You should know by now that I'm a very clumsy person, I'm always dropping stuff, including
my cameras
this time, I was not so lucky because I broke my newest camera, the one that I use for photography
we'll talk about that in this video, about a new lens that I bought, a couple more things...
I have a Q&A thing going on Instagram right now, so I'll be answering to some of those
question here as well
but before we do that, a couple things
the first one is a friendly reminder about my weekly newsletter that I send out every
Monday
with some random thoughts and all the images and videos that I share on all the platforms
during that week
as I said, I send it only once a week and it's a very convenient way to stay up to date
with my work, if you enjoy it
so you don't depend or rely on algorithms to show my videos to you, or my images to
you
if you haven't already, you can sign up following the link in the description down below
and the second one is that I have 3 new prints in the Image of the Month collection
that one that you see there is one of them, I'm going to show them here too
you can check them out following the other link in the description too
So about a month ago or so, I dropped and broke my Sony A7Rii
that's the camera I use the most for photography these days
I was doing some tests out in the balcony here, with the two lenses that I had on loan
the two Sigma, big and heavy lenses
I was just doing some test shots out in the balcony
I had the camera and the 20mm lens on the tripod, turned around for just a couple of
seconds, maybe 3-4
I don't know how but the tripod tilted a little bit and it fell on the ground
it was a pretty bad fall
not only I broke the camera, I also broke the lens
just the lens hood, though, but it's a built-in lens hood so it needs to go to the factory,
I guess, to be fixed
thankfully, I had insurance on that lens
but I did not have insurance on my camera, and that one really hurt
so all the buttons on the back stopped working, I thought it would be something just got loose
I tried to fix it myself, I tried to open the camera but I only got so far
I didn't want to break it even more, so I stopped and closed everything, put the screws
back on
I was debating about sending it in for repair or just buying a new one
but after thinking about it, I decided to just ship it to the shop and give it a try
and after a few weeks, I finally have it back
I have to say, I missed this camera much more than I thought
I was still going out, because it's not because I don't have other cameras to shoot with
but I really missed this camera, I really enjoy shooting with this camera
but it's back now, it's fixed, and everything is working as it should
it wasn't cheap though, it was around $650, a good chunk of change but still cheaper than
buying a new one
there are a couple of things that weren't really fixed, like this switch to release
the lens
it's a little bit stiff, it's been stiff since I dropped it
but other than that, it takes photos, it takes beautiful photos and I'm so glad to have it
back
by the way, you might have noticed that I have this little lens on
that's a Rokinon 35mm f/2.8, almost like a pancake lens
I got it to be able to shoot with this camera in a very, very compact package
so I can bring it with me, I bought a new camera bag too, a sling bag
so I can bring this camera with this lens, and maybe another lens
on little walks, or if I go out for any reason, to a coffee shop, so I can still have this
camera with me
what else?
I've been working hard on my new book, it's still not ready
it's probably 1-2 months away, but it's coming together now
I'm very excited about it, I think it's going to be a good one
another thing I'm very excited about is that we might be going on a trip very soon
I'm not sure where to yet, but it doesn't matter, anywhere
and that's because the vaccination thing is going really quick in Indiana now
we might be able to get an appointment in 1-2 weeks, and once that happens, we are going
to be going somewhere
now, I'm going to go over some of the questions that I got on Instagram that might be interesting
to you
this is a question that I get very often and it's a question that I got here a few times
from different people
and is... how I pay my bills, because obviously it's not from photography
and it's true, I don't make enough money with this to pay my bills, to feed myself
let alone anyone else
even though I make some money with photography now
which, by the way, thank you so much for your support buying prints and books because it
really means a lot to me
we are living off savings that we had back when we both used to work, my wife and I
right now, only my wife has a job
she has a remote job that she can do from anywhere else, that's how she can come with
me on every trip that I take
that's the lifestyle we have right now, her salary is enough for both of us
and the little amount of money that I make with photography also helps, and that's what
we are doing
many questions about B&W
why black and white, if I feel like B&W could be limiting to my photography, and stuff like
that
no! absolutely not
black and white is photography for me
for me, color and B&W are as different as photography and drawing, if that makes any
sense
I don't see images in color anymore, if I ever did
so no, it's not limiting, it's what makes photography possible for me, I can't conceive
photography in any other way
that being said, a lot of my photos, most of my photos today
they are taken with a digital camera, they are RAW files, I convert them to B&W
but they have all the color information there
if in 20-30 years I decide to switch to color, I should be able to go back to all these images
and you know, just retrieve the color back, bring it back to life
if I wanted to, that's not going to happen, but I could if I wanted to
do you prefer Spain or the US in the winter?
well they are two very big countries, especially the US
depending on where you are in the US, the winter can be very different
but if we are talking about Indiana and Galicia, that's where we spend most of our time in
the US and Spain
the winters are amazing in both places
as you could see in my most recent videos, we get plenty of snow here in Indiana which
I love
because it allows me to create very simple images of these landscapes
that are very different in the spring, summer and the fall
so I love the winter here because of that, all the snow and the ice
that being said, I also love the winter back in Spain, in Galicia, because it's very foggy,
very often, at least in my hometown
I don't have any official numbers, I'm making this up, but I feel like we get at least one
very, very foggy day every week, on average, in the winter
and that's amazing, because the fog simplifies every composition
it allows you to create images where there were none before
I just love the fog
it's hard for me to choose, I love the snow, I love fog, I love both places in the winter
because of that
this is a very interesting question
are there any photos you regret taking?
I thought about this for a while, and no, I don't think...
I can't think of any photo that I regret taking
but I think that's because I follow the rules...
if it says, "stay on the trail", I'm going to stay on the trail
I'm not going to step on wildflowers or anything like that just to take a photo
you should respect the rules
and the second reason is because I don't take photos of people,
so that doesn't lead to any situations where I could regret having taken a photo where
the other person felt uncomfortable or something like that
I usually take photos of trees, mountains, rivers... they are usually fine with it
so I don't have any photo that I had taken, that I regret having done so
that being said, I do regret not taking so many images that I saw on my way to somewhere
else
driving the car, or just walking, or whatever
and I just said, well it's not worth stopping, or it's not worth my time now
but I might stop on the way back...
I never do, of course
I'm getting much better at that, though, these days I always stop if I see an image that
could have some potential
will you travel differently post-covid?
I don't think so, because the way I travel, the way we travel
we don't usually interact with people on our trips
we just stay in the AirBnB or hotel
when I'm taking photos outside, I'm usually by myself
those are the situations that I seek, those are the situations I like to be in
so I don't think that Covid is going to change any of that
other than restrictions to go to a different country, or to a different state
I don't think it's going to change much for us
advice for someone who is getting started in photography
I was thinking about making a video about this
but for now, I will tell you that you should get out as often as you can
take as many photos as you can
and just keep in mind that this a very, very long term thing
it's a lifelong journey, and it takes a long time, it takes a few years to build a good
repository, a good collection of images
don't think that this is something that you can do in a few weeks, or even a few months
when you go to a new location, do you get there with some images already in mind or
not?
I always have some rough idea of what I want to capture
if I'm going to a lake, or the coast, I might be taking long exposures
so I might look beforehand for some lighthouses, or some piers, or something like that
but once I get there, it's all open, the pier or the lighthouse might not be interesting
I just walk around, just exploring the whole place
and actually, some of my best images were taken this way
I meant to go somewhere else, or I went there for any other reason
and ended up taking those photos that turned out to be the good ones
favorite photography book
by far, Minutes to Midnight, by Trent Parke
which camera?
any you have with you
but for me, as of right now, my favorite camera to shoot with is the a7rii
but I also have a lot fun with the RX100 cameras because I can put them in a pocket and bring
them with me to everywhere
and by the way, even though I shoot with Sony cameras
that's only because 7-8 years ago when I bought my first digital camera
the salesperson at the shop sold me a Sony camera, I invested in the system, and since
then I've been shooting Sony
but I enjoy shooting with Fuji cameras too
I haven't tried any Olympus camera just yet, I haven't used a Canon or Nikon camera in
a long time
but I mean, there's no specific reason for me to shoot with a Sony camera
I don't think that they are better just because they are Sony or anything like that
any camera is good nowadays, seriously
for photography, you can't really go wrong today
what paper and size do you use for your prints?
so, that's my newest print, I mention that at the beginning of the video
that print specifically is 8x8
I print in 2 sizes, 6x6 and 8x8
I really like small prints, I like that you can be close to it and still see the whole
thing
big prints, you have to look at them from further away, the details are harder to see
they kind of push you away
while these prints are telling you, come closer, come closer, and look at me
as for the paper, I use hahnemuhle...
I don't know if that's how you pronounce it, german etching
and I love it, I've been using that paper for years, and I love it
would you ever see yourself making the investment in a monochrome camera?
I don't think so, I'd like to use one, and to try it
but I really like having the color information in the RAW files because I can play with that
information in post
I can..
.I don't know the name of this right now it's not coming
but when you have the color information in the RAW files, you can make reds lighter,
or darker
you can play with the greens, and the blues, independently of everything else
and that's something you can't do if the camera is monochrome because that information is
removed, it's never there in the RAW file
I'm sure that the dynamic range and the details are better, but those things for me are not
as important as being able to play with the colors in post
you can achieve the same results with a monochrome camera, but you are going to have to use filters
red filters, yellow filters, orange filters, whatever... in the field, which is fine, but
I really like having the option of doing it in post
what's your dream?
well, this is it
I'm living my dream because I'm doing photography full time
I get to travel and explore...
I mean, not as much now with the pandemic, but
I just hope that I can get to do this for the rest of my life
making images, making videos and sharing them with you
I know I'm not going to get rich doing this, but I don't need to, I don't want to
I just want to enjoy what I do, and I really, really love what I do
are you feeling ok?
hanging in there?
yeah...
I'm pretty good
I mean, I wish we could travel a little bit more, and there weren't as many restrictions
but it is what it is, it will pass at some point, I guess
everything else is just fine, I'm doing pretty good
what have you learned about building your brand?
a big mistake I made, and I guess I still make some times, is labeling my work, labeling
myself
do not use labels, I think they are very dangerous because they limit you a lot
I branded myself as a film photographer before, and that limited me because it limited me
when it came to use another tools like digital photography
which are totally legit and they are just fine and they are as valid as film photography
I have a video where I talk about that there
if you label yourself, if you specify that you only do one kind of stuff
if you do want to expand your work, if you do want to do something else
it's going to be hard to get out of that label, because you are going to have an audience
and they expect something from you
and you expect something from you as well
change is always hard
I'd say, just call yourself an artist, or a photographer
and try everything, experiment, and don't limit yourself
are you going to continue your podcast?
I've never promoted my podcast at all because I only have 3-4 episodes, it was just a test
I don't have any plans on doing a podcast right now
I'm already pretty busy with just photography and the YouTube channel to be honest
what's your go-to focal length?
well, I usually use a zoom lens because my RX100 cameras are zoom lenses, 24-70, 24-200
but I've been enjoying shooting 35mm on the full frame camera, so
what kind of photography besides landscape photography you like?
I love street photography, I love portraits, I really like that kind of photography
even though I don't do it because I'm not good at it, but I do enjoy looking at good
street photography and good portraits
and I think that's going to be it for today, this might an already pretty long video
I hope you learned something new about me
but if you have any more questions about my work, my processes or about me personally,
you can leave a comment down below
I'm going to start going through the old comments on my YouTube videos, I have a lot of comments
to get back to
it's something that I want to do, something I should do, because I really appreciate you
taking the time to leave a comment
I do read all of them, it's just that after editing a YouTube video for so many hours,
the last thing I want to do is to be in front of a screen for even longer
but I do appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment
that's all for today
thank you so much for watching, once again
and see you in the next one!