The importance of taking a break

I was supposed to be in Tennessee this week. Or in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. Those were my two destinations for March. At the end, I decided to stay home.

I’ve been shooting a lot lately. I thought I wouldn’t for a while after the road trip, but the winter here in Northern Indiana has been beautiful, and then I went to Chicago and Portland where I put almost 1,000 miles on the rental car in just 4 days.

So I decided to take a break from making images. It’s been 11 days since I took my last photo with the Bronica; it feels a bit weird but I don’t have that rush I usually have. Not yet. I think it was a necessary break.

I’m still working hard on my photography, just everything that isn’t using the camera: developing film from Portland, writing on the blog, editing videos for my YouTube channel, uploading stock photos and pitching some editorial work. I’ve also been reading some books and playing the piano, not only because I like it but also as an attempt to feed the creativity.

My next photography trip is planned and almost fully booked, but it won’t happen for another month. I know that I will feel that rush to get out before that, but for now, I’m letting the camera rest for a bit.

Sticks in the snow, Indiana, February 2018

Camera and Lens: Rolleiflex, 75mm f/3.5
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC

This is an almost cliche image, but I couldn't resist during my morning walk with the dog after a snowstorm here in Northern Indiana.

It's also a good excuse to share an image not made with the Bronica. I always have a camera with me, if it's not the big Zenza then it will be either the Rolleiflex or the Holga.

See more photos of Indiana.

Shooting film: Chicago, day 3

Third and last day in Chicago, and I had a sunrise mission: take a long exposure of downtown Chicago. I'd tried the days before but I didn't feel like I actually had gotten it so this time I went a bit farther north.

Sierra Nevada from the White Mountains, December 2017

Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 150mm f/4
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC

On my way to the Bristlecone Grove and already on top of the White Mountains in Eastern California, I ran across this view.

All these mountains you can see on this image, including the one I was on, are at least 10,000 feet high. In the foreground, the White Mountains. In the background, the Sierra Nevada. In between, the Owens Valley. This valley is 6,000 feet lower, making it one of the deepest in the US.

Here I tried to capture the contrast between the two mountain ranges and hint the existence of the valley in between them.

From up here and looking west, you can see most of the Sierra Nevada. Turn around to the east and you can see parts of Death Valley. The highest mountains and the lowest point in the continental US, all in an amazing 360 view.

I lost count of how many times I've said it, but this is one of my favorite areas in the US and one of the most beautiful landscapes I've seen.

See more photos of the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Moonrise, Joshua Tree, December 2017

Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 150mm f/4
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC

Another exposure from Joshua Tree National Park.

I've been developing some fascination with the Moon lately. Not only for experiments like long exposures, but I also like to take regular exposures of the moonrise like this one.

There's something unnatural about seeing the bright Moon in the sky, and the shadows that the landscape creates going in the opposite direction. Somehow, it has a very calming feeling to me.

I took a few similar ones, but this one was the strongest in my opinion.

See more photos of Joshua Tree National Park.

Cracked Ice, Salamonie River Forest, February 2018

Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 150mm f/4
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC

I've said it many times, and I'll say it again: I loved photographing the winter here in the Midwest. It gets so cold that the ice is everywhere, freezing creeks, rivers and lakes.

During one of my several walks through the Salamonie River Forest, I ran across this scene. A crack on the frozen lake and some footprints that seemed to have caused such crack (although that wasn't the case).

I'm going to miss the winter.

See more photos of Indiana.

Moonlit Joshua Tree, December 2017

Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 150mm f/4
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 3200
Developer: Ilfotec HC

I had a full moon during the one and only night I spent at Joshua Tree National Park, so I had to play with some night photography of this moonlit landscape.

Of the multiple exposure I took pushing HP5 to 3200, this one was my favorite. That shadow you see was created by the Moon. You can also see some stars, although not as many as you could see on a moonless night.

See more photos of Joshua Tree National Park.

"Examples of the PNW": my new free eBook

I'd been wanting to write this book for a long time, but I always found an excuse to put it off. Now that I don't live in Portland anymore, it seemed like the perfect time to do so.

In "Examples of the PNW", I showcase 15 of my favorite images I made during my time in the Pacific Northwest. I tell the story behind them, how I made them, I give some advice about the location, and I talk about the post-processing involved.

I also thought that it'd be the perfect way to say thank you to the subscribers of my (also new) monthly newsletter. I intend to make this newsletter the link between this website and the people interested in my work, something I can control completely unlike social networks or other websites.

So if you are interested in getting this book (and many more to come in the future), or in signing up for a monthly newsletter about my work and much more, please follow this link.

Thanks for your support!

American Road Trip Journal #19: Joshua Tree

As I've mentioned before, the week we spent in Palm Springs was a lazy one. I was planning on going to Anza Borrego (didn't happen) and spend at least a full day and night at Joshua Tree National Park.

At the end, I only spent a few hours in the park, and that was a mistake that I still regret today. Definitely somewhere marked in red on my list of places I "must-go-back-to".

With very little time, I spent most of it driving through the park and trying to grasp what it had to offer. I did walk through a Cactus Garden and went on a tiny hike to a nearby arch, but that's nothing in such a vast land.

This video showcases my two sunsets in the park and some photos I took over there. Hope you enjoy it!

See photos of Joshua Tree National Park.

Eastern Sierra, December 2017

Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 80mm f/2.8
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC

Between the vast and desolated Death Valley and the green and snowy Sierra, there's a place that struggles to survive.

Some of my favorite landscape spots in the US are here. You can go on backcountry trips and get lost or just pull over on the highway: the view won't dissappoint.

I made this image on my way back from the Bristlecone Grove in the White Mountains. Instead of taking the main (only) highway to Lone Pine, I tried to take every exit and secondary road, and I found quite a few picturesque scenes.

It was a cold afternoon of December but it was sunny and bright. Far from the highway, you couldn't really hear much. In the distance, a couple of cowboys were working on regrouping the cows.

It's hard to find a place like this in the US. As I walked along this narrow, dirty road, it felt like I went back in time to an era that I never knew.

See more photos of the Eastern Sierra.

Location constraints in landscape photography

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I'm back from Portland. I had a blast visiting some of my favorite places once again: I drove over 800 miles in 3 days! But while doing so, I couldn't stop thinking about how bad that was for my photography and how different it is back here in the Midwest, where my choice of location is much more limited.

I must admit, I'd gotten used to have a million beautiful landscapes to photograph within a couple hour drive. I took it for granted.

I'm experiencing the opposite situation here in our temporary residence in the Midwest: the hundreds of miles of wilderness have been replaced with a few small city parks, and the (very limited) shoreline of one of the big lakes has taken the place of the vast ocean.

It might seem unintuitive at first, but I think this change has been really good for my photography.

This past week in Portland reminded me of most of my time there: jumping from one location to another, always struggling to choose just one. This might sound like a good problem to have, and it really is, but I've come to the realization that having some constraints can be really good.

Here in the Midwest, having limited locations has had a positive impact on me in a few ways:

• Images are much harder to find. But the good news is, there are images to be made here. Since they are not in plain sight in front of thousands of tourists and hikers, they'll probably be very unique as well.
• I don't jump from one location to another. Because there aren't many locations to jump to, I can focus on one and try to get the most out of it.
• You have some very needed "time off". Back in the West, there were so many places to go to that I never stopped and thought about what I wanted to do with my photography. All I wanted was to take more and more photos, make more images all the time. Now, and while this is going to be a work in progress for a long time, I know what I'm doing and where I want to go. I also have more time to reflect on my images.
• The world is my canvas. I used to think that I could only make beautiful images at beautiful places. Therefore, I was somewhat limited about where to go. But now that I've made some of my favorite images in a very harsh place for photography, the whole world has potential.

Amazing places are awesome for any photographer. But living in more limited places shouldn't have to mean fewer opportunities to make images, and most importantly, it doesn't mean lower quality images.

American Road Trip Journal #18: Palm Springs

Compilation of photos and videos from our 3 days in Palm Springs, in Southern California. Photos were taken with pretty much every camera I have, film and digital.

All episodes of American Road Trip.

Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, November 2017

Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 80mm f/2.8
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC

Some beautiful morning light at the wharf.

See more photos of San Francisco.

Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial, Michigan City, February 2018

Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 150mm f/4
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC

I had no idea when or how I was going to make this image, but I knew it was going to happen since I saw this monument during my first visit to Michigan City. A few weeks later, I finally had the chance.

See more photos of Indiana.