Self-play in photography

February 07, 2020 in journal

Self-play is a concept that I find fascinating: artificial intelligence can learn how to play games -like chess- by playing against themselves over and over. Starting from scratch, with no knowledge of what works and what doesn't, machines eventually come up with strategies and plays that surprise even grandmasters, who reward them as "creative". This made me think about photography: how we look for inspiration in other photographers' work, and the value of experimentation.

More POV photography in the fog

February 06, 2020 in journal

It's fog season in my hometown, and I'm really enjoy making these little POV videos. Don't miss the first one, if you haven't watched it yet!

When the ordinary becomes extraordinary

February 05, 2020 in journal

The view from my window is nothing spectacular: a bunch of old buildings, train tracks, and some hills in the background. A very ordinary view.

Every morning, I take a quick peak to check on the fog and rain. This morning didn't look special at all. But as I continued to work on my coffee, some low clouds appeared and started to play with the hills in the background. When the Sun rose, the show was on. I grabbed my camera and captured it.

As a photographer, I want to capture the extraordinary. This place isn't Yosemite, but in many ways and under the right conditions, it can make for images that tell a more compelling story.

We love to hear stories of normal people overcoming obstacles or becoming something bigger than themselves. I believe this is the same with the subjects and places we photograph: the ordinary is usually overlooked but when it becomes extraordinary, it has a lot to say.

Photography is about passion

February 04, 2020 in journal

Photography is one the most accesible art forms: anyone can make an image!

Today, camera gear won't make you stand out as much as it used to. Gone are the days when only a handful of people could afford to shoot, develop and print on a regular basis.

In this new world, all that's left to make a photographer stand out is vision and passion: how you see the world and how bad you want to make images.

That's it.

The laptop: still the ultimate tool for productivity

February 03, 2020 in journal

The advent of touch interfaces was supposed to bring a new era of computing, and while they have certainly achieved that as devices for content consumption, I'm not so sure when it comes to content creation.

In praise of imperfect images

February 02, 2020 in journal

I always say that I like to destroy my images: I push film and work on my digital images to add grain, increase the contrast, remove details in the shadows and highlights. I seek imperfection.

It was this imperfection that allowed me to find my own style and to feel more free in my photography.

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.