Lessons from a Summer adventure

A couple of weeks ago, a friend suggested going camping on a summit near where we live to celebrate his birthday.

The plan was simple: take a good hike up to Ballëhöchst, sleep at the top, and then paraglide down the next morning.

For me, these kinds of adventures are the best opportunities to explore new places and take photos while documenting a beautiful day with friends in the mountains.

If you've ever gone camping or bivouacking in the mountains, you know that the weight of the gear you carry is something you have to be careful with. The same hike, with a 5 kg backpack or a 15 kg one, can go from being enjoyable to a damn eternal hell.

If you add professional photography equipment to that, no matter how light you try to go, you’re adding an extra 2 to 3 kilos.

Lately, I’ve been experimenting a lot with what to bring and what not to bring on these kinds of trips because, with the paraglider, ending up with a 20 kg backpack is pretty easy.

My most commonly used setup is a 16-35 mm lens, my Canon mirrorless camera, and a 50 mm lens. The 16-35 mm is not a small lens, and it’s also heavy, but I’ve found that it gives me a lot of versatility to capture what I want while we’re on the move or in the air during these adventures. The 50 mm, on the other hand, is my go-to lens for moments of calm and observation, portraits, and details once we stop.

That’s the photography part.

For sleeping, if we’re in pairs, the ideal is to divide the gear and food between the two of us. On this occasion, I had to carry all my stuff, so I opted for my lightest and most practical setup.

The tent with just the inner layer (lighting a candle to the Virgin Mary, hoping it wouldn’t rain), a 0-degree sleeping bag, an inflatable sleeping pad, and the Jetboil for cooking some noodles that are ready in 3 minutes.
But, being the good country boy that I am, a loaf of bread, a wedge of cheese, and 2 or 3 extra "just in case" items tipped the scale back towards the heavier side.

If the hike is going to be an eternal hell, there better be cheese at the end, right?

Back to photography—one very important thing in this kind of documentary mountain photography is being able to have a global vision of where you are, the weather, and how the light will be moving as the route progresses.
For me, these points are key to knowing when it’s worth getting ahead of the group and when it’s better to save energy and let the adventure unfold naturally.

This kind of photography is a beautiful game of guessing and technique that, in my view, can offer you a lot in other types of sessions. It teaches you to stay alert, be very observant, and know your gear inside out and how to get the most out of it.

I hope your next outing brings you many lessons like these and beautiful photos.

Bikes, friends and lots of film

To many people, when you mention electric bikes, they picture an older user who just wants a peaceful ride.

For ORBEA's Gain '23 campaign, the goal was clearly to break that stigma.
The concept was clear - young people enjoying a bike that can push you to the limit if that's what you seek, but also allows you to extend your rides or keep up with your stronger friends.

At NVCR.STUDIO, we handled the entire production process and went all out to shape a project that, in my opinion, has been one of the most enriching in our entire career.

In my particular case, I took care of location scouting and the still photography part, as well as the color grading of the final video.

For this occasion, we shot 50% in digital and 50% on film.

For the film part, I chose to use Eastman Kodak Company Vision 3 film with 250 and 500 ASA from SILBERSALZ 35, a film with an enormous dynamic range and very smooth transitions between tones. Since it's a cinema film, the development has to be done under the ECN-2 process and not the classic C-41. Aside from the technical details, all of this, along with the incredible scanning by SilberSalz, made the images look beautiful. Here's an example for you.

This image is just a glimp of the ones I shot, and you can view the complete project and case on our website

Lastly, always grateful for the great work of the entire team, who turned these days of intense work into "vacations" among friends.

Campaign Director: Quique Bueno
Editor: Laura Bueno
Assit: Iván Arribas Martínez
Photo: Mario Cranks
Riders: Isma Lopez, Zoë Calhoun, Julia Díaz Julve, Virginia Cancellieri, Simon

A unique mess

It was 4 in the morning when the alarm went off.

I was sleeping in the pop-up roof of the van, and the cold outside was anything but inviting to step out.

With my eyes half-shut and my body aching from the previous days, I managed to drag myself down to the lower part and start preparing breakfast on autopilot.

At that moment, all I could think was, "Damn, why did I get myself into this?" Slowly but surely, that thought faded from my mind, and I moved on to going through my equipment checklist before heading out.
"Batteries, cards, 24mm, 50mm, 70-200mm, water, nuts..." and a long list of things I knew were in my backpack.

Outside, there was hustle and bustle, and the headlamps of our Italian crew were constantly darting around.

"Andiamo Nicki!"

Damn! Let's get out of here...

I grabbed my things while trying not to choke on the last spoonful of porridge that felt like reinforced concrete.

I stepped outside, greeted the whole team, and turned around to see what lay ahead. We were at Tre Cime in the Dolomites, still dark, but what I saw left me stunned.

So stunned that the sprint I made to catch up with the Italians almost made me throw up that reinforced concrete I called breakfast earlier.

Fiore saw me and said, "Qué Mario!, ready for another day of catching Pokémons?"

You know it, buddy! I replied.

At that moment, I got into the zone and started shooting. I don't think I had ever seen such blue light, such mountains, and on top of that, we were alone...

All I could think was Damn! Thank goodness I got myself into this mess. This is unique!

But what I want you to take away today is that there's no other way to capture the photos you want than by getting your hands dirty. There are no shortcuts. There are better or worse methods, but no magic formulas.
Photography, like life, is about making decisions, playing the cards you're dealt, and making the best move with them.

That day, I could have stayed in bed or gone out later. We had been hiking for over 5 days, with daily ascents of over 1000m and 8-hour van trips. My whole body ached, but I knew theirs did too.

I knew it was going to be an epic day, I knew it was going to be something unique, and above all, I knew I had a commitment to fulfill.
And in the end, that's what sets apart a good photographer from one who isn't so good: the ability to commit to oneself and one's work.

You choose which group you want to belong to.

A story from the Red Bull X - Alps 2023