10 practical photography tips and accessories

Ten things I do, practices I follow, and accessories I use on a regular basis.

I missed this

It had been a while! I finally drove somewhere for photography, and it felt amazing. I got to spend a few hours at Lake Michigan, photographing the beautiful sand dunes of Indiana Dunes National Park.

One image at a time

Creating a meaningful body of work takes time -- a lot of time. We need to be patient, believe in yourselves, and keep looking for images everywhere, everyday.

Remember that photography is a long term game, something we need to do as often as possible. Because even the tiniest contributions add up.

If it feels right, shoot it

I've been working on some old photos. I just got to the ones I made in the magical forest of Fanal, in Madeira. It's been more than a year and a half since then, and I still get goosebumps when I see those images show up on my laptop.

Even though going through so many photographs takes quite some time, I really appreciate the fact that I took that many. Take the ones above as an example: the same composition, captured several times with just slight variations.

While always important, this is even more relevant when there is an interplay between the subject and other elements, or when there are two or more subjects (like in these images, you could argue).

All of the photos above could've worked just fine, as they all captured what I saw there. Two stunning trees entangled in a beautiful dance. The small variations I captured here don't make that much of a difference and yet, I always find one or two that I like more the rest, for whatever reason.

That's why I find it so important to take multiple shots of the same composition, with tiny variations. It can be very hard to decide which one is the best one in the field, especially when the conditions are changing by the second (like they do in Fanal).

As I usually say, if it feels right, shoot it. Make the call later.

Announcing my new book, "Memorias na néboa"

I'm so excited to announce my new book, "Memorias na néboa" (that's galician, it means "Memories in the fog"). A collection of over 100 images made in and around my hometown.

I'm very proud of this volume, the result of years of work and hundreds of walks with my camera in hand.

"Memorias na néboa" is available for purchase here.

The journey is full of doubts

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future” - Steve Jobs

Unlike many other photographers, I don't have a specific mission to accomplish with my work. No bosses, no clients, no guidance of any kind. I have no idea what I will be photographing next week, let alone in 5 years.

With this incredible flexibility comes a huge amount of doubt: where to go, what to photograph, where to share it, which camera I should use. It's all to me, and it can be a heavy burden at times, as I second-guess myself very often. Did I make the right call?

It's hard to see the path when it's being carved right after you. Only when I look back (contact sheets are great for that) I see it clearly. It's not a straight path but a very windy one, with plenty of detours and diversions. But it's a path.

I don't know here it will lead me, if anywhere at all. All I can do is to have some faith, to embrace the unknown of what lies ahead, and keep pushing.

In the end, it will all make sense. Or so we hope.

Friendly reminder I have a newsletter on substack

I just sent out issue #49 of the newsletter I host on Substack. I'm trying my best to make it a weekly occurence but don't be surprised if there are some gaps here and there.

In any case, just a friendly reminder of yet another way to stay up to date with my work, and thoughts.

Subscribe to my newsletter here.

Getting ready for the photography to come

Being in good physical shape is a usually overlooked skill in a photographer, especially those who do most of their work outdoors.

The 3-month-long road trip across Norway I embarked on last year definitely took a toll on me, as I went from walking / running more than 10 miles a day to sitting in a car most of the time.

Even though I do a lot of road side photography, being in good shape means more stamina and mental clarity. Something I've clearly been lacking during the last few weeks.

This is hard to measure objectively, but I have noticed that I tend to make better images while on some training program, or immediately after. When I let myself go for a bit, the quality of my work eventually follows by going down.

While this winter hasn't brought as much snow as I was hoping for here in Indiana, I've been working hard on other aspects of my photography (like my contact sheets and my upcoming book "Memorias na néboa"). And that includes getting my body ready.

It's been just a few weeks of training; outside and, when the weather is too nasty, on the treadmill facing an empty wall. As weird as it might sound, I'm convinced those hours spent staring at nothing in the garage will translate into good images in the months to come.

Remember: photography is something you have to do every day, and that doesn't always means taking pictures.

I made two books with the contact sheets of a whole year of photography

During 2022, I dedicated some time to create contact sheets of all the photographs I was taken. Including the terrible, bad ones. I wanted to preserve them as a brand new way to look at my work. Focusing less on individual photos and outings, taking a bird's eye view of my work as a whole. And I loved it.

The result is two thick volumes, more than 700 pages and more than 14,000 photographs.

In this video, I'll tell you why I decided to do it, why you might want to do the same, and how to do it.

The best editing is subtle

New Mexico Church is an image I took in New Mexico back in 2019. I used my old Sony a6000 with the manual lens Rokinon 12mm f/2 (18mm FF equivalent). I didn't do much to the RAW file, besides adding some contrast.

While the contrast slider can do wonders, sometimes you have to roll up your sleeves and go local. In this case, as you can see if you pay close attention to the images above, I added some brushes to make those white parts of the frame stand out even more.

Especially the monk / priest on the bottom right, the second subject in this image after the church.

The effect is very subtle. It's noticeable when presented with the before and the after, but it'd be hard to spot otherwise. It's not obvious.

This is very important when it comes to editing and post-processing our images: to be very subtle. The best editing is the one that does its job without screaming at the viewer.

Cheap long exposure photography using welding glass

When life gives you welding glass, you take long exposures! After breaking my last ND filter, I headed to a hardware store to purchase another kind of dark glass, one that I use when I was getting started with long exposure photography years ago. And you know what? It's even better than I remembered. A totally viable option for low budget long exposure photography.

When photography is frustrating

Photography is not always fun. In fact, it can be really frustrating at times. That's what makes it so challenging but at the same time so rewarding, you have to work hard to get the results you want, and there's guarantee you'll succeed.

Even when we get something, like I did in this video from Pacifica, something else can happen. This day, I lost my only surviving ND filter.

The golf course ~ Winter Black and White Photography

The golf course, my favorite spot to photograph during the winter months here in town. This is round two, the day after I photographed the winter storm that covered the area with snow (watch first part here).

Winter storm photography in Indiana

This had been a very mild winter, with almost no snow for more than a month. I had to wait weeks, but it finally happened and I got those snowy Midwest landscapes I love to photograph.

Why the A7Rii is still all I need in 2023

I was very, very close to pulling the trigger on a newer, faster, better, flashier camera. I thought I *needed* it. But then, something happened, something that reminded me of what really matters in photography.

Magical fog photography in rural Indiana

The year could not have started with better conditions: three straight days of dense fog. I'd never seen my town here in Indiana like this before! So of course I spent as much time as possible outside, camera in hand, capturing scenes that don't usually happen around here.

Thank you for 2022

Time flies, and 2022 is already in the rear mirror. What a year this was for my photography! It started relatively slow, with tons of local photography, but it brought a crazy second half with tons and tons of traveling. These were the highlights and best images of the year.

Thank you so much for following along and for all your support. I couldn't do this without you.

Photographing a blizzard in Chicago

I'm back in the US, and I got quite the welcoming! A few hours after arriving, a big blizzard covered Chicago with the magical white powder and brought incredibly cold temperatures. All of that made for some cool photography on the streets.

This is how my photography thrives

The only constant is change. That's how my photography (and I) thrives, by moving all the time and being exposed to different places and situations.

Why fixing my camera's screen was so important

I did it! I can't believe it, but I was able to fix my camera's screen myself, saving a lot of time and money in the process. I missed it so much, since the screen plays such a big role in my photography process.