Bouldering with Rafa

Hola! Here's yet another break from the last of my updates from Spain. This post is actually about a little project that I'm trying out this summer, so read on if you're interested!

Near the end of the semester, my brain was already starting to switch into summer mode, pondering different things I wanted to do when the time of late night study sessions and frantic pre-class homework-completing rituals finally came to an end. Well, during Tori, Michelle's, and my trip up to the north of Spain (that's actually what the following blog post will be about), I was trying to think of ways to grow myself in my photography (there's probably a better way of phrasing that, but you get the idea), and this is the idea that started slowly forming in my mind. Essentially, I wanted to start a project that would:

        a. keep me shooting subjects and themes that interested me during a time when I typically would be shooting less often.

        b. focus on producing 1 to 4 well thought-out angles rather than a large number of different ones.

        c. challenge me in my understanding of light and how it shapes a subject/environment.

        d. develop my shooting workflow into one that is more efficient and predictable.

        e. build my portfolio more into the commercial direction that I'd like to go towards with photography.

        f. be a benefit to the subjects, be they friends, family, or community members.

Anyhow, here is my first attempt at that!



Rafa is a great friend of mine and loves climbing and bouldering. A couple weeks back I headed up to Lizard's Mouth with him and his super awesome [added by Hannah] and hot [added by Rafa] and recently-ambulatory [added by Michael] girlfriend Hannah and tried my hand at some bouldering shots. With this particular angle, one of my particular goals was to not blow out the background, since Rafa was in pretty much complete shade while the background was cookin' in the midday sun. I was using PocketWizard's MiniTT1/FlexTT5 system to trigger three Nikon SB600s (often times ganged in the attempt to overpower the ambient).



Rafa also likes reading, so some multi-tasking was done during the shoot :)



And here's a portrait to end it (fun fact: Rafa, Hannah, Rafa's sister, our friend Nate, and I all just hiked the ridge line that you see on the left side of the island in the background!).

Well, let me know what you think! There's a comment section right down below if you want to critique Rafa's bouldering techniques or my photography ;) Really though, I'd love to hear from you. Until next time!