In 2017, Mathieu Morel’s first trip to Iceland marked a turning point in his photography journey. His photograph taken at Cofete Beach in Fuerteventura reflects the lessons he’s learned along the way. Thanks to the support of our community’s votes, he emerged as the winner of our weekly contest.
My passion comes from my first trip to Iceland in 2017, where I borrowed a camera. I was shooting in automatic mode, and the photos were catastrophic! However, the images by amateurs and pros on Instagram motivated me to perfect my skills and gain experience. Since then, I’ve taken it one step at a time, equipment by equipment, trip by trip.
My progress and the new techniques I’ve learned have encouraged me to keep going. I remember my first Milky Way in the mountains; it was magical, and now it’s so simple.
Of course, my friends and family congratulated me more and more, giving me incredible strength to keep going. The thirst for new things has given me wings to initiate trips into new and unknown lands.
Four valuable lessons I have learned along the way
First, I learnt to deal with frustration and accept that the weather might turn bad at the last minute. We must turn the unexpected into a strength. It’s all very good to plan precise photography from start to finish, but the best shot will be the detail that wasn’t designed and that adds a unique anecdote.
I’ve also learnt that if I spend too much time editing because I don’t like it enough, it’s because the photo shouldn’t be retained. A picture must be almost perfect in terms of colour, composition, and exposure when taken. Editing won’t work miracles.
Of course, you have to learn patience in photography. Without luck, you will never achieve your goal the first time, but with repetition and knowledge of your subject, it’s worth it. For example, when you try to photograph wildlife.
Finally, it’s important to manage the euphoria of the moment so that you can concentrate on the photo when an animal appears or when the lights become magical.
My girlfriend and I drove to the most beautiful beach on Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands: Cofete Beach, a great reward after 18 km of an unpaved and dusty road with our campervan! We admired the sunset sitting on the sand and spent the night in this incredible spot.
Trying out some of the drone’s viewpoints, four people pass in front of it at equal distances, their gigantic shadows cast by the low sun. A perfect, unexpected composition!
The photo’s subjects are the people, so they were centered so that we could focus on them. The sky has been cut to 1/3 to accentuate the subjects and the magnificent last golden colors of the day playing with windy sand and water.
On color-grading
First, since it’s a drone and panoramic photo, I cropped it as a portrait to look good in terms of composition on Instagram.
Judging the colors of the sunset and the glow on the sand to be too yellow, I corrected this with orange to have a “copper” and more harmonious effect.
The sky has been enhanced, and the veil correction reduced to focus less on it. The sky contained a bit of blue, too, and I had difficulty making it harmonious without this veil correction.
I applied a few darker gradients to the lower corners to give the photo even more strength.
The cropping and color tones can give so many emotions to the same photo.
Personal and professional projects
My most important personal project was shooting the Northern Lights in northern Norway. I learnt to be patient; only on the last day of my trip was it not cloudy enough to shoot these magical images.
These shots gave me a lot of gratitude, the desire to make prints of them and, above all, one of my biggest dreams came true.
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