Long exposures are usually unpredictable, that's why I usually take more than one (and than two) for each composition. This image is the one I liked the most of a series I made of a group of seagulls on this beach.
photographs
"Fog", Porto do Son, July 2018
A few days ago, I talked about the importante of shooting a scene over and over. This is really important when the scene is constantly changing.
This was the case when I saw the fog rolling in over the town of Porto do Son, A Coruna. I shot a lot of long exposures and regular shots, because there was no one in the world able to predict what that fog was going to do next.
Indeed, only one of the shots actually turned out as I wanted it to, hiding the town but still showing the building next to the shore. The other shots are either hiding too much or not enough.
I had to stay there for more than half an hour, but I got the image I was after. And I'm very, very happy with it. Probably my favorite image of this month so far.
"Door", San Andres de Teixido, June 2018
Windmill near San Andres de Teixido.
I loved the way this door "to nowhere" looked in the fog, and I had to make an image of it.
"Light", San Andres de Teixido, June 2018
I had very different plans for this morning. I was supposed to be photographing the beautiful cliffs of the Costa Ártabra, but ended up shooting rather dramatic, mysterious shots in the thick fog that devoured the whole landscape just after dawn.
You know I love shooting in the fog: you can create beautiful images (like this one, "Light"), that otherwise would be impossible to get.
The key of this image, for me, it's the door and the light that peaks out from it. It's subtle, but it's there. And you can't avoid lookint at it.
See more images of Galicia here.
Watch the video of this morning.
"White Horse", San Andres de Teixido, June 2018
I loved photographing the horses on my trip to Cedeira a few weeks ago.
I was looking to shoot the dark ones against the sky, silhouettes on the horizon.
The white ones were more rare, but beautiful creatures. These ones I would try to photograph with a dark background to create contrast.
I got a few exposures, and this one was my favorite.
Tower at night, Monforte de Lemos, July 2018
I woke up early that morning, hoping for some fog. There was some indeed, but not enough to make me go out and shoot an hour before dawn.
Then I went to the living room and looked at the castle, on top of the hill. That window is the only one in the house with a clear view of the medieval structure.
I couldn't see it. The fog was, obviously, thicker up there. I put my clothes on and headed outside.
I took a few exposures, this one being my favorite, I believe. It was dark, not was there half an hour left until sunrise, but the fog didn't help the light to get through.
This is why I won't get tired of saying: wake up and get out.
"The Path to the Sea", Illa Pancha, Ribadeo, June 2018
"Gate", San Pedro de Rocas, Ourense, June 2018
This was a complicated shot.
First, it was hard to compose with my zoom lens. The widest it can go is 24mm, definitely pretty tight from this composition.
It's also a scene with a vertical subject, and I had to decide what else to include in this square frame so I could fit the gate and the bells / cross on the top, leaving some necessary empty space for this image to breathe.
Second, the sky was very bright behind the structure. I shot two long exposures, exposing for different parts of the image, and then blended them together in Lightroom. That gave me the extra dynamic range I needed.
Lastly, it was a long edit. I had to clone out a sign (that really distracted from the rest of the image), and dodge / burn a lot of it.
At the end though, I'm happy with the result.
Cantabrian Sea, June 2018
The Cantabrian Sea washes the northern coast of Spain. Still the Atlantic Ocean, it gets a different name near the shore.
I took this long exposure a few miles away from Ribadeo. There was a break in the clouds just above the horizon, and I liked the little rocks in the distance.
House of Ligh, Cabo Ortegal, June 2018
I love the unpredictability of the weather at the coast. To get this image I had to make quite a few long exposures at this location in NW Galicia.
It was sunny and bright when I arrived at Cabo Ortegal, one of the most beautiful lighthouses I've seen around here (not just because of the lighthouse itself but the landscape surrounding it). Light was very harsh. There were a few clouds but not enough to block the Sun.
After an hour or so, I had gotten a few long exposures, and I actually liked a couple of them. I was ready to leave the place, but I decided to stick around and look for some other compositions. In the next 15 minutes, the weather changed and it became windy and overcast.
I then repeated some of the compositions I had been taking earlier, until I finally got the image I was looking for.
They say landscape photography is all about patience, and I agree. Patience tends to reward you much more at some locations though (like the coast and the mountains), where weather can abruptly change in just a few minutes, giving you a completely different landscape to capture.
The first of summer, Cedeira, June 2018
A few months ago, I made one of my favorite images: The Last of Winter. That one was a cold, foggy morning that I spent walking on ice and snow.
The image I'm publishing now was made on a foggy day as well, but very different conditions: it was much warmer, there was no snow nor ice, and it was made in a different continent.
But somehow, when I was composing it I was thinking of the image from Indiana. So I called it "The First of Summer".
Horse, San Andres de Teixido, June 2018
I saw hundreds of horses during my trip to Cedeira last week. But I hadn't been able to make a good image of one of them. Most were cautious enough to put distance between me and them as soon as I'd gotten within a few hundred meters of them.
On the last day, and already leaving the town of San Andres de Teixido, I saw this horse in the yard of a nearby house. It started neighing at me, but didn't go away when I approached it. The horse let me take a few portraits, staring at me all the time.
Only at the end I realized about the empty bucket next to it. It'd been asking me for food all this time.
I hope they fed it well that morning.
Sunrise, Las Ubiñas - La Mesa Natural Park, Asturias, June 2018
I do not usually shoot in color, even less a vertical composition. But one must adapt to whats in front of them. And this morning, with that light, mountains and the tree on the bottom, I had no other option than rotating my camera and shooting it in color.
Curves, Las Ubiñas - La Mesa Natural Park, Asturias, June 2018
The fog was intense during my time in Somiedo, Asturias. While it can ruin your photographs of big vistas, it can also give you incredible opportunities to find images and compositions that wouldn't exist otherwise.
While searching for compositions, sunset approaching quickly, I saw these two curvy hills that "touched" slightly. This whole scene didn't exist a few minutes before I saw it, since another mountain in the background didn't allow for the simplicity that I was able to capture when the fog appeared.
Fence, Las Ubiñas - La Mesa Natural Park, Asturias, June 2018
On my first day in Somiedo, I only had a couple of hours before the Sun set. It was a rainy day, and the fog started to roll in, covering all the mountains.
With the big vistas gone, I started looking for different type of scenes. I wish I had that fog down in the valley, where I would be able to find plenty of old stone houses, walls and other structures that would've looked incredibly good in that foggy weather.
But up there, I couldn't find much. This fence, up a slippery slope, caught my eye though. I took a few shots as I worked the composition, and this one is the one I liked the most at the end.
Maria Pita, A Coruña, June 2018
A couple days ago, I had the chance to visit the city where I lived for 12+1 years: A Coruña, in NW Spain. I was in town to work on my upcoming exhibitions, but I still wanted to take advantage of the little spare time I'd have over there.
I visited a couple of iconic spots. The first one gave me this image of the statue of Maria Pita facing the City Hall. The long exposure created an effect that I like very much.
I can't wait to visit again and spend some more time photographing the numerous beautiful things the city has to offer.
Giant, O Courel, May 2018
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.
Vertical, O Courel, May 2018
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.
Bus Stop, O Courel, May 2018
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.
Foggy sunrise, Marroxo, May 2018
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).