Fear is normal

"I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do." - Georgia O'Keeffe

Most of us don't know what we are doing. I surely don't.

We try our best but it isn't easy, there will be plenty of mistakes, frustrations and disappointments on the way, waiting for us.

But right now, they are only fears. Overthinking what could happen will only drag us down. Let's start making today and we'll face the challenges if they ever come up.

In a GoT fashion:

There's only one thing we say to fear: not today.

Photography isn't a formula

You may nail the composition, you and / or your camera might expose the shot perfectly, even the conditions could be ideal. And yet, the final image can be a bad one.

An imperfect composition, a rather dark or bright image, and less than ideal conditions could be ingredients for a great image.

We don’t know. Because photography isn’t a formula we can follow. Fortunately.

Photography is about uncertainty, about unpredictability, almost randomness. Perhaps this is what makes it so enjoyable.

Great images are rare - forget about formulas and be ready for when they come.

A week in Germany

8 days in Germany weren't enough, not even close. We visited many locations across SW and Southern Germany and we only wished we had more time. Bacharach and the Rhine, Freiburg and the Black Forest, Lindau and Lake Constance, Füssen and the Neuschwanstein Castle, Eibsee and Zugspitze. These are the highlights of our trip.

How to achieve excellence in photography

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit."
- Aristotle

I don't believe excellence in photography (or any art) is something we can reach through some kind of progression. As I've argued before, we are only one click away from our best image ever.

Skills play a role in photography, but in my opinion it is minimal. Once you master your camera and have an idea of what you want to create, experience takes a back seat.

Experience could in fact be harmful: we play it safe and repeat what's worked well in the past. Better to be a beginner forever instead.

How, then, are we supposed to achieve excellence in photography?

By doing, of course. By getting out and making more and more images. We have to create a lot of bad ones before we achieve that excellence we are looking for. Then we'll have to create more mediocre ones if we want to excel again.

Excellence is born when the right circumstances get together: an artist with the will to be at the right location, the passion to be there under the right conditions, a vision in mind -even if still in the subconscious-, and the right amount of luck.

Most of these factors are out of our control, the only thing we can do to create good art is to simply do it.

How to stay motivated in photography

Sometimes we go through phases where we don't feel like creating new images. Willpower is important in photography -even more if it's done outdoors-, but even the strongest determination will eventually fade away.

Make it simple

The only way to stay motivated in anything is to make it enjoyable -and the best way to make it enjoyable is to make it simple.

Simplifying our photography process will make it more fun and in turn, that will motivate us to do it more often, to create more.

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Less gear makes photography simpler

Imagine a camera that fits in your pocket and you can have with you at all times. I'm not talking about phones: even though I think they are more than good enough they are not my favorite cameras to use.

I'm currently experimenting with compact cameras as my only drivers: one for video (Sony RX100VA) and one for stills (Sony RX100ii), but most of the time I use just one for both (the RX100VA).

I don't have lenses to carry but most importantly, I don't have lenses to choose from. There's no second guessing, I take the camera, I put it in my pocket and I go out the front door. I embrace its strengths and flaws because I have no other choice.

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Photography as a habit

This has led to some somewhat unexpected consequences: this morning during my morning walk I noticed something in my raincoat's right pocket: it was my camera. I had put it there unconsciously while I was getting ready. At this point, it's become a habit.

Carrying a bigger camera would've been less enjoyable, no doubt. It would never be a habit the way grabbing a compact camera is. And with no camera comes no images, no action, thus no motivation.

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Decrease the complexity to increase your motivation

Anything you can do to decrease the complexity of your photography workflow will help. These are some additional ideas to simplify your photography, besides minimizing your camera gear:

• Shoot in P mode and use autofocus
• Create your own preset and use it upon importing
• Be merciless with the images you don't like and delete them right away
• Back your images up in the cloud, perhaps have an external hard drive for fast access
• Loosen up

And don't forget about the key to making great images: wake up and get out.

Leaving is hard

Hello from Innsbruck, Austria.

I was thinking about the crazy last few weeks we've had: it was only two months ago when we were arriving in New York City. It feels like it happened a long time ago, it's been a lot of traveling since then. Even though things get easier over time, I still find it difficult to leave.

We spent two months in Indiana this summer. A month in Spain this last October. Sounds like very short periods of time -they were- and still, I got used to it. I had a routine.

Leaving for this trip was, as usual, hard at first. Don't get me wrong, I love to travel and see new places, but if I lose the momentum it's not easy to get it back. It's a resistance I encounter very often -it's not hard to beat, but it does require some effort.

I'm sure many other photographers feel the same way before a backpacking trip or boarding a plane on their way to a new place: that mix of excitement for the new images you are about to make and the uncertainty, the fear of the unknown, being out of your comfort zone. Maybe that's why so many keep returning to photograph the same places over and over.

This resistance we might face is short-lived, though. The way to beat it is by taking action, by doing. In my case I'd forgotten about the routine and comfort as soon as I reached Zumaia. There's nothing like some beautiful nature to put you in the present.

Zumaia, land of dragons

Rain and wind, the most feared elements by a photographer. They are also the forces that shape and build most of the cliffs, rocks and beaches of the coast. Here, they’ve been working on it for eons. Millions of years in the making, Zumaia shows the passing of time and tells a story, the biggest of all. Speaking of stories, Game of Thrones used a very near location as the spot for Dragonstone. I can see why they chose this place.

I only had a day there, but what was supposed to be a little appetizer for the rest of my fall trip, quickly became a major destination. I can’t wait to go back.

This short movie is the story of my day there, and the images I was able to make. I hope you enjoy it.

Image of the Month, November 2019: "Wawasee"

Wawasee is the new Image of the Month for the month of November. I made this image on a rainy and moody day at Lake Wawasee, Indiana.

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two sizes

Remember: there are two sizes to choose from, 6x6 and 8x8 (inches). In both cases, the matt and frame are 12x12 (this means a bigger margin for the 6x6 print).

shipping included

Shipping is free to the US. International shipping is a flat rate of $14.95.

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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.

Wawasee is available for purchase here.

Life update: fall trip and going compact

You already know about my fall trip and my decision to go compact on this trip. This is that same information but in video form, plus some of the highlights of my drive from NW Spain to SW Germany.

Outubro

A slightly different video with some highlights from October, my favorite month of the year.

Photographing my old high school

I visit and photograph my old high school, where I studied more than 20 years ago.

Cies Islands, part III: "It's not a goodbye"

Last day on the Cies Islands, but it's not a goodbye. I look forward to visiting this amazing place again next year, if not sooner.

The strange neighbor's strange dog

There's a strange neighbor here in town who has a german shepherd that's almost as strange as he is. The dog is very cute and seems to be very friendly, but there's something strange about it. Can't really explain it with words.

I took this shot yesterday late at night, one that I believe captures this dog and its weirdness.

Be consistent, stay flexible

Consistency is key to great photography: we want to have similar aesthetics and subject matter across a collection of images - be it a book, a zine or any other kind of project.

I believe that new ideas are very important as well, though. Staying flexible, experimenting with new mediums, shapes or textures, creating something new and different to push your creativity beyond its previous limits.

The balance between consistency and flexibility is a delicate one: we don't want to be all over the place and try to do everything, but we don't want to get stuck at doing things the same way over and over either.

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As you know, I like the square format. I find square images very pleasing to the eye and it also brings consistency when I put them together (there's no landscape vs portrait debate).

Lately, I've been experimenting with panoramas: very long images. I don't always take them with that idea in mind, I "see" during the editing instead. I don't even use special equipment or software to create them, they are just crops.

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I've also been shooting with my phone using an app called Slow Shutter Cam, which lets me take longer exposures than the stock camera app. I like the effect it creates when used walking or even from a moving vehicle.

These are just two of the things I'm doing to switch things up and keep my mind fresh and away from doing the same thing over and over.

Remember to be consistent and to stay flexible, find the balance that works for you.

Capture what's behind the lens, not in front of it

In formal photography, we worry about things like correct exposure and proper composition. Boring stuff that leads to images similar to what everyone else creates.

Photography is an art. Instead of capturing what your eye sees, capture what you see. Forget about technical details and silly composition rules, follow your gut and click away.

Point your camera at something and capture what's behind it.

Cies Islands, part II: "Rain, wind, sun and cold in one day"

My second day on the island brought tons of rain, wind and cold, but also plenty of sun. It was a little bit of everything in just one day, I had to work hard to make images but I think it was worth it.

Cies Islands, part I: "The best sunset in Spain"

This video is the first one of my camping trip to the Cies Islands, a national park just off the coast of Galicia and in my opinion the most beautiful place around here. On the first day, I get settled in and try to make the first images of the weekend.