Andre Magarao
October 2025 - Zoe in Hood River
About the Image(s)
Title: Zoe in Hood River
This was one of those sessions where we probably shouldn’t have been in the water, but the light was just too epic to pass up. A thunderstorm was rolling in, turning the sky dramatic and the wind unpredictable. All I needed was one perfectly timed jump from Zoe, framed against that wild backdrop. It wasn’t easy??”between the fading light, the strong river current, and the fact that Zoe could barely spot me in the water, I had to fight to hold position. But in the end, everything came together, and we wrapped it up by watching an incredible lightning storm on the drive home.
8 comments posted
Andre, as they say "you do not have to be crazy to do this, but surely helps"...
Another WOW image that I would never be able to create.
Meus parabéns !! Posted: 10/04/2025 15:47:57
Another WOW image that I would never be able to create.
Meus parabéns !! Posted: 10/04/2025 15:47:57
Thank you so much! That's a great saying!! Posted: 10/06/2025 12:13:49
Andre, It just keeps getting better, I wish I could give advice on how to improve your images, however I do not have the knowledge you do to produce your images so just say wow!!!! /bruce Posted: 10/11/2025 15:23:05
Thank you so much, Bruce! I hope I can figure out a way to get a press pass to shoot some soccer here in california one day. I will for sure ask you for some tips! Posted: 10/13/2025 21:23:40
Hi Andrea. I like your photos very much but I still keep coming back to the point is this more of a landscape photo with a kite and rider thrown in? It would be interesting to hear the opinions of a landscape judge. As it stands a very striking photo especially the atmosphere created by the evening light, another feature not easily caught in sports photography as events are usually during the day or at night in darkness, sports photography often has fixed lighting. In most PJ photos it is normal to have greater space in front of the subject than behind as your photo does. But that said, if it is a landscape then it probably does not matter. Posted: 10/14/2025 03:44:57
Hey Ronald,
In my view, as photographers we're responsible for everything that appears within the frame - including the background. In that sense, you could say that every image is, to some extent, a landscape photo. You can really see this in Bruce's image from this month, for example. I'm sure he carefully composed it to include the logo on the left while excluding the one on the right - which, on a soccer field, could easily have been a different color and distracted from the image. He also framed the top precisely to create those clean, straight lines.
Honestly, I find that some of the categories used by photo contests are a bit too rigid. Sometimes they end up rewarding photos that are technically within the category but artistically weaker. Personally, I tend to submit my work to contests outside the IAAP/FIAP circuit, since I feel the judging there usually makes more sense.
There's also the reality of the sports we shoot. Once you move beyond basketball, football, or soccer, there are very few organized events. If I limited myself to shooting kiteboarding or wing foiling only during competitions, I'd probably shoot just a handful of times a year.
These days, photography also has to compete with video - and it's not exactly a fair comparison. One of the few advantages photography still has (for now) is the greater dynamic range and the fact that we don't need a perfectly stable platform to capture an image. So if getting a more beautiful shot means swimming in a choppy river, I'll take that trade any day. Posted: 10/17/2025 14:10:54
In my view, as photographers we're responsible for everything that appears within the frame - including the background. In that sense, you could say that every image is, to some extent, a landscape photo. You can really see this in Bruce's image from this month, for example. I'm sure he carefully composed it to include the logo on the left while excluding the one on the right - which, on a soccer field, could easily have been a different color and distracted from the image. He also framed the top precisely to create those clean, straight lines.
Honestly, I find that some of the categories used by photo contests are a bit too rigid. Sometimes they end up rewarding photos that are technically within the category but artistically weaker. Personally, I tend to submit my work to contests outside the IAAP/FIAP circuit, since I feel the judging there usually makes more sense.
There's also the reality of the sports we shoot. Once you move beyond basketball, football, or soccer, there are very few organized events. If I limited myself to shooting kiteboarding or wing foiling only during competitions, I'd probably shoot just a handful of times a year.
These days, photography also has to compete with video - and it's not exactly a fair comparison. One of the few advantages photography still has (for now) is the greater dynamic range and the fact that we don't need a perfectly stable platform to capture an image. So if getting a more beautiful shot means swimming in a choppy river, I'll take that trade any day. Posted: 10/17/2025 14:10:54
Great reply Andrea. Your views on photography are very refreshing and this is reflective in what you photograph. Prior to club photography I was the happy and frustrated home photographer since being involved on evaluative photography I have become more critical and cynical. I have come across this phenomenon with artists who maintain that being taught how to paint afterwards killed their enjoyment. You have said previously you get paid for what you do, if so then let the marketplace be your judge. At the end of the day it's a matter of not how, but how much/many can I get for what I do, your tax, power bill, rent, loan repayments don't change from anyone else's. Keep up the good work. Posted: 10/19/2025 22:42:38
Yeah, I usually work directly with the brands that manufacture the sports gear. These days, budgets tend to be pretty limited, so I end up taking on many roles - photographer, producer, and sometimes even coach for the riders. I also choose the locations, because the setting is such an important part of what we're communicating. We're not just selling a sport - we're selling a lifestyle, an idea of traveling to beautiful places and sharing great moments with friends. So it only makes sense to make the most of those places and capture their beauty in the images. Posted: 10/22/2025 12:34:56