Another way of challenging myself with street portraits is to use an off-camera flash. This portrait of a campesino in one the villages of La Antigua Guatemala was made exactly that way. I shared a square version of this portrait on Instagram and on other social media networks and received quite the feedback. Below I … Read more
He said he’s from Uganda. He was so jovial and well-humored, even chatty. He suggested I visit the African continent where I can find lots of interesting faces for portraits. This magnificent portrait was captured during one of the private photo walks I lead last weekend. I used several techniques here to approach him and … Read more
This picture was made during the most recent photo walk that I lead on Saturday. Some of the techniques of street photography and visual language composition tips that I share were used to in the making of this photograph. There are some of the visual language principles that we learn and put in practice during … Read more
Once again, we continue the portraits of strangers series with a picture of a big smile of a student while during their marching band practice. I made this portrait during the most recent photo walks I lead to share how I approach my street photography portraits and how to photograph strangers on the streets. As … Read more
This portrait of a young Maya girl is another addition to the portraits of strangers series. We are so fortunate to have freshly made tortillas three times a day, especially so when smiles are also available. Well, for starters you need ‘real’ nixtamalized maize dough (nothing of the maseca flour used elsewhere). After that, you … Read more
Once again we continue with the street portraits. This time I had the opportunity to show other fellow photographers how to approach total strangers to take their picture. Here I was about three feet from these teenagers from Antigua Guatemala who were having a great time at Parque Central. I tell you, there’s something magic … Read more
Let’s continue our series of Portraits of Strangers with this crazy Argentine: Ivan Kerner. Of course, in some case, the strangers will no longer be strangers, but friends, such is the case of Ivan and Sofía, the documentary filmmaker with him. Would you like to meet Sofía as well? Here are his own words about … Read more
If doing portraits of strangers within three feet, on the streets of Antigua Guatemala can be difficult for many, I am setting the bar a little higher this time by doing strobist-style portraits. In other words, this means using an external flash off-camera with a light modifier such as translucent or reflective umbrella or soft … Read more
We continue our street portraits series with a picture of a couple trash collectors taking a break. I made this portrait of the trash collectors during one of my most recent photo walks to show how I approach my street photography portraits and how to photograph strangers on the streets. Now, I have developed a … Read more
I really enjoy making portraits of total strangers. Either a captured or posed portrait of strangers on the streets of Antigua Guatemala brings a reward. If the portrait is made without the subject being aware, we obtain a true documentary slice of daily life in Antigua Guatemala. If the subject poses, permission was requested to … Read more
A while ago I had the great opportunity to make some portraits of Guatemalan filmmaker Luis Argueta. In case you don’t know who Luis Argueta is, here’s a brief bio taken directly from IMDb: “Luis Argueta is a director and producer, known for El silencio de Neto (1994), Collect Call (2002) and AbUSed: The Postville … Read more
Believe it or not, La Antigua Guatemala is NOT the REAL Guatemala. Well, let me rephrase that, downtown Antigua Guatemala is not the real Guatemala because the minute you step in any of the villages around our beloved colonial town, you are in the REAL Guatemala. Today we continue our series of street portraits with … Read more
If you have follow the daily updates from AntiguaDailyPhoto, you should know this guy by now. Sergio is the leader of crier group, pregoneros in Spanish, who dress up in colonial-style clothing and go around crying the news of the city or the promotions of a business when hired, as in this case, by Casa … Read more
A quick visit this Sunday to Santa María de Jesús, the municipality south of Antigua Guatemala and the highest community on the skirt of Volcán de Agua was very gratifying due to the friendliness of the people living there, especially so the Maya Kaqchikel, who are the majority. I say it was quick because it … Read more
In Guatemala today we celebrate Día del padre or Father’s Day. Can you believe that we still observe holidays and celebrations on the date they were created. Mother’s Day on May 10, Father’s Day on June 17, Santiago de los Caballeros on July 25 (Saint James), et cetera. As I have declared before, in Guatemala … Read more