Heading South
Finally on the move
Lives in a van. Bimbles with a camera. Often pointing his pixel box at scruff. Has been known to run long distances. Would consider cake as a form of payment.
Recovering.
Welcome
Hello, and welcome back to another week behind the lens of a full time traveller, photographer and writer. I hope this newsletter finds you well. I’m writing this with tired eyes after little sleep was had overnight. A huge storm hit the north coast of Spain yesterday, and to say it was a tad windy and rainy is a complete understatement.
Still, I think this part of Spain has gotten off lightly compared to Portugal , and some of the stories we are hearing from friends is heartbreaking. I only can hope that the worst of the weather is over and the communities down there can start to piece things back together.
Once again this week I’m sharing a few words from my journal as we drove south through France and into Spain. Of course, as well as the logistics of full time travel, and trying to get a good few miles under our belt, I was also trying to be as creative as possible.
And if videos are your thing then I’ll also share the vlog from the trip south.
Thanks for listening.
Extracts from a creative journal
29th Jan
We are finally on our way, and make our usual stopover in Montreuil, France. The weather is overcast, the mood somber. It’s always difficult saying goodbye, but I’m hoping the next 2 months will help bring some semblance of recovery to mind and body.
Continuing to enjoy playing with the iPhone and the Holga-esq recipe. A walk along the ramparts under a heavy sky, as I attempt to record a couple of extracts for an upcoming vlog. At the moment though, my hearts just not in it.
Crepuscular rays illuminate the horizon, and I look to capture their beauty with the GFX and 100-200. Never long enough mind you, and instead I’m happy to simply watch the play of light and shadows do their thing, before being snuffed out by distant clouds.
Back to the van as the last of the daylight slips under the cover of night.
2nd Feb
Whose idea was it to try and make a photography vlog documenting our journey south down through France? The weather horrid, the landscapes flat and rather uninspiring. Still, at least my decision to get south of Bordeaux on a Sunday pays off, and we are soon parked up a few hours from the Spanish border. Weather milder already. Not quite shorts wearing conditions, but not far off, at least for this Irishman.
A few moments of play with the iPhone.
Light in the distance catches the peaks of the French Pyrenees, and I attempt a shot with the 100-200, but by the time I’ve faffed about most of the best of it has disappeared. The peaks are mostly devoid of snow, and having spoken with another traveller the previous day, he informs me it’s been a similar case for weeks.
Wet and windy, and way too mild for winter.
News of terrible storms battering Portugal. A number of places we visited last year have suffered terribly. Ping a few friends in the area to check in and see how things are.
Heartbreaking.
I’m trying to ensure my photography tells a story, and not just chase unicorns and rainbows. This is where I’m enjoying using a couple of the more creative apps on the iPhone, including Dazz Cam and Hipstamtic. Within both, there are a myriad of filters and combinations one can use, and I especially like both the Holga and Half’n’Half filter on Dazz Cam. I can see the beginnings of a project with the Half and Half filter, with a few images already captured. As is quite often the case with project work, sometimes you can only see that it’s going to work (or not) after the first few images are made.
I’ll mostly reserve judgment on this for a while.
I think this is why it’s important to keep on making work, even when the conditions or the locations aren’t what you would call ideal. I always regret not taking the image, rather than taking it.
Just take the shot.
3rd Feb
Into San Sebastián for a few days. Love it here. Although again my photography over the coming week will be mostly urban. It’s not enough to completely quieten the darkness, but at least it feels good to be consistent and show up. Weather again is mixed, although the forecasters have clearly been reading from the wrong manuscript. The light for the last hour of the day is incredible, and I’m left once again cursing my decision to leave the main cameras back in the van. Still, I use the time wisely and search out little pockets of light. I’m especially taken by the juxtaposition of the Basilica de Santa Maria del Coro and a lady going about her daily chores.
A slow meander along the front as the last of the light dances on the surface of the water, before exploring the now empty cobbled streets, tourists long since gone, only their shadows left behind.
Tomorrow we move on … to where, who knows .. But that, as always, will be a story for next time …
Vlog
If you enjoyed the words above then perhaps you would like to catch up with my latest vlog below.
The week that was (15th - 21st Feb)
A few images from this particular week down through the years.
Other corners of the inter webs you can find me.
The X100 Diaries
My Portfolio
Bimbles magazine
Thanks so much for allowing me a few moments of your time. I hope you have enjoyed my words and images, and if so a quick share amongst your own community will help spread the word.
And if you really enjoyed it you can even consider throwing a few pennies into the tips jar. It helps most with diesel costs for the van to keep me on the road making images.
Until next time .. Happy Pixels …
I watched a bit of your vlog. I was more than a bit surprised to notice that some of what I perceived to be still images are actually video. Which got me thinking about how I never think to make a moving image. (I was about to add, when a still image will suffice, but on reflection I almost never make a moving image. Although I did video someone in an inflatable cow costume on skis going off a big jump into an air bag last Monday. But that was an exception.)
What is your thought process that fires the impulse to make a video of a nearly static scene?