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Luís Eusébio
@lceusebio
Best of the week 52 at #nomadict 2020
Ever since I was very young, my parents would take me camping all around Portugal during the summer holidays. The excitement of traveling and discovering new places came way before I’d even considered taking photographs. It was only once I’d reached my teenage years that my fervent desire for photography really took hold of me. You know those little analogical cameras with the roll of film? Well, my dad had one of those. I began using it myself, and although I had no formal training, I was itching to try out different things to see what I could do with the camera. The limitations of this camera are something hard to imagine nowadays. But back then, the limitation of the camera roll size and how expensive it was to process the photos in the shop served me well, I think.
"It forced me to really think about what I was doing."
A few years later on from my teenage years, I bought a digital camera. Now, finally! I was able to put into good use what I had first learned with that old gadget I’d practiced on before. I started practicing more often, which enabled me to develop my skill set at a rapid rate.
Fast forward a few years yet again to 2017, and I had purchased a drone. They are all the craze now, with everyone wanting this gadget. Though to me it means a lot more than being it a new technical gadget. It represents the ability to shoot and see scenarios from a different perspective. Aerial photography is where I now invest a lot of my time. Composition is important and I focus especially on the creation of negative space (empty space around the subject) in nature, highlighting the notion of scale. I am usually the subject because having a drone doesn’t mean that it travels far away without me, I enjoy being a part of the shot, as if I was still holding a camera in my hand.
"I try to develop my own style of photography that I would describe as more than just a postcard perfect picture."
I just go and shoot and try to convey the feeling lived in that moment. Image opportunities happen in the moment while I’m enjoying life, so I hardly ever plan to go somewhere exclusively in search of the “perfect shot.” This is quite easy as I don’t need any excuse to shoot outdoors, especially when it comes to photographs of the ocean. I grew up close to the beach and would always find time to go down there whenever I need time by myself to stop and think. Nature is my biggest inspiration, and that’s why I wish to preserve it. I’m often left disheartened when I visit some places and see them littered by people’s selfish actions.
"We should always strive to leave natural environments undisturbed and cleaner than we found them."
Portugal, in particular, has a surprising amount of different types of natural landscapes and most of my photographs are taken in my home country. It’s amazing how much natural diversity it has to explore! I live in the beautiful North of Portugal, and I would always recommend visiting the Southwest Coast, Gerês national park, the Douro river region, Alentejo fields, Serra da Estrela, Azores, and Madeira islands. There are just so many more I could name, though.
I actually found most of these places by browsing through my friends’ photos or chatting with them about cool places to take a look at. But in general digital tools nowadays can be an insanely powerful resource in finding new locations. My Google Maps app is now full to the brim with locations I want to visit in Portugal. Usually, after I’ve got a place I wish to visit in mind, I enjoy going out alone and starting to shoot. I always have my beloved sidekick waiting for me in a car, usually happily reading a book, while I go out on my wild solo adventures.
"These adventures have led me to some pretty epic moments."
One that immediately comes to mind was when we were in Alentejo. I was flying my drone at sunset in what we believed to be a huge empty field in Alentejo, close to a farm. I was standing on top of a haystack for the shot, while my girlfriend was walking back to the car. All of a sudden we started to hear loud barking noises, combined with the sound of a pack of dogs running in our direction. They were maybe around 7 or 8 wild dogs. We have never run faster in our lives before! Maybe it wasn’t an empty field after all.
"Almost a three-hour drive from the Alentejo region toward the west coast of Portugal you can find Óbidos."
That’s where my winning Nomadict shot was taken during a long weekend getaway. It was early on Saturday morning when we decided to go for a walk to see Praia d’El Rey beach, where we were surprised by an empty beach, colossal rock cliffs, and ideal weather conditions. It wasn’t too bright, nor too cloudy and the sand and the ocean in the fall/winter seasons is one of my favorite scenarios to shoot.
Then the photo’s editing process was to try and make it as close as possible to what I saw on that day in the moment I took the shot: the tones, the light, the moodiness, all of this was important to me. I enjoy playing around with the tones, aiming to get it just right and applying complementary colors, highlighting any contrasts – making the photographs more appealing to the human eye.
"Adventure, freedom, abstraction are key words for how photography makes me feel. And these very same things are what I like to transmit with my photographs."
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