Portugal, in Monochrome

[boomguy57]

Very nice images. I'm surprised that these photos are from a short two week stay in Portugal. Do you mind if I ask how many photographs you took on the trip in total?

I took 36 rolls of film, and a few hundred with my X100. I see you are in Portugal as well?

 

[Nando]

Unfortunately, I'm not in Portugal currently. I live in Canada but have a condo in Coimbra. I try to go Portugal as much as possible. The last time I was there, I shot approximately 70 rolls during a 7-week stay.

 

[David_Manning]

Terrific, Trev...very well seen.

It's hard to tell from the sample book images, but SilverEfex Pro 2 will take any digital stuff and help it blend with the film stuff. From where I sit, though, the images look good.

 

[boomguy57]

I enjoyed the book. I like the shadow play in many of the photos, and I also enjoyed a number of the juxtapositions of photos on facing pages. I also liked the fact that the collection was not entirely street photography; that you included some urban landscape and detail shots. My main criticism (which I think may be partially what MFogiel noted) is that a number of photos could have been taken in any southern European country in March; they didn't capture or reflect a sense of place that's particularly or uniquely Portugal. This may argue for editing the selection down further, so that the unifying theme of the collection is more clearly reflected in the photos.

Thanks for the kind words; I liked mixing the visual elements as well. I think that it is less boring than simply street photography OR urban landscapes.

How to express Portugal uniquely? It is in many ways similar to other places I have been (Italy, France) in southern Europe. Part of this would be to train my eye or spend more time in Portugal (it was my first ever trip there). As I said at the outset--I'm relatively new to photography.

 

[boomguy57]

Terrific, Trev...very well seen.

It's hard to tell from the sample book images, but SilverEfex Pro 2 will take any digital stuff and help it blend with the film stuff. From where I sit, though, the images look good.

Thanks, David. I really enjoy the process of making books. I also find that when I go on a trip knowing that I will make a book, I think about it while I shoot and try to take shots with the book in mind. I like the proces of making books of my photos, and I like that my shots are off my hard drive. It's almost like printing your photos, minus the dark room.

Thanks again for the nice compliment.

 

[boomguy57]

The images you picked for the book are excellent.
Keep on making books.

Edit: I just noticed that you replaced the cover. I like the single man with shadows and door better.

BTW--I checked out your books. Nice work!

 

[boomguy57]

Question: has anyone actually sold books through Blurb?

I have gotten a good amount of positive feedback, and I'd like to think it's genuine And yet, to date, I have sold one book. To myself. I know my work may not be everyone's cup of tea, or it may just be that it costs too much (?), or perhaps folks just don't buy photography books as much as I'd like to think they do.

I make it a point to buy books pretty regularly from fellow photographers, both amateur and pro, whose work I enjoy--but I can't seem to get any love. Are there secrets that I just don't know? Am I that guy who doesn't realize his work sucks, and everyone who has given positive feedback has just been patronizingly insincere?

I really, really don't want to be the guy who doesn't realize that his work isn't any good, and people who are just trying not to hurt my feelings end up convincing me to put my work out there only to have it widely panned. But I have to say, I just feel...disappointed. I put a lot of time and work into the most recent book of black and white images from Portugal; I finally feel like I have work that is good enough to even post for general sale on Blurb. I am my own harshest critic, but I am proud of the book. Sure, it could be better. But not a single person has liked it enough to buy one? (And it has gotten plenty of traffic: a retweet from the Fuji guys and some other Internet sensations drove up the traffic.)

Maybe I don't have a think enough skin for this. I am not trying to get rich, but if even a few people had seen fit to put their money down, it would have been a big boost. It's not over-priced--from what I can tell based on similar books on Blurb and elsewhere--and Blurb gets most of the money (I didn't mark it up much--like I said, it's not about the money).

Advice?

 

[Richard G]

Lovely work. I liked a lot of the contre jour shots and the night shots. That night shot of the long street with the pedestrians either side is beautiful. The aquarium crowd with the shark is great.

I agree with the comments about consistency. I like the cover, which works well as a cover image and accommodates the title well, but the image doesn't say Portugal. Maybe the title should be Against the Sun and ignore that this is Portugal in the first place. There are still a few shots I'd drop. A double page with a couple on the bridge on the right, has opposite on the left a converging lines overhead wires no-person street shot which could be dropped. Some of the street shots too could be dropped - a few of the less impressive ones only detract from the more impressive ones.

 

[boomguy57]

Lovely work. I liked a lot of the contre jour shots and the night shots. That night shot of the long street with the pedestrians either side is beautiful. The aquarium crowd with the shark is great.

I agree with the comments about consistency. I like the cover, which works well as a cover image and accommodates the title well, but the image doesn't say Portugal. Maybe the title should be Against the Sun and ignore that this is Portugal in the first place. There are still a few shots I'd drop. A double page with a couple on the bridge on the right, has opposite on the left a converging lines overhead wires no-person street shot which could be dropped. Some of the street shots too could be dropped - a few of the less impressive ones only detract from the more impressive ones.

Thanks. I appreciate honest, thoughtful, and specific critiques. Ultimately it's about getting better and improving my craft, but it's also nice to hear when things I'm doing work. We all like confirmation, and it helps to know that I'm not that guy who doesn't realize his work is terrible 😱

 

[freax]

Hi. I would reduce the photos to the best ones and maybe organize them by city. Don't know about the last one.

Greetings from Portugal.