Working the scene ~ Landscape photography in Brittany, France

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I've talked before about the importance of working a scene. I talk about this in this video as I make some images in Brittany, France.

Empty your mind

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"The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities." - Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

To make great images, you need to look and see. Some of us seem to lose the ability to do so when we stay in the same place for a while, when we get used to what surrounds us.

Josef Koudelka never stays more than three months in one country. He's afraid he'd become blind.

If you struggle to see in familiar scenes, try something different. Try street photography, still life or portraits. Shoot with your phone or pick a different lens. Try to make images "the wrong way" by following bad practices.

Mixing things up every once in a while helps us to unlearn some habits and open your mind.

Photography Waves

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Making images that matter is not an easy task, and we can go several days, weeks or even months without making one.

We must persist.

I believe in Photography Waves: days when the conditions are perfect, or you are extremely inspired, or the Muse is on your side... whatever the reason is, you make not only one but several meaningful images in one day.

Photography is easy

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Some thoughts about photography and camera gear.

The technical aspects of photography is the easy part, do not let anybody make you believe otherwise and stop you from going out and making some images.

"I could do that!"

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I believe the best art is the one that makes you think: "I could do that".

When a movie is so well directed and edited that seems it couldn't be any other way, we think we could do that.

When an image is simple -yet powerful-, we think we could do that.

Truth is, simplicity is the hardest thing to achieve.

"I could do that!" is the ultimate compliment to your art.

How I planned this image ~ Apps for Landscape Photography

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While exploring is a big part of landscape photography, there's nothing wrong with trying to optimize the time you spend outside.

In this video, I give you a glimpse of how I plan my shots by showing how I planned this image at Mount Saint-Michel. I did not get the shot due to bad weather, but I was very, very close.

It's ok to be miserable

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Note: I have an audience of one in mind when I write these kinds of posts - me. While some might find them useful anyway, it's me writing to myself, about things I struggle with.

I rarely get a good image from a trip that didn't require a big effort from me, so big that it made me feel miserable (unfortunately, it doesn't work the other way around: feeling miserable doesn't guarantee that I'll get a good image).

My best images were made on days where I had to push myself beyond not only my comfort zone, but also what I thought were my limits.

I love the feeling of exhaustion after a whole day of shooting, looking at those negatives or RAW files, and finding out you captured what you saw.

It's ok to be miserable. It feels good.

“Sunrise”, Mount Saint-Michel

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Double-click to edit...

Sometimes, you just need to leave the camera behind and enjoy the moment. 

Letting go

One of the hardest lessons I had to learn as a photographer and videographer, is to toss away images and footage that won't be used.

A photograph is not just a photograph for the person who pressed the shutter, it comes with feelings attached. It might have been a costly photograph to take, and a lot of time might have been invested in the process.

There's no reason to keep those images or videos around if they didn't turn out the way we wanted and they won't be used for any project.

Upload them to a service like Google Photos if you like, but they should be let go from your working catalog.

My Story

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There are many things you might not know about me.

I'm 36 years old and I quit my well-paid job last year to become a full-time photographer and videographer.

There's more to my story, watch the video if you want to know more.

Landscape Photography with a Vintage Lens and Sony a6000

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Again, I got sunny and clear skies in the Pyrenees, so I thought it'd be nice to use a vintage lens that I'd been wanting to try for landscape photography.

The lens is a Minolta Rokkor 58mm f/1.4 mounted on a Minolta MD/MC to Sony E adaptor.

I shot it wide open and stepping it down. The results were soft when wide open but I love that look. It's a sharp lens when stepped down.

Still, the focal lenght when mounted on a crop sensor camera like the Sony a6000 makes it a less than ideal lens for landscape photography. And I mean, as the only lens. 90mm can be a very nice focal lenght for landscapes when you combine it with something else.

Below, you can see some of the images I got and that I show in the video.

Film and Digital Photography at Cirque de Gavarnie

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Deep in the Pyrenees, the Cirque of Gavarnie is one of the most stunning place I've ever been to.

The first day we hiked to there, we found torrential rain. Soaked, I gave up on making images that day and decided to go back later that week. Then, I found sunny and clear skies.

This video is the results of those two visits.

My review of the GoPro Hero 7

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I want to start talking a bit more about the gear I use, both for making images and recording videos. The GoPro Hero 7 is a recent acquisition, but I've already taken it with me on a few outings. This is my review: the good and the bad, and how it fits in my workflow.

Big effort, little reward

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The Vall del Madriu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, seemed to be the perfect place for me to spend my last day in Andorra. The landscape didn't dissappoint, it was a beautiful -but hard- hike through the forest.

Photography wise, though, it was a fail. I wasn't able to come up with compelling compositions. I still had a lot of fun, and I hope you enjoy the video.

Vlogging with a GoPro Hero 7 Black in beautiful Andorra

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I have a new camera, and I put it to the test during a full day of driving and hiking in the beautiful country of Andorra.

I recorded the whole episode on the GoPro Hero 7 Black, using just the built-in microphone for the audio. The footage has been color graded, though.

There's a full review of this little guy coming soon.

Of course, I'm not affiliated with GoPro in any way. I wish. You can still help me buying it (or anything else, it doesn't have to be the GoPro) through this affiliate Amazon link: https://amzn.to/2J4pVma

Finishing rolls of Ilford HP5 and FP4

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I had a few rolls sitting around for a while, with a few shots left in them, so I decided to go out and finish them. This is what it came out of that morning out... and of those rolls.