Pixiq

Recently I had to scout a location I use to do workshops and in the brief period there I came out with some nice shots. Just because I was there to SEE, not to LOOK.

All these years photographing have teached me one thing: there is really a difference between looking and seeing. It’s an interesting feeling when I think that back in the eighties I was responsible for the launch of a newspaper weekly supplement about photography called LOOK (Olhar in Portuguese) and that now, if I could go back and do it all again I would call it… SEE.

The images published with this article are an example of that. They’re done while scouting a place on the Atlantic Coast of Sintra, in Portugal, close to the most western point in European mainland, Cabo da Roca, a place where the Atlantis myth lingers on.

I lead some workshops in the area that use the low tide to visit the… bottom of the sea. The water goes from over two meters high to as low as 30 centimetres, less sometimes, so one is allowed to go to places that are usually not seen. And that are different each time you go there.

The coastline is a frontier between two worlds and it is that aspect I like to show people participating in those workshops. For the last workshop, some days ago, and because we had to be there at the low tide hours but also to use the best light we could get, we met at 5 a.m. and after one hour travelling we we’re at our destination, in time to see the day begin and the tide going to it’s lowest point before the influence of the Full Moon made it go the other way.

It was a fantastic day for everybody, but that’s the end of the story. These pictures were taken on the day before and they do not point directly at the sea bottom but at the area just around, that border region that is also important to understand the rest. These images are part of a group that I did on a couple of hours just checking that I everything was alright for the next day trip. When I emailed the pictures to the participants in the workshop, the same afternoon after having taken them, they were surprised that I had taken all the four photos in a couple of hours and that they looked so good.

Well, I guess that has an explanation: I was SEEING, not LOOKING. And that is the difference. And something I always try to explain people in my workshops. It does not matter much which camera you use, its more if you can really SEE things around you.

These images are just a show of my usual recipes in terms of photographing, using light, color, the relation between subject and background, a.s.o. It seems very easy to me but it still puzzles people when I try to explain them the tricks of the trade. Because all this is like a magician’s box of tricks that you use over and over, adapting it to each new situation.

Images like the lizard don’t give you many options, you’ve to be quick. I decided to not frame the animal against the rocks it was perched on, but rather choose a position that would place part of him against the blue sky, so enhancing his colors. It’s easy once you SEE all the possibilites and act before the animal goes away.

For the water reflection you do have all the time in the world (well, a lot…), so you have to sit and watch the patterns on the water and rocks, see (SEE?) how the Sun plays its part and then shoot some frames expecting to get some nice patterns. It’s a more contemplative approach and one where you really have to SEE.

The flower and plant images are also exploring different planes of focus, with weed out of focus in the front planes, before the flower that is the main subject, used to create a dreamy aspect to the image. For the plant I use some of the same technique and a in focus/out of focus approach on the two plants framed. I use a lot these techniques as I feel they really give the best results for many pictures of the floral world. Again, it’s easy to do once you know well the lens you’re using – this is all done with my trusty Canon EF 100-400mm – and you SEE. What brings us to the very beginning of this text. You really have to start SEEING and not just LOOKING. Your photography will be better.