by Yvette Depaepe

Jesús M. García  is an accomplished professional Spanish photographer. Nowadays, Jesús travels around the world looking for the best possible light for photography and likes to call himself a “Aurora Borealis chaser”.  His work has been awarded all over the world in different international photo contests such as the Trierentberg Super Circuit, The Al-thani awards for photography, The International Epson Pano Awards, The International Photography Awards, Digital Photo World, Siena International Photo Awards. His work has also been published in different magazines and newspapers in Europe such as the Digital Photo Magazine, Camerapixo, Bao Magazine among others. His photographs are being used by different commercial brands, such as Microsoft, BBC, Yahoo and more.

“The Lavender fields and milky way”

Briefly tell us about yourself, your hobbies and other jobs.
I’m Spanish; I was born in Madrid in 1970. I work as part-time professional photographer. Unfortunately, to live in Spain only with the earnings obtained from the kind of photography that I like to do, is very difficult. Therefore, I run a small IT company offering professional services. It allows me to travel and to organize workshops throughout Spain and other parts of the world doing what I really love, visiting the most amazing places on the earth. My other hobbies, apart from photography, are flying my own RC model air planes, practising Karate and Mountain Biking.

“Blue Diamonds” ice chunks sea

How have your history and life experiences affected your photography
In one way or another, my family has always been associated to Photography. In my parent's home there was always a camera to "play" with, but as I studied computer science, I liked working with computers. When my son was born, my wife gave me my first Digital SLR camera as a gift. At that moment, I realized that I could bring together my two great passions, photography and my knowledge of the "digital world".

Which are your most important experiences that have influenced your art?
There are mainly two experiences. One of them is to study classical painting works. To understand how painters worked on painting with light helped me a lot.
The other one, thanks to social networks globalization, is to be able to speak or meet many photographers that I admire, and to exchange some knowledge and impressions with them.

“Lake House sunrise”

“Zaanse Schans Green House”

What first attracted you to photography?
Ever since I was a child, photography has been present in my life. My father and my uncles liked photography, so there were many cameras around me. Additionally, one of my uncles had a dark room at home and we occasionally used it. It was amazing to see the photos magically appear on paper submerged in liquids.

Describe your overall photographic vision.
I love photography and I love travelling too, but what I like the most is to look at my photographs and to remember through them the moment when I captured them.

Why are you so drawn by landscape photography?
Really, because I travel around the world trying to capture unique moments. As an example, the picture shown below which named "Red Cabins" was captured at the Lofoten Islands (Norway) while the hurricane "Ole" was passing over us. Each time I look at this picture, I remember the strong wind, the noise of the air and the intense cold. That is what really motivates me, to be able to get this kind of images.

“Hamnoy Red Cabins

What is more important to you, the mood, story behind your images or the technical perfection?
Both. Of course, I love the story behind each photo I take. Most of my photos have a special meaning for me. For instance, I remember the first time I was in Iceland watching the Northern lights. We were at Dyrholaey Beach when I saw my first Green Northern Light; I still remember my shouting, while my camera was shooting continuously.

“Kirkjufell Green Reflection” Aurora

“Stone Rhino Green Reflection”  Aurora

In addition, I am a perfectionist, and I always try to do my best in all the aspects of my life, including photography. So, for me it is also very important to take photos the best way I can, and to do the best post-processing possible.

What generally is your relationship to your subject matter beyond being an observer?
Respect. Respect for nature and environment. I like photographing and leaving the environment the same as I found it, so other photographers will enjoy the same place as much as I do.

“Sleeping with the stars”

“Man and Nature”

What is your most important advice to a beginner in landscape photography and how do you get started?
Learning, to educate the brain in terms of photography. A beginner should see many photos, but not any ones, these photos have to be exceptional ones. 1X is a useful place where to do it.
Making use of all the possible workshops or buy video tutorials. It is very important to know how the light works, from the moment of the capture until the final post processing. Finally, on top of learning, a lot of constancy and passion.

Do you prepare carefully the locations where you are intending to photograph?
Yes, of course. Sunrise, sunset, weather forecast, etc. are important in my usual planning. Additionally I am also a night landscape photographer, what means that I don't add any artificial lighting, and consequently, I must plan very well taking into account the moon's phases and inclination, according to the light that I want to photograph with.
One of the factors to get a brilliant picture is to begin with good planning.

“Dreamy Night”

“Moonlight over Amsterdam”

What gear do you use (camera, lenses, bag )
My main gear on all my trips is

F-stop (Tilopa) Bag
Nikon D810 camera

Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens
Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens
Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lens
Nikkor 35mm f/2.0 lens

LucrOit Filter Holder 165mm
LucrOit and Formatt Hitech Filter ND3, 6, 10y 16stops
LucrOit Polarizing

Gitzo Systematic Tripod
RRS BH-55 Ball Head

What software do you use to process your images?
During the last 5 years, I have been developing my own workflow; it’s based on Lightroom and Photoshop.

Can you tell us something more about your workflow?
Mainly, it's based on high quality searching, with excellent results; but overall, we make this workflow fast and easy.

Who are your favourite photographers and more importantly, how has your appreciation of their work affected how you approach your own photography?
Talking in terms of landscape photography, there’s a group of photographers that inspire me with every photo they publish, such as Marc Adamus , Ryan Dyar , Max Rive , Daniel Kordan  and Enrico Fossati , Chip Phillips, Ted Gore, Alex Noriega. In addition, all the tutorials done by Sean Bagshaw about luminosity masks and Tony Kuyper's panels have improved my skills in terms of post-processing.

In Spain, apart from my friend and coworker Javier de la Torre member javierlt), there’s a long list of photographers whose work I follow. I try to learn as much as possible from all of them. It's impossible to mention all of them. The list would be too long ;-)

Is there any specific photo taken by another photographer that has inspired you a great deal and why?There is a photo taken by Marc Adamus  that shocked me the first time I saw it.

"Cool the Flames"

It's an amazing picture, framing, light, texture, post-processing... are perfect. Someday I would love to get an image like that.

Are there any specific directions that you would like to take your photography in the future or any specific goals that you wish to achieve?
I want to continue improving my photographic skills of course, but my main goal is to continue travelling around the world discovering places I've never been to.
2017 could be a great year to travel to the Dolomites, Scotland, and Greenland ;-)

Describe your favourite photograph taken by you and why it is special to you?
It’s a really difficult question. If I had to choose only one photo, I would choose “Lavender field and milky way” because of the memories I have about the moment when we took it.
During months, we were planning which date would be perfect to get the Milky Way full arch over the lavender field. Antonio, a friend, carried us to a field of lavender that belongs to some friends of him. Throughout the afternoon, with a 4x4 car, and with PhotoPills's mobile application, we were searching the right place and orientation where we could be able to photograph the Milky Way over the lavender field. Once we found the location, we waited at the right time to take the picture. I remember our faces on the way back to home, knowing that planning for so many months had resulted in success.

“The Lavenders field and Milky way”

Is there anything else you wish to add?  And what do you think about 1X as a home base for your work?
1X has become a place of excellence where to show my works, and additionally, it is a perfect place where to sell my images around the world.
Finally, I would like to congratulate all 1X's crew members. It is a pleasure to collaborate with this great family of photographers.

Check out more of Jesús work on his website 

“Vasco de Gama”

“Chrysler Building” 

“White Stairs”

“Toledo City foggy morning”

“Amsterdam Windows”