Who are you creating for?

Most watched videos on my YouTube Channel

From my experience, a photographer's audience is comprised of mainly two groups: people who enjoy their images; and other photographers.

The latter is a much larger group than the former, and that's why many photographers seem to be creating for others like them.

Take a look at the screenshot above showing the most watched videos on my YouTube channel: many more people want to hear about an 8-year-old camera that is not being made anymore, than to see what can be done with it.

Photography is such an accessible medium (everyone with a smartphone is a photographer!), that most people will come at it from the perspective of a photographer rather than a passive viewer.

Everyone wants to become a better photographer, the faster the better. That's why talking about camera gear sells, or why arguments over ISO values are a thing.

Some photographers have had so much success with this approach that they all but stopped taking pictures. They've become extremely knowledgeable about cameras and lenses, but they might have forgotten how to use them.

However, I'm not here to shame anyone --that expertise is extremely valuable, and we should consider ourselves lucky enough to have it available out there, mostly for free.

But I doubt this was what most of us had envisioned when we first picked up a camera. This is simply a reminder to everyone out there -including myself- to never forget why we started taking pictures in the first place, and who we are creating for.

--

Sometimes, I'll rewatch some of my older videos. I love the work I did in the Great Salt Lake, or in the beautiful Lofoten Islands, among many others. But I have never, ever, rewatched any of my top 10 most viewed videos -- the ones focused on camera gear or the technical aspects of photography. And I think that speaks volumes.

Still, the reality of photography is what it is, and that's one of the reasons why I decided to create a second channel a few months ago. I haven't uploaded any video for a while there, but I'm about to start very soon. That is "content" aimed to photographers and nothing else. The main channel will become a sort of sacred place where I shall talk less and less about photography, and more about the why we create.

--

Update: I expand on this a bit more in this video.

Isle of Skye, Scotland ~ Black and White photography

Come along as I explore the beautiful Isle of Skye, in NW Scotland.

Photographing the Isle of Harris, Scotland

The next destination on my road trip across Scotland is the beautiful Isle of Harris (and a bit of Lewis). A place that offers something different from the mainland: stunning sandy beaches. And its fair amount of mountains, bad weather, and midges too, of course.

From Old Man to Old Man

Come along as I explore two Old Mans in the west of Scotland: the Old Man of Stoer in Assynt, and the Old Man of Storr in Skye. Beautiful conditions made for pretty good images!

Photographing Northern Scotland

The next leg of my trip through Scotland takes me to the far north, where I photograph some beautiful spots along the coast (and inland).

First days in Scotland: castles, crazy weather... and midges

My first days in Scotland were a quick introduction to what's ahead on this road trip. I saw castles, many castles. I experienced some magic at the coast. I got soaked during a hike. And I got to know what midges feel like in person. Not bad for just having gotten here!

A new adventure begins

I'm on the road again, with a new destination in sight. A 3-month road trip to a place I'd been wanting to photograph for a long time. This is the story of how I got there, my hopes for this trip, and also my doubts. I hope you come along for the ride!

How to notice images in familiar places

I thought I knew this place quite well, especially since I walk here almost every single day. And yet, I found something that surprised me a lot, and taught me an important lesson about photography.

A mild and moody summer

Southern Europe has had a terrible summer so far. Thankfully, here in Galicia things have been very mild. Better than usual weather for photography meant I was spending less time doing what I usually do in the summertime (catching up on work, old projects...) and more out doing what I love: discovering the world through my camera.

Where to stand: Ansel Adams' wisdom

It's all about location, location, location!

Ansel Adams said it a long time ago: "A good photograph is knowing where to stand". Of course, there are many other things to making a good photograph, but where to place our camera is arguable one of the most important ones.

In this video, I talk about this as I share a very good example of this.

You have to master your camera

Photography is all about timing: being at the right place at the right time. But that's not enough. We need to be ready, we need to be prepared. There's nothing worse than investing vast amounts of time and money to put ourselves in front of magical conditions if we are going to waste it because we don't know where that function is in our camera, if we press the wrong button, or we hesitate about which dial does what.

When we are in the field, it's all about the what (what are we capturing?) and the why. The how is important, but it's something that needs to be trained when the stakes are low. So when things finally come together, the camera disappears and all that remains is the composition in front of us.

Note: this video is one of the first I've uploaded to my second channel, aows.jpg. Subscribe if you want to see more like this one. I tell you everything about this new channel and what that means here.

Second YouTube channel: aows.jpg

After years of ruminating about this, I've finally made the decision of opening a second YouTube channel, aows.jpg.

A while ago, my 8-year-old nephew had a very simple request for my next video: "make it one of the fun ones, please". He meant, go somewhere, do stuff, and take photos.

I was never convinced about mixing movies from the field with talking-head videos. Yes, both of them are about photography, but the format couldn't be more different. Most importantly, the audience is very different as well.

I'm going to give this a try and see how it works out. I might go back to one roof for all my videos, but for now, you can subscribe to my main channel for movies from the field, to my second channel for opinion and talking-head videos, or to both if you want it all!

Covadonga Lakes ~ Black and White Photography

I go back to one of my favorite places in Northern Spain: the Picos de Europa National Park. And as usual, it did not disappoint.

Threads

Now you can find me on Threads too. Not entirely sure how I'll be using it just yet (if at all), but I'm intrigued enough to give it a try. Don't forget to say hi so I can follow you back!

Interview for The Independent Photographer

I had the pleasure to talk to Josh Bright about my work, and the result is this interview: Adrian Vila’s Enchanting Black and White World

I drove 4 hours to get soaked

Summer is here and I miss rain and moody weather. So when I saw some chance of rain 100+ miles away, I jumped in my car and drove for 4 hours. I'm so glad I did, as I got beautiful conditions for photography.

B&W Photography: castles, waterfalls, power plants and old trees

Day trip to the neighbor province of Leon, where I photograph everything I find: from castles to waterfalls, from power plants to old trees.

My favorite trio of prime lenses

It took me a while to get there, but I finally have a lineup of prime lenses I love bringing with me on my daily walks. Most of the time, I'll bring my super zoom lens, but these fast primes let me switch things up every once in a while.

Good work is not enough

Cormac McCarthy died yesterday at the age of 89. According to Wikipedia, McCarthy is "widely regarded as one of the greatest modern American writers".

What I didn't know about him is that after 26 years of writing, none of McCarthy's novels "had sold more than 5,000 hardcover copies". He was labelled the "best unknown novelist in America".

He spent half of his long writing career as a mostly unknown writer. Success did eventually come to McCarthy, though, and only then his early work was appreciated the way it deserved.

The arts, and that includes photography, are not a meritocracy: good work, even outstanding work, is not a guarantee of success.

Another lesson we can take from his example and many similar others is that success is a lagging indicator. The same goes for failure, by the way.

We do not become what we are today overnight; it's only after weeks, months, years, decades, of hard work (or the lack of) that we achieve results (or not). It took McCarthy 26 years of dedication, of not giving up, to get significant recognition.

At the same time, in order to survive for that long, we should not make that kind of success our end goal. Would you be able to yearn for public recognition for a quarter of a century and still find the strength to keep going? I know I would not, I would've given up.

It's only when we find joy in what we do, and when we set our own definition of success, what that looks like for us, that we have a chance to succeed. And even if that never comes, at least we have poured our souls into our work and shared it with whoever was there to listen to us.

Bike photography on a foggy morning

Another foggy day, a different approach. This time, I take my bike to cover my ground while still having the flexibility to stop anywhere to make an image.