Street photography from Detroit, Michigan

This video is a little bit different. Some street photography POV from Detroit, Michigan.

How losing weight has made me a better photographer

Let’s talk about health and how it relates to photography. I’ve lost quite a bit of weight in the last year and I believe that has made me a better photographer in many ways. 

You don't have to explain your art

We create because we love creating.

Sometimes, there's no need for an explanation or a deeper meaning. No need for a grandiose project or a long-term vision.

It can be all about the act of creating something new.

Scars of war: my RX100, three months later

A few months ago, I decided to update my older RX100II and bought the newer RX100VA. I love the form factor and the high quality images this camera makes.

The video coming out of the RX100VA is nothing short of incredible, and I've been using it intensively for my YouTube channel since I got it on my hands.

Within the last three months, it's been through a lot - and it shows. It's got multiple scars from different trips and adventures:

1. The rubbery part where you rest your thumb has been falling apart since the camera got really hot in the deserts of Arizona.
2. The screen protector is shattered (and I'm hoping it's just the protector). It happened when I dropped the camera while taking pictures under Corona Arch in Utah.
3. Sometimes I still find sand from the Grand Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. Or maybe it's from when I dropped it in the white sand of southern New Mexico (I also lost my ND filter there).
4. This gap next to the viewfinder is the newest addition. It happened when I, once again, dropped the camera. This time in Detroit, Michigan.

One could say the camera is falling apart. I say, those are scars to be proud of. A camera is meant to be used, not to be left on a shelf.

If you think this is a lot of damage after just three months, you don't want to know about the beating my previous RX100II got. And it stills works (mostly)!

I've used the RX100VA every single day, it's been to many places and I've made images I'm very proud of with it. And a lot of videos.

The condition of a camera can tell you a lot about the photographer. Get yours out as much as you can and make those images!

How I avoid the temptation to shoot in color

As you might know, I make my images in black and white - and all the grays in between.

Sometimes when I'm out shooting, the colors are too beautiful to ignore. Many people wonder why I don't capture the scene that way.

The thing is, I do. A lot of my work is in color. I'm talking about the 200+ videos on my YouTube channel: over 2 years worth of trips, hikes and other adventures, all captured in color.

While making those movies, I try to compose every frame as if it was a photo I would take in color.

That's how I avoid the temptation: I don't, I shoot in color too.

Hello, old friend

I'm back in Indiana, and that means I finally got reunited with my old friend.

This Bronica SQ-Ai is the original one, the one I used on my several trips across America. It's made photographs in many states, from Washington to South Dakota.

Unfortunately, I don't have a WLF to go with it, and I only have 2 lenses: the 80mm f/2.8 and the huge 250mm f/5.6. I'm also lacking a cable release and my beloved orange filter.

I can't wait to take it out there, though.

A beautiful sunrise in Pacifica, California

I knew I had to make an image of this pier the moment I saw it for the first time. I had to wait just a few hours for the right conditions, though, so I woke up early and drove to Pacifica just before the Sun rose.

It was a beautiful morning.

Coffee with Om Malik

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A photo Om took of me with his new Ricoh GR III

I had the pleasure to meet Om Malik a few days ago in San Francisco. We had a nice chat about photography, and he wrote a few words about it.

Om is a fantastic writer and photographer, you should definitely check out his blog and Instagram.

Going through a compositional phase?

A few days ago, I realized that my last images on Instagram were very similar to each other. Compositionally, I mean.

The subject was different, the location was different, the time of the day they were taken was different.

The composition technique was the same, though: a line going through the frame -in this case from top left to bottom right- splitting it in two, one part being empty (and dark) space and the other showing the actual subject.

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Those subjects are as different as the Golden Gate bridge, Mt Hood, a lighthouse, a vulture and a deer. For some reason I decided to frame them all the same way. And they all are very recent images of mine.

Was it just coincidence? Maybe a "compositional phase"? Is that even a thing?

Realism is overrated

Why I believe that realism is overrated.

2 months, 10,000 miles, 11 states and 4 cars

I've spent quite a bit of time on the road these last 2 months. I drove 10,000 miles across 11 states, using 4 different rental cars. It wasn't cheap, but it was so worth it.

We like to name our cars, even if they are rentals. These are the 4 vehicles that powered my most recent road trip.

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Sonora

This was my first car of the trip. I had it for 24 days and put more than 6,000 miles on it. From LA to Portland, stopping by Phoenix, Santa Fe and Salt Lake City in between.

It brought me to beautiful places like Saguaro National Park, Arizona, the Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado, a lot of Pueblo towns in New Mexico or Moab, Utah.

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Sonora II

I know, I wasn't very original with this name but I mean, same car and same color...

I only had Sonora II for a couple of days, enought to drive more than 500 miles to beautiful spots of the Oregon and Washington Coast and, of course, the stunning Mt St Helens.

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Big Bertha

This one was as big as a boat! A very smooth drive and awesome choice for more than 3,000 miles. I took it to Mt Hood, then down to the Bay Area where I explored the Sonoma Coast and San Francisco, and even to a wedding in Nevada City (east of Sacramento).

It was an old model (it had an iPod -that's an O- connector), but I really liked this car.

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Rafael

We flew to Detroit from the West Coast, and there's really no other easy way to get from there to our final destination here in Indiana other than driving.

It was a short drive and just a few hours, but Rafael still deserves to be mentioned as part of this story.

Images from Portland, Oregon

It was great to be back in beautiful Portland, Oregon. We met with old friends, we ate some of our favorite foods in town, and visited some places we love. It was a wonderful time.

Everything comes to an end, though. We've left the city behind and we are getting ready to spend a couple weeks in California.

I wanted to share some of the moments from these last few days in Portland.

Public libraries: great places for digital nomads

The chances of finding a fast and reliable connection to back all your photos and videos up on the road are slim at best.

AirBnBs and hotels usually offer a very slow WiFi, enough to send a few messages and images to family and friends, but not good enough for almost anything else.

Coffee shops are a better bet, but they can get really expensive and good WiFis aren't as common as one might think.

I've found that public libraries are the best option by far. They are quiet, free, and offer good speeds (at least in big cities): 100mbps download and 50mbps upload as I write this from the one I'm at. A great place to work and upload all those photos and videos.

They are also full of, you know, books. So if you are taking a break, consider putting your phone away and grab a book instead.

The Bronica Guy

Since I got my Bronica back in 2017, I’ve produced so much content with it (and about it) that some people started to identify me as the Bronica guy.

Many stumbled upon my work while looking for information about these cameras (and film in general). Over time, a large part of my audience was built around the Bronica.

My camera was becoming more important than what I was creating with it.

As I realized about this, I started to wonder if those new eyeballs were looking at my images or at my camera. Would they stop being interested in my photography if I didn't shoot the Bronica? Would they look away if I shot digital?

I doubted myself and my work.

The Bronica had taught me so much about photography. And yet, it was making me feel trapped, even if this was a mostly self-imposed sentiment.

I knew what I had to do: to the disappointment of many, I decided to leave the Bronica behind on this trip. Not only because it'd be a pain to carry, but also because I could break that Bronica guy label once and for all.

This was one of my most productive trips and I'm very proud of the work I did on the road. It's all digital, it feels liberating, and I can't wait to use my Bronica again.

Struggling to finish

It took me a long time to write my last post. I started it over several times and couldn't find the right title. It never felt quite finished: I always wanted to change, add, or remove something.

I hadn't posted much on the blog for weeks (even though I have plenty of unfinished drafts) so as soon as I got a draft with an introduction, a few points, and a conclusion, I was ready to publish it.

It wasn't perfect and it didn't need to be. I just wanted to break the bad habit of not finishing things.

I've been struggling with closing projects lately.

I still have many open projects that need my attention, but we need to start somewhere, we need to take that first step, and I feel like publishing my previous post was a small but big victory to me.

An Ansel Adams pilgrimage in New Mexico

I didn't have the chance to photograph New Mexico during my last road trip across the US, and that was something I wanted and needed to fix. I spent 10 days there and photographed some of the places I had seen through the eyes and work for great artists and photographers, like Ansel Adams.

Home is where you have your morning coffee

This is going to be my couch for the next few weeks, here in Portland, Oregon.

I've lost count of how many different couches I've had during the last year and a half. How many places where I've had my morning coffee. How many homes.

Tomorrow, I might not be here. Today, this is home.

Editing "Moonrise, White Sands" in Adobe Lightroom CC

A short video showcasing the editing of my image "Moonrise, White Sands" made in New Mexico a few weeks ago, using Adobe Lightroom CC.