Blackbirds and Cats - A Story From the 2020 Pandemic Lockdown

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Being a people/lifestyle photographer, this seems a bit off brand and off topic, but during the first pandemic lockdown in Lisbon, back in 2020, I had nothing better to do, so I took an interest in a family of blackbirds that nested in a treetop near my window.

My two cats also took a (very keen) interest in them... so much so that the male blackbird had to go into battle mode and chased them away from the balcony every time he saw them!

I now live in a different location, far from that neighbourhood, and yet my cats are always on high alert every time they hear a blackbird sing.

The BODY Project - Elora

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Music: Start The Clock — Ivy Lab

The BODY Project is a way of exploring visually what I have always admired — people who can express themselves with their body. It sprouted spontaneously in front of my camera and has grown with every photo shoot.

This wasn't the first time I've photographed Elora (@eloraaaah) — she's actually quite popular on my Instagram feed.

She has been visiting Lisbon regularly over the past few years for her own dance projects and we've gotten together several times to shoot just for kicks.

Maybe that familiarity was what made this shoot so special (or maybe it was just because she is such an amazing dancer!) In any case, what we planned as a "1 hour shoot in the studio" turned into a full day of making pictures and even shooting some footage.

This was a collaboration in the truest sense of the word — not just the cliché used on social media — where both of us contributed with our best efforts and energy to make art for the sake of art.

The Color Blue

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"What's your favorite color?" No hesitation: Blue.

To me, water and sky are freedom and adventure, perhaps that's why blue is always beautiful.

I went looking for blue in the pictures I'm most proud of and found it in plenty of them.

Landscape photo of a pebble beach with clear blue water in Ibiza
Artistic portraits of female triathlon athlete in swimming pool
Lifestyle photo of CrossFit athlete training outdoors

Studio Test Shoot

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There is a special kind of creative freedom in a test shoot. And that is both amazing and scary: "what do I do?..."

"Relax, this is a chance to pull one of those ideas out of the drawer and finally make it come to life!" — That's what I said to myself a few days before this shoot.

I'd been wanting to play with color gels and this was the perfect opportunity.

My challenge was to get as close to the final result as possible, in terms of color, in the studio and I think I managed that (check out the before & after of one of the images — the one on the left is straight out of the camera).

So on the day of the shoot I set out to make some nice portraits with some interesting colors, but I got a lot more than that. My beautiful model Funmi (@thefunmiofficial) delivered character, emotion and flow, breathing life into every picture!

A portrait is truly a collective endeavor — I can only get so far from my end of the camera.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Studio Lighting or Natural Light?

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I never understood the "Studio Photographer vs Natural Light Photographer" debate. There, I've said it!

Light is light. It doesn't matter if it's coming from a bulb in our living room or from a giant incandescent sphere, 150 000 000 km away (our beautiful Sun). In photography what matters is how we use it. And, as any cinematographer will tell to you, emulating natural light it's just a matter of budget.

In the studio, we have a level of control that's impossible outside — I can shoot for 8 hours straight and have exactly the same beautiful light in the first and the last picture.

Outdoors, if we pick the right time of day and know how to work with the available conditions, we are rewarded with the most amazing ambient light. And we have the option to use it "as is" or modify it to our taste with reflectors, artificial lights, flags, etc. But for a limited time. The sun waits for no one.

So, which is better?... Studio light or natural light? The annoying answer is, of course, "it depends"!

As a photographer, I stand firmly on both camps. If I'm seeking to make an environmental portrait, where the surroundings are an important part of the image, I will probably go with natural light. If I need the consistency that only studio lighting can provide, artificial light it is.

These are two of my favorite portraits to date, one was shot in the studio with strobes, the other outdoors with 100% natural light.

The first one was not meant to look like it was shot outside. It was supposed to have a strong, contrasty, almost stage-like lighting, to enhance the idea of “achievement”.

The second one was a matter of opportunity. I was actually waiting for the perfect sunset light on the opposite side of the building, so with a few minutes to spare we made some pictures in a nice shaded area. And I'm so glad we did!

 

Just as a side note, digital post-production also plays an important role in my photography, but that's a whole other discussion. Anyway, here are the before & after of these two portraits.

Creative Headshots for Veterinary Clinic

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When Centro Veterinário de Alverca (CVA) hired me, the job was to update all the staff pictures for their website. You know, that nice professional headshot that everyone should have. But I've met more than a few people who work in animal health and they are a fun bunch, so I suggested making a fun picture to go along with the standard one and — lucky me — the client said yes.

Now all I had to do was get everyone to play along...

I admit I was expecting some resistance because people were in the middle of their work day and not everyone loves having their picture made, let alone having to collaborate with some photographer's crazy idea of a creative portrait. But to my surprise, the large majority welcomed the challenge and together we came up with a photography concept that was a caricature somehow related to their specific role at the clinic.

Of course some cheated and just got a cute pet to pose with them!

Six Years Into My CrossFit Photography Journey

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Female athlete, executing a back squat with barbell during a CrossFit WOD
 

This is one of my very first CrossFit photos (still one of my favorites), taken in the distant year of 2015 at the Ironbox (today IronBox CrossFit Jamor).

It launched my project Life In a Box, that recently received an Honourable Mention at the IPA (International Photography Awards).

More importantly, it sparked my passion for CrossFit, as a photography subject and sports discipline.

I began practicing about a year after I took this photo and today CrossFit is an important part of my life. I can even go as far as saying that it is part of me,  given the number of marks it has left on my body!😄

I found what I had long been looking for: a broad and complete training system that would serve as a base for my sports activities (Climbing, Aikido, Windsurf...) and for my health in general. Training alone always bored me and the Health Club's "Body Stuff" (Body Pump, Body Balance, Cycle, Spartans...), though intense, seemed incomplete.

With CrossFit, I felt that, for the first time, I had a balanced and complete training programme, full of new skills to learn (olympic weightlifting was and still is one of my biggest challenges). Moreover, I discovered that which makes CrossFit so unique: the Community. All the people who get together everyday for a dose of "joyful suffering". Who truly support each other, with healthy competitiveness, cheering you on, or just giving you an exhausted fist bump at the end of a workout.

CrossFit Alpha Den in now my second home. This box is the paradigm of high quality training in a safe and friendly environment. I can't give them enough praise, they hugely contribute to my physical and mental sanity, especially during this never ending pandemic.

It builds top notch athletes, but more than anything, it is a place of inclusion and solidarity.

Female athlete, executing a back squat with barbell during a CrossFit WOD

Back to the photo, I thought it would be interesting to also display the "out of camera" version, with no post-production, as a way of showing that the photographic process need not end with what we see, but rather with what we want to see.

Ironman 70.3 Cascais 2019 - Swim

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Sep 29th 2019, Cascais Bay. At 6:50 AM the first light begins to show in the horizon and every photographer knows what that means: less than 30 minutes to make pictures that are unrepeatable at any other time of the day. These are the images at the edge of the light, where everything seems imbued with a serene and abstract quality. The quiet before the storm which, in this case, will be the burst of energy of the sunrise combined with the takeoff of hundreds of swimmers.

Even the start of the small groups of pro athletes, before the sunrise, can look pictorial and mysterious. But everything changes after the sun climbs over the horizon. Wave after wave of triathletes, the water is filled with arms and heads, and the serpent of swimmers travels through the bay. The magic that precedes the start of this Ironman Triathlon will only be back next year.

What Does Pain Look Like?

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I have to be honest. I’ve been photographing crossfitters for some time now and I never understood why they dropped on the floor as soon as a workout finished.

A few days ago I was introduced to a lovely benchmark exercise on the assault bike, with the suggestive nickname "Pain Test". It consists of going as fast as possible for 3 min, for max Kcal. Needless to say that, despite my ridiculous result, as soon as I dismounted I felt like I was going to collapse and had to sit down for a while!

In CrossFit (and interval training in general), the pain is proportional to the intensity and the intensity is the key to progression. Hence the saying “no pain, no gain”!

Photographically, I’ve always been drawn to the intensity of CrossFit because it adds a lot of drama to the shots. And I find this double journey of shooting and experiencing it more interesting every day!

The CrossFit Games Open - Cátia

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Last, but certainly not least, Cátia.

I’m not sure what best characterizes her, a heart of gold or a will of steel, but if you’re one of us who can call her a friend, you have one more thing to be grateful of.

(Also, she looks great in front of the camera, but that’s just an extra.)

Workout 19.5

33-27-21-15-9 reps for time of:

65-lb. thrusters, Chest-to-bar pull-ups

Time cap: 20 minutes

I did my own little workout during this shoot, climbing up and down a stepladder, hauling a 70-200 mm on a Canon 5D Mk IV.

Not that I wanted to punish myself, but in order to "clean up” the background I had to get extreme angles, from above and from below.

The CrossFit Games Open 2019 - Andreia

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Andreia is the next one up in my photo series of athletes in the CrossFit Games Open 2019, at AlphaDen CrossFit.

I’m a big fan of this coach's classes! Her "tough love" both in class and in competition (took several no reps from her during the Open!) remind me that training is not just the act of moving the body, but setting and meeting goals, big or small.

And because there’s nothing like teaching by example, when competing she shows that focus, resolve and excellence are not words, but actions.

Specifically, these photos show a wod (workout of the day) where the athletes had to complete the following list of exercises, as fast as possible (up to 10 min):

60 m dumbbell overhead lunge, 50 dumbbell box step-ups, 50 strict handstand push-ups, 60 m handstand walk

The CrossFit Games Open 2019 - Coach T

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“What was that?!..."

“That”, was Tiago going by, leaving everyone behind!

Tiago Lousa (Coach T) is an absolute machine when it comes to endurance and speed wods. He is also the engine behind Alpha Den CrossFit, having co-founded it almost 3 years ago and leading it by showing what a true athlete should be.

Over the years, I’ve developed my photography skills just by trying to keep up with him. After “321 GO!” I know there will be no mercy, as he devours the reps, going relentlessly from one exercise to the other, until the wod is done. You blink, you missed it!

The CrossFit Games Open 2019 - Phelps

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The CrossFit Games Open 2019 is over (the first one that is, because exceptionally there is going to be another later on this year, but that’s not why I’m writing this).

I had the opportunity to shoot a lot of pictures at CrossFit Alpha Den (when I wasn’t doing the wods myself) and ended up with a few small series that I’m really happy with, showcasing athletes that I truly admire. Like my dear friend Nuno “Phelps”, who's the very definition of a CrossFit athlete - focused and competitive, but always ready to support everyone around him.

Nuno is one of the most experienced crossfitters at the box, and a long time athlete before that, with a wealth of knowledge that he is always happy to share.

Finding Order in Chaos

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There are few things I enjoy more than going to a sports event with my camera in hand, free to capture whatever I like.

And although I can never turn away from a classic action shot, I also find myself looking for a more abstract type of scene, where the athlete, never ceasing to be the key element, shares some of his/her spotlight with other aspects of the image, like the landscape and the equipment.

While organising my recent photos from Crossfit and OCR (Obstacle Course Racing) competitions, I also found that by grouping certain images the resulting sets (of 3 photos) became much more interesting than the individual photos.
This is common practice in the editorial world, but nonetheless fascinating. It’s like finding order in chaos.

 

Wild Challenge Cascais 2016 - Obstacle Course Racing

 

Wild Challenge Cascais 2016 - Obstacle Course Racing

 

Wild Challenge Cascais 2016 - Obstacle Course Racing

 

Loures Urban Obstacles 2016 - Obstacle Course Racing

 

Wild Challenge Cascais 2016 - Obstacle Course Racing

 

Manz Cross Games 2016 - CrossFit

 

Manz Cross Games 2016 - CrossFit

Lifestyle, Travel & Photography

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One of the upsides of being a people photographer, is that you get to meet very interesting people, like Karl-Heinz Limberg, who I photographed last year at the stunning Palácio Belmonte, in Lisbon.
His interest in travel, fitness and great atitude towards life in general made us friends on the spot!

He recently featured an interview with me in his lifestyle blog, talking about photography and some of the life decisions that lead me to becoming a professional photographer.
If you are at all interested in lifestyle, fitness and travel, you should definitely check out what he is up to.

 

        Karl-Heinz Limberg at Palacio Belmonte

Incredibly Sweet Photography

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(Forgive the pun, couldn’t resist it…)

No Ponto (Portuguese expression meaning something like “just right”) is a project that aims to thoroughly document Portuguese confectionery, and Cristina Castro, the mastermind behind the project, invited me to make the images of the individual sweets that will be published in a book series.
For more than a year now, we have been gathering and photographing Portugal's sweets, which will be distributed throughout several books and this year the very first one comes out: sweets from Northern Portugal.

Besides the books, the project lives online, with a blog - On The Road - that describes the travels and a number of videos with interviews on the website No Ponto and Youtube channel. You can also follow this adventure on the Facebook and Instagram accounts.

I can hardly wait to see and share the final results, but meanwhile, here is a sneak peek...

 

Clarinhas de Fão - Esposende, Portugal

Clarinhas de Fão - Esposende, Portugal

Melhor Bolo de Chocolate do Ribatejo, Portugal

Melhor Bolo de Chocolate do Ribatejo, Portugal

 
Valencianos - Valença do Minho, Portugal

Valencianos - Valença do Minho, Portugal

Especialidades Clautrais - Santo Tirso, Portugal

Especialidades Clautrais - Santo Tirso, Portugal

 
Foguetes - Amarante, Portugal

Foguetes - Amarante, Portugal

 
Amores de Viana - Viana do Castelo, Portugal

Amores de Viana - Viana do Castelo, Portugal

Rochedos - Alfândega da Fé, Portugal

Rochedos - Alfândega da Fé, Portugal

 
Rebuçados da Régua - Peso da Régua, Portugal

Rebuçados da Régua - Peso da Régua, Portugal