Photographing a Land of ExtremesMichael Snell and his versatile Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD lens capture the flavor of Spain’s Extremadura region. |
Article by Jenn Gidman |
Extremadura, or "Land of Extremes," is an autonomous region in western Spain that truly is a land of contrasts. From the archaeological wonders of Mérida, the capital city, to the native wildlife and spectacular scenery, Extremadura is a visual gem that offers plenty of image opportunities for the traveling photographer. |
Michael Snell was recently invited on a press tour of the region with a group of journalists, focusing on the paradors, or government-owned hotels that are housed in historic buildings. "They have these old castles and palaces and convents scattered around Spain that have been converted into hotels," he says. "As a photographer, it was a great opportunity for me to get some stock photos of the region. However, press trips aren't usually set up with photographers specifically in mind. We were traveling quickly from parador to parador and couldn't always be at a location where the light was best, or have the time to set up a shot. You have to learn to get off the bus and hit the ground running, shoot fast, then get back on the bus to go to the next stop." |
Having the Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD lens was key to getting beautiful pictures during Michael's fast-paced travels through the region. "The versatility of that lens was huge," he says. "I went into this trip with a strategy actually based off that lens. I generally have a full-frame camera and a crop-sensor camera, and I'll typically switch out lenses on both. But on this trip, I had primes and specialty lenses on my full-frame camera, but I left the 18-270 on my crop-sensor camera for the entire trip. That way, if something was happening quickly in front of me, I could have the 18-270's range available to me and wouldn't have to switch lenses. If I was focused on taking pictures of intricate details, but then some distant or panoramic shot appeared where I needed a wide angle, I had the 18-270 on the ready so I never worried about missing a photo opportunity." |
Michael also praises the 18-270's Vibration Compensation feature. "I'm spoiled by the VC - I have it on all the time," he says. "It locks a lot tighter than other image stabilization systems I've tried, and it frees me up to shoot handheld when I need to so I don't have to carry a second tripod around." |
Getting a comprehensive sense of place was Michael's goal on this trip. "It wasn't like it was a specific story assignment for me with a limited focus, so I wanted to capture a little bit of everything," he says. "I hoped for images that could either be appreciated individually or as part of a larger story. I wanted to get wide shots of the villages, the photos that I call city portraits. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, I wanted detail shots that showed texture, a sense of the people and foods and regional-specific items. I always love to get farmers' markets if I can, for instance, or museums where there are tapestries and sculptures that speak to the history of the place." |
Michael was constantly on the lookout for scenes that would draw the viewer's eye into his images. "There were a lot of interesting window frames and narrow alleyways there that spoke to me in that way," he says. "Nothing was straight; none of the towns were built on a grid. You'd simply have this narrow, snaking view where the light broke through in different places. Every corner we'd turn, I'd stop and take a picture of an alley. One of the writers on the trip asked me, 'Don't you ever get tired of shooting alleyways?' But I really didn't - each one provided a different photo opp." |
These out-of-the-way nooks and crannies also meant that Michael could take pictures at any time of the day. "The beginning and end of the day are usually the best time for photos, especially if you're doing landscape work," he says. "But for a lot of this trip, we were in these old, medieval cities with narrow streets that were dark and sheltered from the sun. It didn't really matter where the sun was when we were there. There was never a bad time of day to shoot. A lot of the stone we saw was this nice orange color, so on a cloudy day we'd be able to capture the warmth of that stone as the sun bounced around." |
Playing with light and shadow is one of Michael's tricks to composing compelling travel images. "I like to incorporate transient elements that aren't usually a permanent part of a scene," he says. "It might be a shaft of light or a shadow or a cloud drifting into the frame. Those temporary elements almost become more important to the composition than the 'hard' elements that are there. For instance, when I was at the National Museum of Roman Art in Merida, the way the light was coming in diagonally across the brick wall really made the image. Or for a picture I took of a sculpture of a man holding a cross, the cross's shadow and the way it fell against the wall at that time of day was more interesting than the cross itself." |
The 18-270mm lens helped Michael achieve images he wouldn't have been able to get otherwise during his fast-paced travels. "I was in one of the alleys when I saw these cats near a faucet," he says. "I had a 17mm lens on my full-frame camera, which was way too wide to get the shot I wanted. I couldn't get too close, because the cats were skittish around strangers. It was nice to have the 18-270's telephoto capability at my disposal. I would have missed the shot if I had to switch lenses." |
Being able to achieve a shallow depth-of-field with the 18-270 also allowed Michael to showcase some of the details of his trip, especially when it came to showing off local fare. "Blurring out the background helps focus your attention on a smaller part of the frame, especially if there's a lot of busyness going on in the background," he says. "I spotted an olive tree right in front of a shop that sold olive oil products, where the olives hadn't yet ripened fully. There was a lot of noise in the background, but using a shallow depth-of-field, I was really able to highlight the olives on the tree." |
This selective focus also came in handy during a visit to a spice factory. "This region of Spain is known for its smoked paprika," Michael explains. "We went to a paprika museum, then to a processing factory where we saw the peppers coming into the factory and then milled into spices. It's a challenging type of shoot, because factories aren't exactly the most exciting places to take pictures: You're in a big room with a bunch of metal equipment. I found my photo op when I saw some of the milled spice in those two bins. It was a splash of color in an otherwise utilitarian place." |
Taking pictures of the locals during your travels requires an understanding of the culture and their willingness to be photographed. "In some places, like Egypt, people are very conscious of photographers," Michael says. "It becomes a source of commerce where they want money in exchange for letting you take a picture. In other places they're willing, but you still want to try to get a picture or two before you chat with them, because once you tell them you're taking photos, they tend to shift and hold themselves differently." |
On his trip to Spain, Michael was in a small group with a Spanish-speaking guide, so his images of the residents were often more organic. "We were in an alleyway when we spotted this old woman selling products right out of her house," he says. "The guide was able to talk to her and we bought things from her stand, so the images showed a more honest transaction." |
Even though he often had to work quickly, Michael was determined to make the most of the limited time he had in each location. "The last town we were in was Trujillo, where the conquistador Pizarro was from," he says. "We were running late and got there at the end of the day. We threw our bags at the hotel and ran out for a walking sunset/twilight tour. Our guides were apologetic for doing the tour so late, but it was fantastic - there was great light, the best sky we'd had the whole trip." |
Michael managed to take a variety of photos that evening, even as the light faded for good. "The other beauty of that time of day is you get a lot of different options, depending which way you're facing," he says. "Your instinct is to shoot into the sunset, where you have those really bright reds and oranges, but if you shoot with the sun at your back, you can get some really cool blues and purples. That way, if you're shooting for stock, you can get a lot of different looks and color palettes in that short span of time right around sunset. You don't want everything you have from one town to look like it was shot in a 15-minute period. We lucked out that night." |
To see more of Michael Snell's work, go to www.michaelcsnell.com. |