Happy new year!!

Another year gone by and the shutter count passed the 25ooo mark. I took way too many pictures last year but, at the same time, I had tons of fun. The passion for photography is alive and kicking hard, the available time on the other hand is quite limited.

Thinking back I remember great moments shooting with friends; peaceful moments just watching the light; the tension of getting the shot during some assignments; the fun of trying new toys; the discovery of learning new things and many many more.

The tradition says it is mandatory to make new years resolutions. So here are my photo related ones:

- To learn more, specially about light.
- To take more risks, in composing and lighting.
- To share more, on the blog and in the web.

To wrap up here is one photo taken during the Christmas vacation and that is probably my favourite of the year, or one of them at least. It was taken in the Albufera in Valencia, Spain. It is a magical place to watch the sunrise and sunset, although I have never managed to wake up for sunrise.

As with many of the touristic and famous places it is packed with photographers, which is not bad. But I was surprised to say the least. There are many possible shots in just one place, you just need to walk 30 meters. But the people came, set their tripods, put their wide angles, their filters and started firing away. They stayed 20 minutes in the same position and then they left.

I will make a blog entry with the shots of the day soon but until then enjoy the picture and imagine a calm sunset, with no wind, 16 degrees, a beautifull light and your favourite music.




Click on the picture to see it bigger, it gains a lot.

At the park

Lots of work to do and too little energy floating around.

I have a huge backlog from photos I have taken lately but not started to edit. I feel that I have no energy left at the moment and the inspiration seems to be gone also. I have a few good photos in the pipe but I don't know where to go with them in post processing. I hope the Christmas vacation will let me charge the batteries and I will start the year full of whatever it is that brings the muse back.

Meanwhile here are a couple of pictures from the park. These 2 are the energy vampires that have us walking like zombis.

I am still getting used to the 70-200. It is a great lens but it will take a while to master it. I have been shooting full open but it is a risky business with moving targets, they are faster than an F1 car. We will have to go to the park more often and keep practicing.










PS: As you probably have noticed I am making some changes to the Blog appearance. The ultimate goal is to integrate it with the Web (which also will change soon), but I am afraid it will take some time.

Underwater again

I am back from my trip to the Red Sea and I managed to bring back a couple of nice images. My external flash broke before the first dive, I had tested at home and was behaving extrage but still working, and I had to use the camera one.

Again, as last year, the diving conditions were great. The water was warm, 27 degrees, the visibility was great. This time the trip was focused on visiting some sunken ships, most of them quite famous dives.

When I take underwater photographs I use the same approach as on the surface, focus on composition, wait for the perfect moment, use the natural light and combine it with the flash... One of the advantages is that you can shoot at very low speeds, since the water helps to estabilize and avoid sudden camera movements and shake.

Here are some images I managed to process, only fishes today. I will process some from the ships in the next days. I hope you enjoy them.

Lifestyle portraits in Düsseldorf, Kerstin & Josie

A few weeks ago my neighbour contacted me because she wanted a few portraits of her and her daughter taken. She wanted to make a photobook for her husband's birthday, which is today. She wanted something natural not too posed and a few close ups so we arranged to meet at the park close to our house.

A few days later the light was perfect and I called her to see if she had time. I like my pictures to convey the emotions of the subject. My idea was to let them play together and have fun. I wanted to capture the moments as they happened.

I needed them to relax and we started the session with some silly pictures, them jumping together, walking along the path... Josie even helped me to take some photos of her mother. After 10-15 minutes they were totally comfortable with the camera and I had already a couple of keepers. Then I was able to come closer and focus on the faces. Once the mandatory portraits were taken we just strolled around, they played, sat together on the grass... I just kept shooting directing them just minorly to make them look towards the light or move to a better background.

We had all a good time and enjoyed the shooting and they were as happy with the photos as I was. The father has seen them today when he got his present and loved them. A satisfied customer and a happy photographer.

Here are a few images from the shooting. Enjoy!

88 years

I love to take portraits, someone once even called me a good portraitist, but this one is one very special.

We were celebrating the 88th birthday of my grandpa and he was looking at me, so serene that I could only run and grab the camera to capture taht look. The light was perfect and I managed to take a couple of portraits focusing on his eyes. I had my new toy "Canon 70-200 2.8 L IS II" which allowed me to have a shallow depth of field and isolate them. How many things those eyes have seen and lived!!



As usual, click on the image to see it bigger.