Galicia, October 2021. Another image from the video "Back in the fog".
I love making images of powerlines, they are very strong subjects and they look amazing in some weather, like... you've guessed it, fog.
From my video "Back in the fog".
Back home, back to photographing the fog. I only had an hour before having to run some errands, but I was still able to sneak in some photography.
Two images I made on a day spent with family. Even in those walks, I can sneak in some photography if I have a camera with me. I only had one lens, though, so I used my phone to take the first one (the one on the left) using the ultra-wide lens.
Even though I don't believe smartphones are the future of photography, I do think they can be very useful and a great complement to any photographer with a standalone camera. This is a good example of that.
It was a rainy day, this one, so I'm not even sure if this waterfall flows regularly. I made this image from the town of Canfranc, in the Pyrenees, very close to the border with France.
Galicia, October 2021.
I made this image yesterday during my morning bike ride. As I kept going uphill, the fog started to make way for the clear sky. There's a magical spot where the Sun can create light beams through trees, and that's what I was looking for. I found it, and it was beautiful.
Galicia, October 2021.
I've made dozens of images of this tree, in every possible condition. I walk by it very often, almost every day, and I just love the way it looks. Some days, though, it looks especially good. This foggy morning was one of those times.
I love fog. Fog is very important for my photography, as it creates the atmosphere and the mystery I look for with my images.
As you can imagine, being able to predict (or at least have some degree of confidence) where and when fog happens can make a big difference. That’s why I always keep an eye on some key numbers that are a good indicator of possible mist.
I use an app called Clear Outside. It’s not a good one, it’s old and hasn’t been updated in years, but I love how simple it is. I can see everything I need in one quick glimpse, with no distractions.
What I look for is:
This is not an exact science, quite the opposite: predicting fog is really hard. But with the right numbers, and some knowledge about the location, you can have a rough idea of what to expect. And maybe have your camera bag ready to go, just in case.
Another image from my trip to the Pyrenees, this time an image made from France of a Spanish peak which name I don't remember. What I do remember, though, is the beautiful sight that early morning.
A long exposure of Lac Gentau with the beautiful Midi d'Ossau in the background. Yet another great view from the stunning hike to Lacs d'Ayous in the french Pyrenees.
Even though I got a few images from some majestic peaks on my hike to Lacs d'Ayous, this one of the baby horse with its mom has to be one of my favorites.
Besides the moment between the horse, this image is all about the light.
One of the most beautiful hikes I've done in the Pyrenees. The lakes reminded me a lot of the Enchantments in Washington State, another of my favorite hikes.
This is a moderate hike, a 9.5mile / 16kms loop with some 2,500 feet / 800m of elevation gain. Rocky terrain, it was also a bit slippery due to the rain of the day before.
Photography wise, there are plenty of opportunities. The hike starts through a dense forest with some very beautiful trees, and then opens up once the lakes start. You get incredible views of Midi d'Ossau, and there are other peaks as well.
As always in the mountains, it's all about the light. Conditions can change quickly, especially on partly cloudy days. If you find a composition you like, it might pay off to wait a little bit to see if the light improves.
The town of Sabiñánigo with the mountains of the Pyrenees in the background.
The beautiful Peña Foratata, in two images. The first one, with a human touch, and the second one, just the mountain. What a beautiful place in the Pyrenees.
My photography book collection is rather small: just a handful of volumes I really adore.
Books are an important source of inspiration, and I'd definitely have more if I had a permanent home. But I can't help to think that keeping it small has helped my photography in many unexpected ways.
I lack formal education in the arts, even less in photography. I didn't have a mentor either. I learned many things from work I was seeing online, and from the books I do own, but most of what I know, I gained from experience alone. From the daily practice of photography.
Of course my work and myself as a person are heavily influenced by others. We are humans after all, we don't live in a vacuum. But the lack of formal knowledge and understanding of photography made me freer than I would be otherwise.
Free from comparisons, free from following the rules, and free from not following the rules. I was doing photography for the sake of photography.
This is still true today. For example, I try not to look at other photographer's images of a place I'm going to visit soon. I like to see it myself first, to take it all in with an empty mind, free from preconceived ideas, and make the images I see. Then, I might take a look, often to realize just how different or how similar we saw that location. It's fun.
There's a lot value in studying someone else's work, but sometimes, it's more fun to go somewhere with an open mind and try to create something different. Something that comes from within.
Torla, a small town in northern Aragon, is the gateway to the beautiful Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park. As I was heading back home after a long hike, I decided to stop and look for some images, those I had failed to make in the park.
I knew that, many times, adding a human touch to a landscape makes images so much more interesting. In this case, it wasn't just a "touch", but a whole church. I absolutely loved the contrast of the stone building, and the towering wall of rock that stood in the background.
The human made walls versus the walls made by Nature.
As new cameras are announced, I can’t help but to feel like digital cameras have peaked, when it comes to photography at least. Most of the innovations of the last few years have been about video. We do get more megapixels and better AF with each iteration, but they are minor iterations.
That’s not bad, though. Today, pretty much any camera in the market is capable of producing amazing photographs. It’s a good time to be a photographer.
But I wonder, where is photography headed from here? Surely, computational photography will play a big role in the short-term. In my opinion, smartphones are not the future of photography, but they are hinting at where standalone, interchangeable lens cameras have to go in the next few years. I can’t wait to see what’s coming next.
After that? Who knows. And who cares, really. Instead of longing for a future better camera, let’s enjoy the features we do have today that we were longing for just a few years ago.
Nature was, is and will always be what inspires my photography. The beautiful landscapes of Oregon were the reason why I picked a camera up and started to take photos a few years ago.
Over time, though, and as I looked for more ways to practice my photography every day, subjects other than nature started to sneak into my images.
An image from a very peaceful afternoon back in 2018, in Brittany, France.
This is yet another example of why I love fog. I've walked by this scene dozens of times, and I never thought of making an image of it. In regular conditions, it's just too busy. But a few days ago, things were different -- the fog had removed the background, leaving me with a much simpler scene I could work with. I loved how the three posts contrast with the three trees.
