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Gonzalo Martín
@gongracia
Best of the week 38 at #nomadict 2021
Photography has always had a space in my life, starting with the influence of my grandfather who was a photographer for the King of Spain and won several photography awards worldwide. I think my whole childhood was surrounded by pictures, although it was at the age of 16 that I first picked up a camera and began to photograph my brother’s soccer games.
This interest turned into something very serious when I had to create a company for my final degree project at university. I decided to create a company in digital marketing and communication and that was the starting point of developing myself in the field of photography and video. I liked Finance/Economy, but without a doubt orienting myself to this other field has been the best decision of my life.
The knowledge obtained in my studies did help me develop in the photography field though. Having a solid understanding of Finance and having worked in banks/consulting firms I think has helped me to know how to identify customer needs and then cover them, to make investments in the best possible way, as well as to manage accounts and guide the company with great prospects for the future.
It was not only my interest in photography that made me switch direction – but travel also had a huge influence there. I had the great luck of finding a group of friends during my years of university with whom to travel the world and to do the crazy things that we still do today. I think that living in Spain and having traveled here so much when I was a child made me rather unappreciative of how beautiful my country is. It was just “normal”.
"I believe that as a result of the pandemic, all Spaniards have discovered a little more the greatness of Spain and its beautiful landscapes that have nothing to envy those of the most precious destinations."
The north of Spain surprised me with its landscapes when I visited the area of Lugo (Galicia) relatively recently and Navia (Asturias) before summer, where we were surfing and climbing and creating footage. In the South, I was really surprised by Calpe (Alicante), on our last trip. There are wonderful caves, rock formations, and landscapes.
"At the age of 25, I also started to discover the underwater world of Spain."
My parents have always dived when they were young and then I finally decided to enter the world of freediving and scuba diving myself too.
The diving courses were incredible, from the first moment the instructors were already able to see my passion and qualities underwater. Imagine the best feeling in the world – this was the feeling I had when diving for the first time. I always say that for me diving/freediving is like having a superpower, you enter the water and you decide when to go to the surface again. Luckily, I have always had pleasant sensations underwater, but I am very aware of the risks and dangers.
"I think that everyone should try it at least once in their life; being able to spend time underwater and travel more thoroughly, exploring both land and ocean…"
The moments that I spend underwater are incredible, literally. I couldn’t compare this feeling to anything else. When I enter the water everything flows differently. Getting creative underwater, whether it is photographing its fauna and flora or simply trying to capture the beauty of the water, generates a profound feeling of peace within me. Each photo is different, not one moment does repeat itself. Menorca in particular is my paradise on Earth, there’s nothing alike.
"However, the winning shot wasn’t taken in Spain, nor under the water. On the contrary!"
Every summer we usually take a long trip of around a month to a country outside of Europe. This year due to restrictions we did not have much to choose from and that is why we decided to go to Costa Rica. Everyone praised the beauty of this country and we were curious to see it ourselves. We did a road trip across the country trying to cover every corner. Getting closer to the end of the trip we decided to stop to visit the surroundings of the Arenal volcano. While there we asked if it was possible to see the sunrise from such a majestic volcano. To our surprise, we managed to find the possibility to fulfill our dream of seeing the sunrise from a volcano. From the crater of an active volcano, to be precise. After six hours of ascent and more than 1000 m of unevenness, we reached the crater at the right time with the luck that when we arrived the clouds dissipated and allowed us to see the sunset in all its splendor. After taking a series of photos I decided to fly the drone and that’s when I captured the beauty that I have shared with all of you.
I only flew once; I did not dare to fly again since the images were so beautiful that I did not want to risk that content. We were at 1550 meters of altitude and at that height, the air currents began to be strong. In addition, raising the drone to 2000 meters made everything that might happen unpredictably. Sometimes the clouds returned and made it difficult to move around the crater and return the drone to the origin point. And, like everyone who has ever flown a drone, those little “heart attacks” that you get when the signal is lost, are anything but reassuring. It’s necessary to take risks, but it’s also necessary to have limits. Knowing I had great shots already, it wasn’t difficult to just be satisfied with what I got and not keep searching for the risk.
"Despite what I do in the audiovisual world, I think it will take time to obtain such incredible images again in the short term."
When the drone landed I was in ecstasy which made the whole descent back to the start very short. The only thing I thought about was checking out the content on my laptop once we would get to the accommodation.
What I try to convey with this shot, as with all my photographs, is to give people the possibility to see photos they cannot find on Google. To witness landscapes and perspectives they most probably do not get to see in real life themselves. This image was taken 500 meters above the crater and about 4 kilometers away; it could only be repeated from the altitude of the crater itself. I think that the differential factor that made this photo win was not the editing but the photo itself. I shot in a neutral profile which then allowed me to give the shades of green that I wanted as well as recover the imperceptible tones of sunrise over the clouds.
I can’t describe how I edit, I just sit in front of the computer, and the editing flows. There are times that it costs more time and others like this time that the editing just happens effortlessly. It can never be always like that, though I think that the more you manage to stay close to the moment, your feelings, the better the editing will flow and the better you can translate your imagination into a winning photograph.
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