Happy New Year from Scotland

We have had limited access to the internet, but I wanted to wish you all a fantastic new year 2010 full of wonderful moments and personal satisfactions. And of course, great light and experiences out there in Nature! Thanks for all of you that have followed my work and read my humble first year of photographic blog. You are really a great bunch of guys and ladies. Thank you all! 

This image was taken a few days ago while in Rannoch Moor. The exceptional frost and cold conditions gave quite a play of fantastic possibilities to come with a “different” look to this place. With temperatures of minus 14 C, with frost and ice all around, these two weeks are being a real pleasure for the eyes (slightly less for our toes and fingers).  Much more to come, this place has really hooked us and we are already thinking on coming back soon!!

Happy New Year 2010 to all of you!!

Rafael

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Leaving for the Highlands

Tomorrow we will be leaving for a couple of weeks in the Scottish Highlands. One week in the area of Glencoe and another in the area of Skye. It has been a very long time since I wanted to visit these mighty northern lands, and now it is the moment. We chose winter for several reasons. Time might be miserable (for picnics), snow and ice might give a very nice touch to the lochs and rivers and we might have the chance of taking images of these quite photographed places with a different touch to them. Of course, we also risk being enclosed for a couple of weeks in our cottage waiting for incessant rain or snow to stop. Anyway, we will see. I have done some research of the area already, and have some ideas of the images I would like to have. Now, it is time to relax and enjoy doing the thing I like the most: shooting.

I have not yet arrived there, and I already think this is going to be just the beginning of a very long friendship with the scottish highlands :)

Enjoy Christmas and see you next year! ;-)

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5 times finalist at Travel Photographer of the Year 2009

The results are official. I have had five portfolios (20 images in total) within the top finalists of the contest Travel Photographer of the Year. This contest is regarded as the “Oscars” of travel photography. Unfortunately, I did not get to the final prizes this year, but taking into account the huge amount of images submitted and the number of outstanding photographers taking a chance, I see this as a real achievement! Take a look at www.tpoty.com to see the winning images!

Thanks for reading and great light to you all ;-)

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Photo of the Week: Happy Christmas!!

With this weeks image I wanted to wish you all Happy Christmas!! I know I am doing it with some days in advance, but next saturday we will be leaving for a couple of weeks in Scotland, in places where I doubt we will have access to the internet!

I wish you all great days with your loved ones, a gorgeous ending of the 2009 year and a new year 2010 full of personal fulfilments…and great images! Keep shooting and take care! ;-)

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Photo of the Week: Winter is here

Even if the last month of november has been one of the hottest in record for the last 20 years, it seems that winter has well arrived in some parts of Europe. Here in Switzerland snow has covered a sizeable part of the country, and autumn is nothing but a souvenir now. Winter is here, and with it a sheer amount of photographic opportunities and bonuses for those who dare to go out there and brave the cold temperatures.

Winter brings snow, and this is quite an amazing element when it comes to photography indeed. It is a natural huge reflector that fills the shadows and acts as a giant flash, but it also minimizes the landscape to its bare elements, simplifying the scenes and highlighting the graphic character of those simplified elements. It creates in fact a huge white canvas where the photographer can isolate single elements that seem to be sketched by an invisible artist. Winter is also time for low angle sun. As we approach the winter solstice, the sun even at its zenith does not reach angles of more than 30°. That gives you a soft and colourful directional light even at noon, making the contrast ok for shooting at all times during the day. And then, you have the possibility of catching sunrises and sunsets at decent hours, without the need of scotching the alarm clock to your ears before you go to sleep.

The image of this week is one of those opportunities than winter can bring us. It reflects the end of autumn and the arrival of winter, that period of time when life just stops for a while waiting for warmer conditions to be resumed. A totally overcast sky gave for this shot that soft light that reduces the contrast and maximizes the detail and colour. I also overexposed slightly so the snow behind the flower creates a totally blank and washed out white canvas that leaves the flower floating in the space. The only hint that reflects the earth-bound character of this plant is the shade slightly bluish that is created in the place where the stems pierce the snowy blanket. The light reflected by the snow fills in the shades and also backlights the translucent dried petals of the flower, giving a feeling of glow to it.

Thanks for reading and great light to you all.

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