Eduardo Rubiano
How can you go beyond taking simple snapshots and instead make eloquent images of this beautiful city?
“Santa Fe presents one of the most photogenic urban and natural environments I’ve encountered,” says new resident Eduardo Rubiano, a former National Geographic picture editor who now works as a photojournalist. “Because of the special light at this altitude, colors remain intense and true for great distances, enhancing the place’s naturally contrasting color palatte of warm desert tones and cool blue skies. The solid-colored walls combined with winter sunlight and broad horizons produce long, stark shadows that enhance the local visual characteristics.”
Put the camera aside and take it all in.
“Sit in silence. Observe. It’s hard to capture the essence of a place if you’re constantly looking through your camera.” Sometimes simply standing on a square foot of ground in which you’ve never stood before is enough to change how you see something.”
Look for relationships.
“One of the best ways to capture the essence of a place is to seek out a location that is visually and spatially interesting and observe its surroundings. Look for shapes or lines that are repeated, like long shadows that echo diagonal lines in the street or power lines above.”
Seek contrasting colors and textures.
Set a textured adobe wall against a smooth blue sky, for example.
Change your point of view.
“Squat down and photograph upward, or get up high. Shooting from an unusual perspective makes for much more interesting images.”
Don’t always place the main subject in the center of the frame.
For more natural-looking photos, have your subject walk toward you or interact with their surroundings while you take a few pictures.
Incorporate reflections.
Make a photograph of an important location, like a church or a statue, more interesting by photographing its reflection. Try a body of water, a car mirror or storefront window.
Add objects in the foreground to enhance photos of landscapes.
“If you’re shooting the mountains in the distance, place a nearby element like a flower or part of a cactus in your frame, creating an interesting sense of scale.”
Create a miniseries of images.
Rather than taking a single stand-alone snapshot of the Plaza, make a group of images that depicts various aspects of the place.
For locals, get outside your comfort zone.
“Photographing in one’s hometown is never easy; the eyes become numb from seeing the same thing everyday.
