I got to spend a few hours in Switzerland and tried to make the most of them. I hike to Monte San Giorgio where I get the best view of the trip, but I'm unable to create any images from up there.
I used to believe that I should make every shot count, that I should have a higher ratio of keepers when I get back from a shooting.
Farther in my photography journey, I see now how I was limiting myself. Limitations can be good for creativity, but this one was just holding me back.
I realize now that this a process that involves many steps, every one of them as important as the previous one. I used to think all that mattered was the moment I pressed the shutter, everything had to happen then and there. Boy, was I wrong.
Today, I shoot a lot. I probably take 150 to 200 photos a day when I’m traveling, sometimes even more. Very, very few are good enough to make it through my process.
This change in mindset has made me a better and more aware photographer: if I’m waiting for the perfect moment to get my camera out and shoot, I tend to become distracted and disengage from the environment; if I’m constantly shooting, I’m focused, I’m working, I’m in the zone, if you will. This is why I take the first photo early on.
Yes, going through hundreds of photos to select just a few takes time and effort. But it’s supposed to! It’s not something I want to avoid anymore, but embrace.
Space
During these past few weeks, I spent quite some time staring at the mountains in the distance. They fascinate me. At night, I'd look up and see the shadows of those giants, just a few miles away. I'd imagine how cold it was up there, how windy, how deathly.
Not only we live in the only planet capable of hosting us, but it is within a very thin section of Earth that we live in: barely 3 miles from sea level to the highest settlement.
Time
If you were to spin a roulette of time, with numbers from the beginning of the Universe until its end, what are the chances that the ball would fall on your lifetime? Beyond impossible.
Existence
What about our own existence? If our parents had sex a mere seconds earlier or later, we wouldn't be here. The odds of our parents to exist and meet were even lower. It keeps getting less and less likely the higher you go.
We live in an impossible part of the Universe, at an impossible time, and we are the product of an impossible chain of events.
Today is impossible and yet, it's happening.
PS: I'm working on a project about these issues and I think a lot about it.
A short movie with some clips and images from our time in Verona, Venice and Trento.
I went to Venice yesterday. Even though I visited as a tourist and spent little time making images, I still brought my cameras and tripod with me. Just in case.
I also used my phone, of course.
Every time I use both systems for "image making" (not just snaps), I see how camera companies are losing to the increasingly more powerful smartphones. And I can't believe they aren't reacting.
The megapixel race has ended a while ago. Sensors are getting better and better, but it doesn't matter that much anymore. They are good enough, they have been for a while. Today, and in the foreseeable future, is the software that makes the difference.
Read MoreA short movie with some of the highlights of my time at beautiful Lago di Garda, in northern Italy.
I try to add as much mystery as I can in my images. I want them to be on the edge between reality and dreams, if you will: the viewer decides what they are looking at.
I often wonder if by sharing so much of my process (YouTube, Instagram stories...) I might be destroying part of that mystery.
Should I retreat into the shadows and share only the final image? Or should I keep sharing my journey as a way to inspire others?
I believe there's a balance to be found here as well: hint, don't show; inspire, don't keep it to yourself. You'll find me out there, looking for such harmony.
Woman getting up and waving to the Sun
Gym advertisement poster
Spirit emerging
Woman against a tsunami
Nuclear apocalypse
Ghost with big eyes trapped in the light
First steps after death
Hopeless look into the abyss
Swimming towards a wave
Fly trapped in insecticide
Dancer's dream
About to commit suicide
Caterpillar becoming butterfly
Double street light
Cobra threatening to attack
Origin of life
Apocalypse
Evolution
My mom has been fascinated by this image of mine since I posted it on Instagram a couple of days ago. Apparently, she's been looking for some meaning behind it. Those above are just some of the titles she's suggested.
I had no meaning in mind when I created it.
That's the beauty of photography and art, we can create for the sake of creating and the viewer can give it a meaning, if they wish to do so.
f/64, 1/12,500sec, ISO 12.
One of the things I loved the most from Austria was the tirolean dumplings. So, so good! We want to make them ourselves, so we've been looking for some recipes online.
The list of ingredients only tell part of the story, the instructions of how to make them is what matters. Usually, we can get away with replacing some of the ingredients and still get a delicious meal, maybe even better than the original!
Ilford HP4, pushed 1 stop with Ilfosol diluted under a full moon.
Photography isn't very different.
We still like to share our settings and equipment used, but forget to mention what really matters when it comes to make a great image: why we were there at that moment and what we were trying to create -if anything at all.
My first hours with the Sony RX100VII, just in time to photograph a beautiful snowstorm in Innsbruck, Austria.
Hello from Arco, Italy,
Sadly, we had to leave Austria one week earlier than anticipated due to bad weather. Snow and ice prevented me from doing many of the things I wanted to do there, but it was those same conditions that gifted me with a magical day that made me miss the mountains.
I lived in Portland, OR, for 5 years. While the city might not get snow every winter (we got one big snowstorm in all of those years), the mountains around it are covered in white powder for several months a year. It's easy to find snow even during the summer, if you hike high enough. I absolutely loved it.
I find snow fascinating. I grew up in a place that barely gets any: flurries are scarce, seeing the snow stick on the ground is a once-in-a-lifetime-event. The nearby mountains do get snow but it's short-lived as the warmer temperatures melt it away rather quickly.
Innsbruck got pummeled with snow last Wednesday. The locals might have found it annoying for their commutes, but it was a gift for me: unable to reach the snowy mountains, they came to me.
Placed among giants, it was easy for me to reach high altitudes by simply walking from our place near downtown Innsbruck. I walked in the snow for hours, going as high on the mountain as I could. I knew it wasn't going to last (it's still November, after all) and I wanted to take it all in.
When I left the city behind and reached the forest, it was like being back in the mountains of Oregon. I was once again walking into magical scenes from a fairy tale.
I loved my time in Innsbruck, definitely on top of my list of places to go back to. Next time, hopefully, better prepared for the winter.
I just doubled down on my approach to go compact with the purchase of the newest RX100, the mark VII.
The combo mark II + VA is near perfect for what I do. There were two main problems, though:
The mark VII feels familiar in every sense, slightly bigger but the same camera. The mic input and the 200mm alone might be worth the huge price tag.
It's already been in the rain and heavy snow since I got it a couple of days ago, and it behaved like a champ. I'll share my final thoughts on this camera very soon for those who are on the fence.
A couple of days ago and while driving around Mösern, I stumbled upon a church located in an incredible vantage point. Surrounded by mountains, it seems as though a photographer placed it there.
As the forecast was predicting quite a bit of snow up there for the next few days, I knew yesterday would be my only chance to photograph it again. So I went back.
This is the contact sheet. As you can see, I worked the scene from different angles and at different focal lengths. They require some more work, but I love two of those shots.
Daido Moriyama explains why he doesn't like SLR cameras in his documentary "Near Equal" (10:02):
"If you use a SLR, you see things like this (through the viewfinder)
[...]
and when you do this, you want to have perfect focus"
I've been shooting compact cameras for a few weeks now and I have to agree with Daido.
Viewfinders put you inside your image. Using the LCD screen keeps you in the present, aware of your environment. You don't see the fine details, only the big picture of what you are trying to create. You don't worry as much about the exposure or the focus.
All of this makes for a more spontaneous photography, and creates imagery that comes from the gut.
I've been trying to apply street photography principles to landscape and fine art, as opposed to the more meditative and slower process that is usually involved in the making of this kind of images. Instead of adjusting my composition and settings to perfection, I take in my surroundings: the sounds, the smells, the textures, the colors. And then I shoot what feels right.
I don't think either approach is better or worse than the other, and images might not be that different after all. I do enjoy the process more this way, though, and in that sense it's been liberating.
I'd encourage you to give this a try: ditch the viewfinder and embrace the LCD screen for a distraction-free photography.
As photographers, we often have to deal with resistance. As Steven Pressfield puts it, resistance "is a force that will stop an individual's creative activity through any means necessary", including "rationalizing, inspiring fear and anxiety".
After a long trip through Spain, France and Germany, I took a break for 3 days. It was a short one, but enough to "break the momentum" I had.
In this video, I face that resistance and try build momentum again. From beautiful Innsbruck, Austria.
I need to photograph everyday.
A day without taking pictures is a sad day for me. No matter where I am or what I am doing, I always bring my camera with me and shoot, a lot. Most of these photographs never become an image.
Don't forget: motivation comes after action. When we do something, we get motivated and the wheel starts moving. Even on days when I can’t get out as much as I want, I still try to photograph: taking photos of myself, documenting what I do and what I have around me.
There doesn’t have to be a grandiose purpose or a life changing project, these are images for our inner artist, because we need to create.
These are some tips and ideas to help you stay motivated to shoot everyday:
"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.
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.
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.
"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.
