Leon, Mexico is either full of red or I am a red magnet.

When I went through my pictures I took in Leon, I noticed that almost all my favorites have something major red in it.
So either this city has a lot of red or I am attracted to red. I like red, but it is not my favorite color - Turquoise is.
Or maybe red is my favorite and I don't know?

Whatever.

Today a friend and I did a fashion shoot for "Vertigo Boutique".
The model is Pamela, the Queen of the Feria San Marcos 2018.
Sergio did the classic fashion shots and I assisted him.
In between I did my surreal portraits.
The shooting had to be in the middle of the day, a time I would never shoot.
I prefer the time around sunset and even more: night!
It was a challenge to take portraits at a time with strongest sun light coming right from above.
But you have to adapt and i am looking forward to the next challenge!​

Karla showed me her town Jalostotitlan, Mexico.

My taste! Very surreal.

- People don't say hola (hello) on the streets to greet someone - they say adios (bye). It feels weird at first but if you spend all day there, you get used to it. It's a tiny place and everybody knows everybody. We said "adios" at least 100 times.
But if you leave the place, remember to switch to the regular form of greeting!

- Mannequins are bottomless - both male and female.
- The local food specialty is to eat a kind of Mexican hamburger in a plastic bag. The burger is inside the bag and you bite one corner off and then you eat it through that hole.
- It looks like a war zone. A lot of police walking around with automatic rifles.
- During the day it is very quiet and empty. In the night full of people and music on every corner.
- Very close is an ancient site, where they used to play games. The winner of the game got decapitated.

Surreal.

Usually I just take pictures of people on the street without asking them.

Sometimes I ask and the reaction is always positive.

I saw this man blowing bubbles and took photos from a distance.
But I wanted one photo very close.
So I asked him.
He froze for one second and said: 20 Pesos (1 Dollar)!
I told him: "Ok, I pay you if a get a good photo".

First time in my life that I paid someone to take a photo!

Thank you, you are a good blower.

And I always will remember you.

Now I need to make my money back! 

It was a hot day. So hot that my camera almost melted.

But it didn't hold me back from taking pictures.
The one thing (of many) I like about photography is:
No matter what the circumstances are or the challenges in life I face, photography lets me be in the present and for a few hours I forget "reality".
Why not take a break of reality? It will be there later to return to.
Meanwhile I can take a pause of analyzing yesterday and a pause of planning tomorrow.

Eduardo and I had an appointment to take surreal portraits with the full moon.
There were some challenges!
On the way to him a thunderstorm started.
I realized that I left my memory card for the camera in my computer.
There was no moon. All the time, no moon! It was covered by clouds.
Then it started raining.
Many times I had thoughts of just stopping.
But NO! I said YES to the challenges.
I bought a memory card, used a sun sheet to cover my camera from the rain.
We went to different locations.

We struggle with thoughts of giving up or make comprosmises like "tomorrow".
I had this thoughts many times during the shooting. But I said to myself: YES!

Today my attention was drawn to this boy and girl. They were hugging for a long time.
Then they talked, while the boy had his hands on the girl all the time. Hugging, talking and again hugging.
I could not figure out if it was a hug of expressing love or support. Maybe something bad happened.
I observed them a long time. I was fascinated by the strong emotion. It was so authentic.
They didn't care and see who was watching or taking photos.
The girl didn't have her hands on him.

What was going on here?​

Today I got invited to fly. So I packed my suitcase and passport.

Called an Uber and went to the airport.
When I arrived I realized I won't fly anywhere.....

BUT I

- had an excellent BBQ
- great conversations
- got known to a new Amiga in Uber
- got a nice tan (and red nose)
- learned new things about flying

I didn't leave the city but it felt like vacation!

Thank you!

A long time ago I closed a dark chapter of my life. A chapter full of drama, pain, destruction & no future.

After closing that chapter I withdraw myself. Until my dad gave me a small compact camera.
That moment changed history, my history.
I became curious about life. I went out to see the beauty around me. Through photography I learned to be more attentive,
to leave the past behind and focus on the moment.
Also the camera brought me where the action is. I felt so alive!
Photography connected me to interesting people around the world.
I want to decicated that post the photographers I met along my journey.
Thank you for all those beautiful moments, walking together and looking for motives.
Talking about life and technical stuff, inspiring and challenging each other. You play a part in my journey. You are in my photos and in my heart.

Thank you.

How do you feel if you see a button and it says: "don't push it"?

Doesn't a "DON'T!" make you feel more like a "DO"?

When I walked by I and saw that sign I felt a strong urge to take a photo!
Without the sign I would not have bothered.
I did nothing wrong. The law says, that you can take pictures in public.
While taking that picture I was on the street, so totally legal.

After I took the picture I thought:
"Maybe they shop who sells the dresses does it on purpose!"
On purpose? Yes! Maybe they know about "Reverse Psychology".
Or maybe not. However, it could be used as a strategy to get people to take photos of the store and to share it with others.
I am sure this technique is used in marketing!

As a photographer I CHASE motives. Walking around, being very alert while having the finger on the release button of my camera.

On that particular day the Mexican sun and hours of walking slowed me down. I drank an energy drink to recharge my batteries.
I didn't work. I wanted to stop but also I did not "catch enough fish" to be satisfied.
So I was looking for a good mix of background, light & shadows.
I found the perfect setup! So I just stood there and waited for people entering my setup.
No need to move and chase motives. The motives came to me!

This applies to other areas in life as well. Sometimes you have to chase. But there are times where you search for to be "at the right time at the right place".
Look for the opportunity and be patient (note to myself)!