journal
Glencoe was one of the most challenging locations on my trip across Scotland. The weather was pretty intense, with non-stop rain and strong winds. I also dropped my camera a few times, broke some adaptors and ND filters. But in the end, it was an incredible week I got to spend in this beautiful place.
Scotland, September 2023.
From the video A day of car life as a photographer in Scotland.
Come with me on a typical day of my life in Scotland, living out of my car as a photographer. From the moment I wake up, to when I call it a day and go to sleep.
I go back to Assynt to do a hike I wasn't able to do last time I was there. And good thing I did, because it didn't disappoint. What a place.
Time to photograph beautiful Torridon, in Wester Ross, Scotland. I photograph some of the most beautiful spots, and I go on a hike and get a good view of a stunning landscape.
In this video, I expand a little bit more on the post from a couple of days ago, Who are you creating for?.
By the way, this video is from my second channel, @aows.jpg, where I talk all things photography. One I created to keep my main channel cleaner, but you can read more about that here.
Scotland has been quite a challenging place to photograph, to say the least. For most of my time here, the rain and wind made my job incredibly difficult.
My gear took some damage (exhibit 1, 2 and 3), but I also had to endure the elements myself.
And yet, these challenges made me a better photographer. Scotland pushed me, but it did so in a very positive way. I had to work hard, really hard, but without being overwhelmed by impossible conditions, even though I did face some of those moments.
I feel like I've grown as a photographer more in the last 2 months than in the entire past year, since I went on a similar adventure across Norway. It was tough, even painful at times, but I cherished every minute of it.
Testing our limits, wherever they may lie, is key to growth and progression. Photography is no exception.
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.
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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.
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Update: I expand on this a bit more in this video.
Come along as I explore the beautiful Isle of Skye, in NW 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.
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!
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).
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
