver Falls State Park in Salem where I photograph some subjects that I find hard to capture: trees and waterfalls.