Are photo books a good investment?

April 08, 2019 in journal

In this video, I wonder about the value on buying photo books. Taking into consideration that we can look at images from our favorite photographers online, at any time and from anywhere, are books still a good investment?

I don't mean a financial investment, by the way. I mean an investment on our photography, to improve our vision and to get inspired.

Also in this video, I venture on the streets of Lisbon looking for a photo book. It'd be the first of my new collection. The chosen one: "Genesis", by Sebastião Salgado.

Photographing Buddha in Portugal

April 04, 2019 in journal

Image of the Month, April 2019: "Arcachon Bay"

April 01, 2019 in journal

Arcachon Bay is a beautiful place in SW France, in the region of Aquitaine. A few months ago, I got to spend a few days in the area and ended up making a few images.

This one is my favorite. These sticks are markers for the oyster beds, where fishermen go during low tide to get the ones that are ready.

"Arcachon Bay" is the first digital image offered as part of the "Image of the Month" collection, also a first for an image of mine made in Europe after months of shooting at this side of the ocean.

You can watch the video of how I made it here.

artist contract

A new image will be released every month and offered at a reduced price during that time. After 30 days, it will be sold at full price. They will never be on sale at any time in the future, the rate during the first month will be the lowest, ever.

want to know more?

You can find more information about how I create my images and all the details about pricing on The Art and Craft behind my prints.

"Arcachon Bay" is available for purchase here.

The most beautiful beach in Portugal: Ursa Beach

March 27, 2019 in journal

The coast of Portugal never disappoints.

A weekend in Lisbon with my new video camera: Sony RX100VA

March 25, 2019 in journal

In my quest to minimize and downsize my camera gear, I decided to look for a replacement to my beloved but bulky Sony a6500 + Sigma 16mm f/1.4 combo.

A few days ago, I purchased a Sony RX100VA. Interestingly, this is full circle for me since the Sony RX100II was the camera that got me started in photography, and the one I used for video for many years.

I spent this past weekend in Lisbon, where I had the chance to test the new camera. This video shows some footage and images from this beautiful portuguese city, and I also talk about the good and bad things about the Sony RX100VA.

What would your favorite photographer do?

March 22, 2019 in journal

I embrace the struggle to find images. Photography isn't easy and actually, the harder it gets the more rewarding it becomes. I love the journey.

That being said, there are a few things I like to do to try to find some inspiration before giving up.

One of them is to think about other photographers and what they would do if they were to photograph what I'm attempting to capture. I try to visualize them next to me, and look at what they do -and hey, sometimes they just leave!-.

I also think about their work from similar locations, "can I make something like that around here?".

I love to explore locations that photographers I admire have visited in the past, and place myself at the spots where they made their images. Being able to see what they saw is priceless and can teach you a lot about photography.

Next time you are struggling finding images, try to think about what your favorite photographer would do if they were in your position.

Why you shouldn't plan a photography trip down to the last minute

March 21, 2019 in journal

When planning a photography trip, one of the worst things you can do is to plan everything down to the minute.

Update from Portugal

March 20, 2019 in journal

I'm still alive! Not only that but also in the middle of a trip to Portugal, one of my favorite countries. Currently near Porto, I will be hitting Lisbon and Sintra in the next few days.

This is going to be a very short trip, a sort of preparation for the 4 months we will be spending in the US starting very soon!

Expect some videos and images from Portugal in the next few days.

Aperture in crop sensors

March 19, 2019 in journal

There seems to be a lot of confusion when it comes to crop sensors and their equivalence to full-frame sensors.

Let's take the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 for Sony APS-C cameras as an example. The crop factor in these cameras is 1.5, which we can use to get the equivalent focal length of that lens: 30mm x 1.5 = 45mm.

The problem comes when we do the same with the aperture. Often, reviewers will apply the crop factor and say that a f/1.4 lens will behave as a f/2.1 lens on a full-frame sensor would. People get really offended because they think manufacturers are misleading the consumers with those numbers.

While that equivalence is true for the depth of field (smaller sensors have more depth of field, thus less bokeh), it is not true when it comes to light gathering.

A f/1.4 lens will gather the same amount of light (per inch) no matter the size of the sensor behind it.

In other words, you could share your exposure values of 1/50sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 with a smartphone shooter and someone using a large format camera. You all will get the same exposure.

How I select my best images

March 18, 2019 in journal

Going through your photographs to select the best ones can be a very daunting task. Even harder if you take a lot of photos (like me).

Over time, I've developed a workflow that makes this process relatively fast and painless. The basic idea is to split the decision making process in a few steps to make it easier and ensure you are selecting only your best images.

I use Lightroom CC to organize my photos, but you could use any other software or even regular folders.

Image of the Month, March 2019: "Morning Mist"

March 11, 2019 in journal

Morning Mist is the Image of the Month for March.

I made this image on a beautiful and chilly summer morning at Trillium Lake, in the Mt Hood National Forest.

This is one of my favorite spots near Portland, and I'd drive over there many times before heading to work. It was a peaceful and unforgettable way to start my mornings (even though the drive was more than 2 hours round-trip).

This image is part of my work and current exhibition America Untitled.

artist contract

want to know more?

You can find more information about how I create my images and all the details about pricing on The Art and Craft behind my prints.

"Morning Mist" is available for purchase here.

Learning to let go

March 09, 2019 in journal

It's probably just rain. That's what I thought when I first heard it. As I was putting my headphones on, something told me to pay closer attention to the noise coming from upstairs.

It's not rain. I knew something was off as soon as I started climbing the stairs. There's smoke up there. A lot of smoke, actually. Something was burning and I didn't know what to expect.

The room seemed fine at first sight. It took me a couple of seconds to see them through the holes they had created on the ceiling: flames. There was a fire in between the roof and the ceiling right where the chimney column goes through. The house is burning down.

This image wasn't supposed to work

March 08, 2019 in journal

I made this image during a walk yesterday evening. I had passed by this field dozens of times before, but something caught my eye this time.

This image isn't supposed to work: there's no clear subject, no anchor, no leading lines. And still, there's something about it that I love.

It might be the emptiness of the field, or maybe the blackness of the pine trees. Perhaps the two bright cottonwoods on the very left edge of the frame.

Whatever it is, I think this image has many of the elements I seek with my photography. Many times, that means following your instinct and forgetting about everyone else's rules.

Benefits of shooting with a cheap camera

March 07, 2019 in journal

A few years ago, my most common camera setup was a Sony A7II with a 16-35mm f/4 lens (a combo worth more than $3k at the time). While that's not a lot of money when it comes to cameras, it was for me.

One day, I got caught in very heavy rain in the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. I was on a hike, my camera got extremely wet and I didn't get to a dry place for over 2 hours. As a result, the screen stopped working and I had to send it in for repair. The bill: $400.

That's exactly what my current camera (a Sony a6000) is worth today, brand new.

Over the years, I've found that using a cheap camera has actually a lot of benefits over a more expensive one.

How to copy videos from Sony cameras to the iPad directly from the SD card

March 06, 2019 in journal

I've been testing out my iPad Pro 9.7" (2016) as my sole device for writing, photo editing and video editing. I will be talking about the whole experience in more depth soon, but today I wanted to share the easiest way I've found to copy video files from a Sony camera to the iPad.

The best content I've ever watched on YouTube: "The Atlantic Selects"

March 04, 2019 in journal

Very, very rarely you will see me recommending content from YouTube like this.

However, some of the movies that The Atlantic is putting out in their series The Atlantic Selects are brilliant pieces of filmmaking and storytelling. I think they are the best content I've ever watched on YouTube.

These are two of my favorites, but I really encourage you to take a look at the other videos of this series. You won't be disappointed.

Don't aim for perfection

March 04, 2019 in journal

A few days ago and while working on my YouTube channel, I came across some of the first videos I made.

They are just horrible.

I was partly aware of this when I published them, but at the time I was doing my best.

Today, I have better gear and I know more about video than I did back then. Most of this improvement happened because I started uploading videos and realized what was working and what could be improved.

If I had aimed for perfection I would have never published any video, post or image, ever.

We need to finish. A finisher gets better and better every time they put something out there. Only through practice can we improve.

I hope to come back to my current videos in a few years and see that, once again, they look horrible. That could only mean that my filmmaking skills improved.

White Balance in Black and White Photography

March 03, 2019 in journal

Despite the lack of it, color is very important in Black and White Photography.

White Balance (or Color Balance) is one of most commonly used tools (it's actually two: temperature and tint) in color photography to modify the warmth and tint of an image.

It is overlooked by many when it comes to Black and White imagery, but we'll see why you might want to add this tool to your monochrome editing workflow.

Galician Still Life: Bronica and Ilford FP4

March 03, 2019 in journal

These are some of the images I've made of some objects with my Bronica and Ilford FP4. Watch the video here.

Art made by and for humans

March 02, 2019 in journal

In this day and age where AI is starting to take over photography (see: portraits of people that don't exist made by AI, one is tempted to think that photography is doomed.

I believe this might open new opportunities for (human) artists, actually.