photographs
More images from my recent trip to O Courel. I took this one from the side of the road, I had to stop the car when I saw this grand, towering mountain in front of me. The morning clouds only made the scene better.
Trees lining up a mountain. I made this image a couple of days ago during my visit to O Courel. The Sun was still rising behind it, and I loved the backlit incline, the contrast between the darkness and the light.
I had another fantastic time shooting around here yesterday. This time, I went to the nearby mountains, called "O Courel".
This isn't a wild place, since there are old houses and small towns everywhere, and of course paved and unpaved roads leading to them. And while this can make a bit harder to make a good image, some structures can look really good with the right weather conditions.
I found this bus stop on my way out. Broken, probably unused for years. In the middle of nowhere, on a very foggy and cloudy day.
I finally got to get out and make some images, after 2 weeks of no photography, and it felt awesome! I was able to make a couple of images I like, so I'd say it was almost perfect.
This is the first image from Spain, definitely not the last one. I was planning on shooting sunrise, but the trip of the previous day took a toll on me and I couldn't wake up in time.
However, once I looked out the window I knew I had to get out and go somewhere, anywhere. The fog was pretty intense but it was going away quickly, and the Sun was still rising. Perfect for some dramatic imagery.
I drove to the nearest "mountain" (I quote it because it's not that tall, it's more a hill, but anyway) called Marroxo (literally "Red Sea") and I saw this line of trees with the Sun behind. It was hidden by the fog, but I knew I wasn't going to find a better location that morning and I took the chance.
I think I made the right decision. The fog cleared a little bit, but not completely, just to let the Sun do its magic. A layer of clouds was hiding the upper half of the star, I couldn't ask for anything better!
I used the Sony a6500 and the 70-200mm f/4 lens, handheld (I didn't have time to set up the tripod), to take this photo. Which is, by the way, a combination of 3 different exposures (scenes involving the Sun always have extreme dynamic range so I usually bracket them, if possible).
I know. I've been lagging behind. Things have been a bit busy since we got to Spain due to paperwork and well, just life. But fear not, I'll be back next week with new videos and images.
For now, this one I made just before leaving the US, in Michigan City, Indiana. I drove there from Goshen for sunrise since I wanted to take a couple of shots before the light became too harsh.
The video about how I made this one, and the other two I took that morning, is coming soon, very soon.
This is the first image I made in Portugal. We stayed some days in Sintra trying to adjust after the long flight and also giving Luna a break after so much travelling.
This spot was a short walk (less than 5 minutes by foot) away from our apartment, so even though I wasn't planning on making an image this time, I felt compelled to unpack all my camera gear and tripod to head down there during sunset and shoot.
I used a 10-stop ND filter to make this image, I exposed it for almost 3 minutes.
At first, I wanted to exclude the little pool in the foreground, but I couldn't find a safe spot to do so. Since I had to have it in the foreground, I made it go all the way to the bottom right corner.
The light wasn't as good as I thought it would be, and the cliff is rather dark as a result. Still, I like the composition and the colors.
Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 80mm f/2.8
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC
I finished the second day of my trip to Oregon in Astoria. It'd been a rainy day but the sky gave me a break long enough to take a few long exposures along the boardwalk.
This was the last one, not only because it was the last of the roll but also because I was in a not very pretty area of town and some people had been staring at my camera for too long.
Yet another reason why I prefer to shoot in the wilderness.
Camera: Holga 120N
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC
I didn't shoot much during the month of March. The end of winter hasn't inspired me enough to get out and create new images.
It was a necessary break though, as I had many videos and images to work on. Now that I'm mostly done with older work, I'm ready for the next adventure.
While I didn't get out much this last month, I did manage to make a few images, almost all of them with the Holga. This one was one of them, of rental boats waiting for busier times this summer in Chain O Lakes State Park, in Northern Indiana.
Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 80mm f/2.8
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC
While walking on this frozen beach along the shore of Lake Michigan, I ran across this crack on the ice that I, of course, had to photograph.
I wanted to show some context and not just an abstract image from above. So I placed the crack on the bottom left of the frame and left plenty of empty space between it and the background, in this case the frozen dunes.
Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 150mm f/4
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC
A few years ago, I made an image here using this exact same composition with my digital camera. I wanted to make it again, but this time using a long exposure... and film.
Watch the video from my Oregon Trip where I made this image.
Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 250mm f/5.6
Film stock: Ilford FP4+
Exposure: 125
Developer: Ilfotec HC
This exposure is very similar to Tufas, Mono Lake previously posted here.
Also taken during sunrise, with that fog / mist present over some parts of the lake.
This one is a bit more minimalistic and focuses on just one tufa, further away and in the center of the frame. The mountains in the backgound are more visible, and darker.
Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 150mm f/4
Film stock: Ilford FP4+
Exposure: 125
Developer: Ilfotec HC
This image is part of the first roll of FP4 I've ever shot. It was a bit of a gamble on my part to shoot a film stock I didn't know at a place I'd never been to before, and where I only had a few hours to spend. But it worked out just fine.
This was a long exposure of the tufas at Mono Lake, in California, just after sunrise.
Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 80mm f/2.8
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC
After three days trying to make this image but not being able to figure out where from, I finally found the perfect place. I headed to North Avenue Beach well before sunrise on my last morning in the city, and took a couple of long exposures.
Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 150mm f/4
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC
Road through the Owens Valley as seen from Whitney Portal at sunset. In the background, the Inyo Mountains.
Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 250mm f/5.6 + Zenzanon PS 2x Teleconverter
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC
I'd been considering getting rid of either the 250mm lens or the 2x teleconverter to simplify my camera kit a little bit.
However, I got to use both -at the same time- very recently. I made a few images of a power plan in Michigan City from the nearby Indiana Dunes, and the combination of the long lens plus the teleconverter (500mm, or 275mm in full frame equivalent) proved to be very useful. I wouldn't be able to catpure it without them.
So I'm back to the drawing board and considering keeping both for situations like this, where I definitely need that focal length.
Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 80mm f/2.8
Film stock: Ilford Pan F
Exposure: 50
Developer: Ilfotec HC
Another exposure of a sand dune in Death Valley National Park.
I like to play with wide apertures when making images of scenes like this one. The wind on the top of the dune and a relatively slow shutter speed helped to create this effect of a soft dune on the bottom and top.
The shadow on the right splits the frame as well.
It's also a frame from one of the two rolls of Pan F I exposed during the road trip. I should use it more often since it's a film stock I enjoy exposing.
Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 150mm f/4
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC
Watch the video where I made this image: "Shooting film: The last of winter".
I'd been waiting for a day like this the whole winter. As I said before, landscape photography is all about the conditions. I couldn't dream of better conditions for photography than the ones I had this day.
It was a foggy day, and I decided to head north to Michigan City where I intended to photograph Lake Michigan. On my way there, I stopped by multiple spots trying to make the most of that incredible weather.
One of these stops was a park outside the city, a place I spotted on Google Maps when I was approaching my final destination. I gave it a try, and I found "photography heaven".
A foggy, snowy, and calm park with beautiful trees. No one around. Mostly clean snow, with not many footprints. Incredible light. It wasn't even that cold.
I spent an hour in that tiny park. I shot almost two rolls. So worth it.
Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 150mm f/4
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC
I've been working hard on developing, scanning and editing the photos from my recent trip to Oregon. I still have a few rolls left, but I'm happy with the results I've seen so far.
This exposure was taken from the parking lot of the Multnomah Falls. Not only because you can't really get much closer due to a wildfire this past summer, but also because I really think this is the best spot to photograph the falls.
It was from there where I took the long exposure of the falls at night that you can see in the archives.
Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 150mm f/4
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC
I've already talked about Point Lobos and the Sutro Baths here before. This is another exposure I took there in the early morning of some old stairs that led to the ocean.
Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 50mm f/3.5
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC
It was as cold as it looks. Freezing.
It isn't easy to walk here. Your feet keep slipping through the hundreds of balls of ice that are all over the place. Sometimes you fall through as deep as your knee, and it hurts.
I'd never been here before, so I don't know what this place looks like without the snow and ice. Am I walking on the beach still? Or is there a lake under me?
Regardless, this is my absolute favorite place to shoot in Northern Indiana / Michiana. I'm planning on going back there once more before the spring gets here, and check how much of this frozen land is still there.
