YouTube: it's a full-time job

I've been uploading 2 to 3 videos a week to my YouTube channel for the last couple of months.

It might not sound like much.

A family member was wondering about this recently, and they were surprised when I told them the amount of work involved in creating one of my videos.

Most of them are from the field. Going out already takes anywhere from a couple of hours -minimum- to a full day.

Then I work on the images. This means developing and scanning film -at least one hour per roll- plus post-processing for both analog and digital negatives.

Editing the video can take me several hours as well. More often than not, it's a whole day in front of the computer.

Lastly, I upload the video to YouTube -not an easy task when you are on the road-, create the thumbnails, and promote it everywhere.

It's a long process. One that takes hours and days to complete.

I love every bit of it.

Film and Digital Photography at Serra da Estrela, Portugal

First video from my trip to Portugal, from the beautiful Serra da Estrela. This mountain range is home to the highest peak in mainland Portugal, a place where I headed this clear morning to make some images.

Become a curator

Ain't nobody got time for nothing nowadays.

You can see it on the road or at the grocery store.

Time is the asset of our days. It always has been.

In the past, there was no escape to a "let me show you the photo album from our last vacation". Today, you can simply leave a like on the FB post and swipe away. People aren't paying attention, though.

Curation is more important now than ever.

We need to respect our viewer's time. They will give us a few seconds -minutes if we are lucky- of their days in exchange for good content. We need to use that time wisely.

Give too much, even when it's awesome content, and they'll swipe away. Give too little and they'll forget about you.

Small doses, all the time.

Edit your videos. Keep clips short, between 5 and 10 seconds. Use good music. Show only the parts that contribute to the story.

Edit your images. Don't show 30 pictures of the same thing from different angles. Sit on them for a while before sharing them.

Discarding clips and images will hurt. Like a wound that is healing, this is good.

Knowing what to share and (even more importantly) what NOT to share is a skill in high-demand, a skill that may take time and effort to develop.

I'd say it is THE skill a photographer must have today.

DSLRs are the new film

As it usually happens with big corporations, it's taking much longer than anticipated. It's happening nevertheless: there's no room for mirrors in the future of mainstream photography.

They were just a patch to solve a problem that doesn't even exist with today's technology. They are irrelevant and unnecessary.

And that makes them cool.

Just kidding. Kind of.

The reason why I shoot film is because it's the only way I can make images with a tool like the Bronica.

For the same reason, plenty of people will keep using their DSLRs because it will be the only way to get that experience. Mirrorless cameras are lighter and smaller, they bring a lot of advantages but they change the way we take photographs.

And of course, there are people who'll embrace the flaws of DSLRs, especially the early ones that came out years ago.

DSLRs are the new film. They are about to become a niche in photography, used by some only because of the unique experience (and probably look) you can achieve with them.

I'm excited about it.

House of Light II, Cabo Ortegal, June 2018

Camera and Lens: Sony a6500, 16-70mm f/4 Carl Zeiss
Settings: 16mm, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/200sec

The beautiful setting of Cabo Ortegal.

See more images of A Coruña

Messing up (kind of) my first roll of Rollei Retro 400S

A few days ago, I went out to shoot my first roll of Rollei Retro 400S. I made long exposure images and tested the dynamic range of the film.

And then, I broke the thermometer while I was developing it. I had to guess all the temperatures and some might have been off.

The images turned out just fine, though. I will have to give it another try, this time using a proper thermometer and not my finger.

The River, Ribeira Sacra, September 2018

Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 150mm f/4
Film stock: Rollei Retro 400S
Exposure: 400
Developer: Ilfotec HC
Notes: my thermometer broke so I had to guess the temperature of the chemicals.

This was my second trip with the new car, and what a beautiful and lovely morning it was!

I shot an entire roll of Rollei Retro 400S, and got some good images.

I wasn't expecting this one to come out as well as it did, because of the huge dynamic range of the scene.

There's a bit of pure white, but that's the Sun rising behind that fog. I was sure much more of the highlights was going to be blown out.

See more images of Lugo.

Photographing Star Trails from the backyard

In this video, I try long (really long) exposures with my Sony a6500, my first time doing this with a digital camera.

While film has reciprocity failure, digital has its own set of problems when it comes to long exposure photography.

In the end, though, I was satisfied with the results!

American Road Trip Journal #30: Zion National Park

The series American Road Trip is coming to an end: only 2 more episodes left!

This time we visit Zion National Park, in SW Utah.

I spent a few days in the area but I was only able to visit the park a couple times, due to a snowstorm that covered it with ice and snow. This ruined my plans of hiking to Angel's Landing, but gave me some more unique images in exchange.

The one image that inspires my photography

I've had this blog for a while, and I feel like I haven't written much about what drives and inspires my photography.

If I had to choose one, and just one photographer, that'd be Michael Kenna without a doubt. I am a fanboy, I own several of his books and absolutely love his photography.

But if I had to choose one, and just one image, it wouldn't be one of his.

View fullsize

Bill Brandt, Lord MacDonald's Forest, Skye, 1947

I saw this image made by Bill Brandt (Isle of Skye, 1947) for the first time a couple of years ago.

There was something about it.

This image moves me so much, more today than it did two years ago. It's really hard to write this post because I can't really explain it.

The composition, the choice of a vertical format, how he removed all details from the landscape (but the cabin on the bottom right), the long exposure, the mystery... yes, I think it is the mystery.

This image inspires me every time I look at it. This is what I aim for when I go out with my camera: to create something that moves someone in the same way Bill Brandt has moved me with this image.

What about you? If you had to choose one image, which one would it be?

Life update from Galicia: the adventure begins now

I didn't post anything on the blog yesterday. I think it was the first day that went by without new content in months!

There was a good reason, though: after waiting for 4 months, the new car is finally here!

Making images while traveling

This means that our time here in Galicia is about to end, as we'll start traveling as soon as this Sunday. Galicia will remain as our base camp, headquarters, whatever you want to call it, but we'll be on the move most of the time.

More trips means many new images and videos coming.

Film images will take a bit longer, though. I'm not planning on bringing the "darkroom" with me like I did in America, instead I'll develop all the rolls once I'm back at HQ.

Traveling also means I'll have less time to spend in front of the computer -the end of the summer will help with this as well- thus I will have to organize in a different way to keep the content coming, here and elsewhere.

Where I will be in the next few months

Where will we be going, you ask?

That's a good question. The answer is... not sure, yet.

I like to change plans a lot, so take this with a grain of salt, but as of right now: in the next few months and until next summer we'll be visiting and spending quite some time (one to three months in each place) in Portugal, France, the UK and the US.

Can't wait!

Photographers: it's 2018

If you make photographs for yourself and have zero interest in sharing your work with anyone, then skip this post.

If you are already sharing your work online, then skip this post.

For everyone else: you better start sharing your images online if you have any interest in doing something with your photography.

We can hate Instagram and Facebook as much as we want, but that won't change the facts: people spend a big part of their days online, on IG, FB, Twitter and the rest of the social media family. Yes, even LinkedIn.

Are you at a public place now? Look around. Not only are most people on their phones, you are too.

Want your photography to be seen? Stop waiting for people to get to you, you have to go to them.

It's 2018, after all.

Cinestill Df96, black and white film developing made easy?

Eduardo Pavez runs a great channel about film photography on YouTube. In his latest video he tries Cinestill Df96, a monobath solution that promises to make developing -black and white film- much easier.

Instead of dealing with multiple chemicals (developer, stop bath, fixer...), this solution does it all. Pour it in the tank and after 3 minutes your negatives will be ready to wash.

I can't wait to try it myself -I don't know of any place here in Europe that carries Df96 just yet.

I can see one gotcha with this new product: achieving the right temperature. The trick is to get the solution to the temperature indicated for your film stock and exposure.

If you've developed film before, you know that getting any solution to the right temperature can be the most challenging part of all! Surely, one of the most time consuming steps.

I have to hold off on giving my final opinion on this new monobath solution until I try it, but it looks like the savings in time from using just one chemical can be erased trying to get the solution to the right temperature.