journal
We visit the small town of Roscoff, in Brittany, France, as I try a relatively new lens to me: the Sigma 30mm f/1.4.
Despite having the f/2.8 version, I decided to pull the trigger when I found a good deal on this one. 2 stops faster, but what else does it offer? Is it good for video?
Find out what I think about this lens after a little montage I made using the Sigma paired with my old and trusty Sony a6000.
Casey Neistat tells us to show up every single day.
I think it was Michael Kenna who said, during an interview, that photography is something you have to do every day.
Showing up doesn't mean that we have to shoot every day. There's so much more to photography than using a camera: from developing / editing the images to publishing and promoting them, organizing your work in books, contacting models, agencies or brands, uploading stock images, planning your next trip, even cleaning your gear or posting on Instagram.
The point is: photography has to be in our minds every day, and we should make every day count, even if it's just a little bit.
I've talked before about the importance of working a scene. I talk about this in this video as I make some images in Brittany, France.
"The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities." - Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
To make great images, you need to look and see. Some of us seem to lose the ability to do so when we stay in the same place for a while, when we get used to what surrounds us.
Josef Koudelka never stays more than three months in one country. He's afraid he'd become blind.
If you struggle to see in familiar scenes, try something different. Try street photography, still life or portraits. Shoot with your phone or pick a different lens. Try to make images "the wrong way" by following bad practices.
Mixing things up every once in a while helps us to unlearn some habits and open your mind.
Making images that matter is not an easy task, and we can go several days, weeks or even months without making one.
We must persist.
I believe in Photography Waves: days when the conditions are perfect, or you are extremely inspired, or the Muse is on your side... whatever the reason is, you make not only one but several meaningful images in one day.
Some thoughts about photography and camera gear.
The technical aspects of photography is the easy part, do not let anybody make you believe otherwise and stop you from going out and making some images.
I believe the best art is the one that makes you think: "I could do that".
When a movie is so well directed and edited that seems it couldn't be any other way, we think we could do that.
When an image is simple -yet powerful-, we think we could do that.
Truth is, simplicity is the hardest thing to achieve.
"I could do that!" is the ultimate compliment to your art.
While exploring is a big part of landscape photography, there's nothing wrong with trying to optimize the time you spend outside.
In this video, I give you a glimpse of how I plan my shots by showing how I planned this image at Mount Saint-Michel. I did not get the shot due to bad weather, but I was very, very close.
Note: I have an audience of one in mind when I write these kinds of posts - me. While some might find them useful anyway, it's me writing to myself, about things I struggle with.
I rarely get a good image from a trip that didn't require a big effort from me, so big that it made me feel miserable (unfortunately, it doesn't work the other way around: feeling miserable doesn't guarantee that I'll get a good image).
My best images were made on days where I had to push myself beyond not only my comfort zone, but also what I thought were my limits.
I love the feeling of exhaustion after a whole day of shooting, looking at those negatives or RAW files, and finding out you captured what you saw.
It's ok to be miserable. It feels good.
Sometimes, you just need to leave the camera behind and enjoy the moment.
There are many things you might not know about me.
I'm 36 years old and I quit my well-paid job last year to become a full-time photographer and videographer.
There's more to my story, watch the video if you want to know more.
Photography is not linear. No matter if you've been a photographer for a month or for a lifetime, we all are just one click away from our best image.
Think about that the next time you pick your camera.
One click away.
Today could be the day.
Again, I got sunny and clear skies in the Pyrenees, so I thought it'd be nice to use a vintage lens that I'd been wanting to try for landscape photography.
The lens is a Minolta Rokkor 58mm f/1.4 mounted on a Minolta MD/MC to Sony E adaptor.
I shot it wide open and stepping it down. The results were soft when wide open but I love that look. It's a sharp lens when stepped down.
Still, the focal lenght when mounted on a crop sensor camera like the Sony a6000 makes it a less than ideal lens for landscape photography. And I mean, as the only lens. 90mm can be a very nice focal lenght for landscapes when you combine it with something else.
Below, you can see some of the images I got and that I show in the video.
Deep in the Pyrenees, the Cirque of Gavarnie is one of the most stunning place I've ever been to.
The first day we hiked to there, we found torrential rain. Soaked, I gave up on making images that day and decided to go back later that week. Then, I found sunny and clear skies.
This video is the results of those two visits.
I want to start talking a bit more about the gear I use, both for making images and recording videos. The GoPro Hero 7 is a recent acquisition, but I've already taken it with me on a few outings. This is my review: the good and the bad, and how it fits in my workflow.
The Vall del Madriu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, seemed to be the perfect place for me to spend my last day in Andorra. The landscape didn't dissappoint, it was a beautiful -but hard- hike through the forest.
Photography wise, though, it was a fail. I wasn't able to come up with compelling compositions. I still had a lot of fun, and I hope you enjoy the video.
I have a new camera, and I put it to the test during a full day of driving and hiking in the beautiful country of Andorra.
I recorded the whole episode on the GoPro Hero 7 Black, using just the built-in microphone for the audio. The footage has been color graded, though.
There's a full review of this little guy coming soon.
Of course, I'm not affiliated with GoPro in any way. I wish. You can still help me buying it (or anything else, it doesn't have to be the GoPro) through this affiliate Amazon link: https://amzn.to/2J4pVma
I had a few rolls sitting around for a while, with a few shots left in them, so I decided to go out and finish them. This is what it came out of that morning out... and of those rolls.
One the biggest challenges when you are on the road and have a YouTube channel to update is how to upload the videos.
Sometimes, you get lucky: the place we stayed at in Andorra last week had a pretty decent connection so uploading movies and backing stuff up to the cloud wasn't a problem at all.
We didn't get as lucky with this week's AirBnB, though: uploading a new video using this connection would take forever, and there are no cafes around that I know of.
I wish apps like AirBnB or Booking could tell you how fast the WiFi will be on your next stay.
The obvious solution for this problem is to use my phone. I've published videos using the YouTube app before, and while it works just fine, it doesn't let you upload 4k videos. Instead, it will convert them to 1080 and then proceed with the upload.
The best option I've found is to use my computer, tethering from my phone. If I have 4G coverage, of course.
This isn't perfect, though: I "only" have 25GB a month and my average video weighs in at about 3GB. This means I'd be able to upload 7-8 videos a month using my phone exclusively. I usually publish 2-3 a week, or 8-12 a month, making me effectively dependent on things I can't control.
Maintaining a YouTube channel while on the road is not an easy task, but it can be done. You just need a little bit of luck when it comes to your hotel / Airbnb's WiFi, and a phone with a lot of data as a backup.
Last video of my road trip to Asturias. It was a long drive home, but I tried to make the best out of it.
