How to do El Camino de Santiago in winter

February 01, 2020 in journal

A few weeks ago, I decided to go on an adventure that will be hard to forget: I walked the last 130 miles (200km) of the Camino de Santiago. I followed the most famous route, the French Way. It was in late December and I got hit by 3 storms and got plenty of rain, wind and even snow and ice. Doing the Camino in winter comes with many more challenges than bad weather, though: you'll need more gear, many places will be closed, limited hours of daylight, fewer fellow pilgrims... but I believe it's the best time to do it. I wanted to share a few tips that might help those of you thinking about doing El Camino to decide whether you should do it in winter or wait for warmer months.

Image of the Month, February 2020: "Golden Gate"

February 01, 2020 in journal

Golden 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.

two sizes

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 included

Shipping is free to the US. International shipping is a flat rate of $14.95.

artist contract

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.

want to know more?

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.

Golden Gate is available for purchase here.

On walking

January 31, 2020 in journal

As you might know, a few weeks ago I did El Camino and walked over 130 miles in 6 days. Little did I know that after that experience I'd become -even more- addicted to walking. I went from averaging around 4 miles a day last year to 9 miles during these last two months. These are some of my thoughts on walking.

Why -and how- I set goals for my photography

January 30, 2020 in journal

I've always performed better when I had a clear task and I was under some pressure, as it was the case when I had a day job. Being an artist is a very different story: it hasn't always been easy to see what I needed to do, and there's no one waiting on me so I'd tend to procrastinate and put things off.

"Windowless Homes" ~ Bronica SQ-Ai and Rollei Retro 400s

January 30, 2020 in journal

Windowless Homes is the working title of a project I've been working on about the architecture in my hometown. This project had been mostly digital, I wanted to add some film images so I took my Bronica, loaded some Rollei Retro 400s and hit the streets.

Never forget a memory card again

January 28, 2020 in journal

A few days ago during my morning walk, I reached for my RX100 (always in my pocket!) to photograph something I'd seen. As soon as I turned it on I could see the most dreaded message: "NO CARD".

It wasn't the first time I forgot to put the memory card back in the camera. I made that mistake once, and I learned my lesson. Since then, I keep spare memory cards almost everywhere: my wallet, my camera bags, in the car... they are cheap 8gb cards, not the fastest or highest capacity, but enough to make some images.

This little trick has saved me multiple times already, so I'd really encourage any digital photographer to do the same: buy a pack of cheap SD cards and leave them in places where you might need them.

Contact sheets in digital photography

January 26, 2020 in journal

Why I believe that contact sheets can be useful to a digital photographer, and how to create a contact sheet with Adobe Photoshop.

12 minutes of POV photography in the fog

January 25, 2020 in journal

A beautiful morning out with my RX100VA.

Don't let your camera outlive you

January 24, 2020 in journal

While not unexpected, I was a bit surprised to see the amount of concern raised by my video Shooting the Bronica in the rain.

"What had the Bronica done to you to mistreat it that way? Honestly, I didn't enjoy watching this video"

Let me be clear: I'm against camera abuse.

But also, don't forget: it's just a camera.

Some people like to collect cameras, put them on a shelf and enjoy seeing and touching them. I understand and respect that.

A camera that is not part of a collection, though, is a tool: a machine to make images. And like any other machine, it will eventually die.

"We must all either wear out or rust out, everyone of us. My choice is to wear out" -Theodore Roosevelt

I do choose to wear my cameras out (film and digital). This doesn't mean I'm careless, but I'm not going to think twice about exposing them to some rain, cold, heat, wind, snow or whatever the weather throws at me.

This wasn't the first rodeo for my Bronica, and it won't be the last. I can't think of a better way to honor it than using it to create beautiful images, so when the day finally comes it can proudly say: "I've done my job".

How to take long exposures with film

January 23, 2020 in journal

A short video where I try to clarify the process of making long exposures with film. Remember that I wrote a whole book about this topic that you can download for free. I also have a few articles about Long Exposure Photography on this blog. Please don't hesitate to drop me a line if you still have any questions.

How to like photography again

January 22, 2020 in journal

These are a few tips for those who might feel stuck in their photography.

Boring days are the most important days

January 21, 2020 in journal

Making an image on days when everything falls into place -the right conditions, the right place, the right time, the right mood- is easy. Those days hide a big danger, though: when one of those elements is missing, we might think it's not even worth trying to make images.

I love to make images in the fog or even in severe weather conditions, but most days are just sunny, clear, boring. I have a hard time finding the motivation to get out on those days because I know the chances to make a "good image" (an image that fits my style) are very slim.

Those are the most important days, though, because they are the ones that make you a photographer.

First, they show the world as it usually is - in order for us to see the extraordinary we need to sense the ordinary first.

Second, they force you to think out of the box. In a sense, a foggy day is bad news to me because I usually end up creating something similar to what's worked before. A sunny day, though, is unpredictable: unlikely to generate great images, but potentially the spark for new ideas and projects. It was on some of those boring and flat days when most of my ongoing projects were born.

Be your own prophet

January 20, 2020 in journal

I'm currently reading Susan Sontag's On Photography - definitively a thought-provoking book, to say the least.

In Heroism of Vision, she mentions photographer Edward Weston and his supposedly vision of photography as "elitist, prophetic, subversive, revelatory". Sontag attributes to him the following thought:

Photographers reveal to others the world around them [...] showing to them what their own unseeing eyes had missed

This vision does sound a little elitist, painting the photographer as a prophet.

While I distrust truth-tellers, I do believe our photography can be self-revealing and we can become our own prophets. Photography has led me to places where I would normally not be and to situations I wouldn't necessarily put myself in.

It makes me feel alive.

I see image making as the excuse to connect with a forgotten part of the world that doesn't seem to affect us (me) anymore. We live in these little bubbles, away from nature, and photography helps me to find part of that lost connection. It's worked for me and that's why I share my work and passion for photography, because I believe it can work for others as well.

An approach to photography not as a means to show anything to others, but to reveal the world to ourselves.

The Last Forest

January 19, 2020 in journal

There are very few places that remain mostly untouched, pure and wild. Places that we used to call home and that somehow, still feel that way. The Devesa da Rogueira is one of those places, it's The Last Forest.

It should be hard

January 19, 2020 in journal

"I don't count the sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting because they're the only ones that count. That's what makes you a champion" - Muhammad Ali

One of the things you first realize when you start exercising is that it should hurt. If it doesn't, you aren't doing it right. Pain is the body's way of telling us we are reaching our limits. This is how we become stronger.

Perhaps, photography works in a similar way: the goal shouldn't be to make easy images, but to chase the hard ones. Perhaps, the more uncomfortable we feel, the more challenges we have to face to make an image... the better that image will be.

So maybe by trying new compositions, capturing new subjects, limiting our options, visiting new places... we become stronger photographers.

Sony 70-350mm: first impressions from the highest peak in Lugo

January 16, 2020 in journal

I got a new lens, the Sony 70-350mm f/4.5-6.3 G OSS. This APS-C lens has a reach of 525mm in full-frame equivalent and I couldn't be more excited about that: I'd never had a lens that could reach this far! In this video, I give you my first impressions from the highest peak in the province of Lugo, the Mustallar at almost 2,000 meters or 6,500 feet.

Traveling as a way to discover yourself and your art

January 15, 2020 in journal

For the last 2+ years, we've been living nomadically across several countries. Before that, I'd moved from Spain to the US where I lived for 5+ years. All these travels have changed me and my art in very profound ways -and it could change you, as well. Let's see how.

Is printing your images still necessary?

January 11, 2020 in journal

I don’t remember who said it, or the exact quote, but it went something like this: an image isn’t an image until it becomes a print, or that the print is the final step for an image.

This used to be the case a few decades ago, when the only way to create and see an image was in the darkroom in the form of a print.

But is it still true today? With all the ways that today’s technology offers to share our art?

I don’t believe this is longer the case. I don’t think the print is the (only) final step of an image today.

Don’t get me wrong, printing your images is awesome and something that every photographer should do (I myself print some of them) -but we don’t have to print an image for it to be considered art.

Most of my images aren’t going to be printed, ever. They’ll live as digital art here on my website, on Instagram or on YouTube. I don’t think less of them: they are still my work, my art, and they fulfill their purpose as such.

I feel very lucky to live in this day and age when I can use film cameras from decades ago and print my images in the darkroom, and use a completely digital workflow from beginning to end.

Embrace technology that empowers you

January 10, 2020 in journal

I've alway loved technology. I've been playing with computers since I can remember, but it wasn't until the arrival of the Internet that things got serious.

I made my first website back in 1998, when I was 16. Design and technology wise, it was pretty bad. But there was something special about it: I was reaching people from all over the world.

I used to print out the analytics with the visits, I loved to see the entries showing visitors from places as far as Australia or Japan.

Today, we take this for granted, but life would be very, very different without the internet.

I am a full-time photographer thanks to technology and the internet. Had I been born in the 50s, I'd still have my day job. Photography wasn't as affordable back then either, so even if I were lucky enough to have picked up a camera, I wouldn't be shooting as much as I do today.

Today's technology gives us incredibly powerful tools to create and express ourselves, and many options to share that art. I believe this is the golden age of photography: there's a lot of noise but people are creating amazing images nowadays, much better than they used to be, and they are more accessible than ever.

We tend to romanticize the past and we forget that photographers like Ansel Adams lived on the edge of technology, using the latest cameras and film stocks, trying to perfect the medium, always experimenting with new techniques. He didn't idealize photographers or technologies from the XIX century, he strived to improve them.

As a photographer and artist, I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to live in this day and age: my 16-year-old past self would not believe what I'm able to do today from the palm of my hand from anywhere in the world.

The fact that you are reading this, from wherever you are, is proof that technology is pure magic. Embrace it and use it to your advantage.