Just Passing Clouds

29/04/2021

Residential Photography Workshop Weekends with and 25th-27th June “Location Portrait Photography”.



Having a whole month to work in Cuba the first thing I did for a week was to stop myself running around la Havana snapping cars and crumbling walls. To get a sense of a place and its people, to “acclimatise”, I like to sit and talk to people in public places first.

Soon I felt the urge of the youth, probably like all youth around the world, to move on from the past. Definitely more in Cuba.

Like all the stereotypes on Cuban culture, even with the country’s decades of political stagnation, the youth was well into their reggaeton leaving trova, rumba, son and salsa for tourists.

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with and ⁠
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28/04/2021

Photography workshops with and ⁠

"Orisel" by Pedro Alvarez

The restraints of a less powerful flash, than my usual big battery packs, made me have to get much closer to the subjects, to build a rapport and to gain their trust in order to achieve the sense of intimacy once I saw before introducing myself.
Equipment undoubtedly determines certain approaches to your practice, however certain limitations shouldn’t be a hindrance to creativity.

Gracias Yunta!




with and

27/04/2021

Photography workshops with and ⁠

"Orisel" by Pedro Alvarez

Having worked for years with large and/or medium format cameras and heavy lighting it was really refreshing to work within the constraint of very limited equipment in a month trip to Cuba. The government “highly discourages” professional photographers to document the country, so there is not bad press on their ruling …….
With that in mind I took the chance to “travel light” for once. A DSLR body, a pancake lens and a speedlight flash. Instead of organising each shoot, controlling each set up with lighting I was left a bit to serendipity while I was meeting and being introduced to people and places. So I presume it was an exercise on constant location scouting and casting.



with and

24/04/2021

Fantastic competition opportunity.

Philip-Lorca DiCorcia as one of the judges no less!

A prestigious jury, $24000 in cash prizes and 4 exhibitions in New York, Milan, London and Arles Photo festival.

22/04/2021

Photography workshops with and ⁠
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Earth Day
geothermal power plant, Iceland by Pedro Alvarez⁠
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"Just passing clouds" it was our motto when Phil Fisk and myself started to think about our next workshop in June about location portraiture. A workshop on resilience, resourcefulness and creativity while shooting portraits on location whatever the weather brings.
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with and ⁠
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22/04/2021

Photography workshops with and ⁠
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Earth Day,
Geysir, Iceland by Pedro Alvarez⁠
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with and ⁠
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22/04/2021

Photography workshops with and ⁠
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Earth Day, food for thought⁠
Petrochemical plant by Pedro Alvarez⁠
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with and ⁠
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20/04/2021

Faced with restrictions on doing projects indoors I wanted to photograph neighbours and friends for a project on touch. Legally it had to be people in bubbles in order for them to have any intimacy. I’m lucky enough to have a garden and was able to erect a large black drape as a tent so I could then control the daylight. Using white polystyrene boards I could bounce what little light there was and had a couple of mirrors to create subtle highlights. I wanted the faces abs hands to be the centre of attention. I started in October. Temperatures were sometimes freezing and that helped with the intimacy! I had references at the back of mind but just wanted to ask them to hold each other in ways they probably hadn’t before. Awkwardness and giggles were plenty but eventually all the sitters relaxed into a good place. 3 posts of 2 to follow. www.justpassingclouds.com dedicated to sharing about the processes and techniques in portrait photography and lighting. Workshops this Summer 2021

07/04/2021

Photography workshops with and ⁠
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⁠"Last days of summer" by Pedro Alvarez⁠
Brockwell Park⁠
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