I fell in love with coffee in college. It was a tenuous relationship at first due to a completely unexplainable phobia of hot drinks in my younger years. Gradually I began to experiment with frozen mochas, lattes, and cappuccinos until I had built up enough of an affinity to skip the sugary drinks and head straight for the natural. Now I’m experimenting with different brewing systems like a French press and Chemex to see what makes the best natural coffee.

Even bad coffee is better than no coffee at all.”― David Lynch

Travel and Coffee

Coffee shops have become an important marker in major events in my life. In Birmingham, England I always visit the Ikon Café (which is apparently now Café Opus) for some joe and inspiration. While in London, there are plenty of small cafés and if I’m north of the city I always go to Tinderbox by the Angel tube station. All of these are inextricably linked with either beautiful memories or major creative moments. At Ikon Café I wrote tons of angsty poetry in many different forms about emotions that I didn't even grasp yet. The same goes for Tinderbox and sitting by the Thames with a cup of to-go coffee from a corner bakery. Each cup represented something that pushed me forward, either as an artist or a person.

In Paris you can basically find any sidewalk café and have a great cup while watching tourists fumble through the French language, as waiters act like they don’t understand them. The uncultured version of me too often visited Starbucks in France, probably in search of familiarity. When in Italy, it was espresso on the quick from basically anywhere. It is Italy after all. There's no time to savor coffee, it's utilitarian at best.

At Antidote Coffee in Houston, TX. Photo by Karen Walrond

My college java experience was dominated by The Mudhouse and Potters House while now I frequent Antidote, Paper Co., and Down House. These places are more than just coffee shops to me, they are points in time, friendship and creative fuel.

Creative Juice

I’ve also found that drinking a cup in the morning may not be the best for your energy and that beer may be better for initial creative inspiration. So, to get the best of both worlds, I bought some Real Ale Shade Grown Coffee Porter, but I usually don’t drink it in the morning. People tend to look down on that for some reason.

I’m starting to learn the economics of coffee, the second most traded commodity behind oil. I’ve put the book Java Trekker by Dean Cycon on my reading list, as well as Uncommon Grounds by Mark Pendergrast, and have started paying attention to where the beans I consume come from and how it impacts those who grow it.  I also find it very amusing that the Netherlands is the highest per capita consumer of coffee in the world and that Hawaii is the only US state that produces it.

So as you make it through Monday, maybe even on your fourth cup, take a moment and savor the smell of the beans that keep you awake, alert and almost completely dependent on its sweet, and sometimes bitter, nectar.

The How To Make A Travel Video series looks at the different aspects of capturing travel memories on film. You’ll see great examples to inspire and learn about the gear and techniques that help make great travel videos better. You can find the rest of the series here. With powerful camera technology packed into our phones and cameras, creating beautiful videos is now as easy for the amateur as it is for the professional. Just pull out your camera, capture some moments and weave it together to show the world the amazing adventure you just had. Now that everyone can make these videos, if you want yours to stand out online, it has to be a really compelling story or something that is technically well done. My favorite way for travel videos to stand out from the crowd is by using mood.

Carpathians by Boroda Cinema

In this travel video by Boroda Cinema we see a group of people hiking the Carpathians in Eastern Europe. It's pretty straightforward story wise, just friends enjoying a holiday, but what makes it stand out is its use of color, light (or the lack of light) and sound to create a coherent mood throughout. The lush greens of the mountains are obscured by fog and rain creating an immediate tension in frame. the grayness of the opening shots, juxtaposed with the green fauna immediately sets a calm, almost still vibe. Even though the light changes and we see more bright colors, this imagery can be felt all the way through the video.

Sound As Setting

From the opening shot we hear rain and wind, adding to the grayness and seamlessly intertwining with the opening notes of "Stay Alive" by José Gonzalez. Not only does the song match the gray and green tones in its somber composition, it helps push the frames forward. The one thing that stands out the most about the sound in this video is the use of natural sounds in certain moments to help layer and give a human quality to the film. After all, these are people on an adventure and the intermittent laughing, the sound of cars and boots slogging through mud really reminds us of that.

Using natural sound in video helps draw the viewer in and make them a part of the setting.

Intentional Framing

The rule of thirds is undoubtedly something that should be followed in film and photography, but when shooting handheld travel video, don't be afraid to mix up the framing for interesting shots. In Carpathinas you'll see a mix of people walking center frame, leading the camera forward and then quick cuts to people middle-left or middle-right, this intentional mix of framing keeps the viewers eyes on the screen because the action is not clearly focused in one spot. A balance of shots in the center, middle-left and middle-right can make even the most mundane video easy on the eyes.

Oh That Glorious Light

What I love about travel photography and video is that you normally don't have a light setup with you and you're at the mercy of the sun. It's a humbling place to be if you're used to studio work and can really create some beautiful images. As I touched on before, the opening shots of Carpathians use the lack of direct light to create a calming mood. When you're traveling, don't be afraid to play around with under or over-exposing your images, as long as you can weave together a balanced  mood throughout. Even though we have a mix of gray and bright images in the video above, the filmmakers helped bridge the two light sources by gradually bringing in the light. There's no jarring black to white jumps, but a casual stroll into the light. Use different light sources to your advantage to create a journey.

Creating a travel video is about capturing memories and helping draw others in your adventure. Using light, sound, framing and color you can really pull viewers into the world you just experienced, possibly sparking their interest in visiting the same place. Regardless of the quality of your equipment, Boroda Cinema used a Sony A7s II, these simple storytelling techniques can make your travel video stand out from all the rest.

The feeling of being alone is a pretty human one. At some point in our lives, we've all felt alone in some form or capacity. I moved to a new high school my junior year and the feeling of being alone was everywhere. I didn't quite fit in, constantly tried to make friends but for some reason, just couldn't break into these social groups that had been clearly defined. The social barrier led me to spending a lot of time by myself over the next few years. My introvert tendencies came out like never before and I was content to just sit at home by myself most nights or go occupy my own table in the local coffee shop.

Alone In Paris

There's a different type of aloneness that is highlighted in Mathieu Stern's short film Alone In Paris. Here we a see a young woman about to head out for a day in Paris that was supposed to be spent with her sister. The problem is that her sister is sick and waiting on test results that could be potentially devastating. The young woman wanders around a seemingly empty Paris looking at beautiful images, statues and sights but just underneath there's a tension and anguish caused by the news. She is in the midst of a beautiful city and yet empty and alone.

Stern accomplished this feeling by literally scrubbing out all the other people in these shots, leaving only the young woman to sink into the landscape. It's a beautiful metaphor for how mental anguish and uncertainty can separate us from our surroundings. She walks around, vulnerable and exposed, yet completely alone in a city usually teeming with life. In her book The Gifts of Imperfection, author and researcher Brené Brown says , "One of the greatest barriers to connection is the cultural importance we place on “going it alone." The young woman in this film has "going it alone" thrust upon her and ends up walking alone in the city worried, expectant and heartbroken.

"We all heard the phrase 'Sometimes, only one person is missing, and the whole world seems depopulated' … so I wanted to show exactly what it feels like in this video," Stern said. He even managed to scrub out the daily commotion and noise to create an environment that feels almost otherworldly or dystopian. As I watched, I kept going back to that Brené Brown quote because I've always tended to "go it alone" in my life. I used to walk around beautiful cities and parks and sit on benches contemplating writings from Foucault and Camus, not paying any attention to anything around me, and that led to a lot of lonely nights. There was no connection, no spark with the universe. I was feeding myself philosophy and poetry but all that did was lead to alarming weight loss and a dithering social life. The young woman reminds me of myself because I've had points in my life when bad things happened and I had no connections around me to lean on. I was the one staring at the Eiffel Tower with no one around.

We all feel alone at some point in our lives, it's just going to happen. It happens less when you have true, vulnerable connections that can help share that burden with you. And if you didn't watch the entire video, I'm not going to spoil the ending. Seriously, it's less than 3 minutes long so watch it to the end. It's worth it.

You can check out more of Mathieu Stern's work at mathieustern.com.

When I travel I make a playlist of songs to help spur the sound of my creativity as I walk around a new city. It's a way to catalogue things and situations in my life.

If you were to ask me what music I was listening to in Paris in March 2009, I could easily answer "Suicide Blonde" by Jack's Mannequin, "So Long" by Guster and "Caroline" by David Gray, among others.

I'd also have to tell you that I had recently been disappointed in the direction of a relationship that never quite got off the ground (and a year later would get off the ground but then end pretty badly after about 16 months or so later) which led to me listening to "Hiatus" by Sugarcult almost every night when I walked home.

There's no better way to fall in love with a new city than by walking as much of it as you can. I like to walk with music on, especially at night, and make my own soundtrack for the events unfolding around me. I identify moments with the music that lurk just underneath the surface. For some reason that's just how my mind works and allows me to remember life experiences.

A Soundtrack To Walk To

Here's some of my top tracks while traveling, mostly due to what was happening in the moments between the beats.

1. Sitting by the River Thames on a typical foggy morning, listening to Amos Lee's "I'm Not Myself," waiting for the sun to pop out like it always did.
2. Driving down I-45 in Houston with a load of clothes and items for my new apartment in September of 2010 listening to "Everybody Learns From Disaster" by Dashboard Confessional.
3. Walking down Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles looking for inspiration while my friend Jeanette was at work, listening to "Going Through Hell" by The Streets.
4. Sitting in a bus in London after having an anxiety attack in an Indian food restaurant by Victoria Station in 2014, listening to "Can't Be Broken" by Twin Forks.
5. Walking home late on a Wednesday after playing some music at The Highlander Pub in Paris in 2009, the Eiffel Tower unlit and hulking over the Seine with Augustana's "Sweet And Low" in my ears.

There's too many songs to count, each inextricably connected to some random moment that would be vague and forgotten if not for a lyrical cue somehow. So the next time you travel to a new place, make a musical roadmap to help focus your creativity and to catalogue the random adventures you'll surely have.

By Daniel Wood

Let me first start by saying I don’t want this to be a film is better or digital is better discussion. It’s useless as they both have their reasons for using. And luckily for both camps, advances in technology have made it easier to use both and incorporate them into each other’s realm.

A while back, even a mere 5 years ago, nobody dreamed of artistically viewing photos on a computer screen or especially a cell phone screen, but, because they have become so ubiquitous and with such high-resolution displays, people do view digitally more than they look at printed photos. Still, there is nothing I love seeing more than a well-printed photograph or an incredibly curated photo book.

Despite what Instagram might suggest, filters are not meant to make photos look like film. They’re meant to make photos look like OLD faded photographs. Like what you find in your grandparents box of photos tucked inside their closet. Film itself is actually incredibly well detailed and with lifelike colors and sharpness. Each brand (mostly Fuji, Kodak and Ilford these days) have their own look to the film and offer different types (film stocks) for different occasions. Film even has a much higher dynamic range, and before anybody talks about HDR techniques, they are available to film shooters too and it requires a static subject. I shoot film because of this realism that it creates.

fiona

One of the most important aspects of photographing to me is the experience I have while shooting. I want to be inspired when I photograph. Each and every camera, whether film or digital, offers its own unique style. The way the camera handles, the controls, the way you see through the viewfinder, the feeling you get when you click the shutter. It all adds up to inspire you.

When I feel like walking around shooting whatever pops in front of me and I need compact camera that is discreet, I strap my Leica over my shoulder and shoot nearly invisibly due to its whisper quite shutter. However, when I need something a bit larger and have an idea of what I will be photographing I will bust out the Hasselblad and peer down through the most amazing viewfinder in the world. I feel like I’m in another dimension with that camera. Plus, the big square image I get afterwards and the huge CLUNK when you press the shutter is immensely satisfying. And when I have a project that is set in stone and I want to get the best image I can, I mount my 4x5 monorail camera on its tripod and take all the time in the world. That is a camera of patience and imagination since you must set up your photo, look through the ground glass screen and then insert the film which blocks your view and finally you can activate the shutter. But the detail of that image is unparalleled!

For someone who wants to get into film photography, whether already well-versed in digital or getting into photography for the first time, there is a camera for you. I tend to shoot cameras that are purely mechanical without automatic functions but that is only because they work for what I shoot and fit my workflow. There are film cameras still being made with just as much automation of exposure and focus as any digital camera will give.

For someone who wants to learn all the basics I’d stick with a manual camera like my trusty Pentax K1000 that can be picked up with a great lens for $50-$100 on a regular basis. For someone who wants a bit more dedicated functions the Canon AE-1 is a great camera around the same price. And if you want something like the experience and handling of shooting a modern digital camera, the Nikon F6 is still being made for around $2000 new. If you already have a digital and want to use your current lineup of lenses, there are plenty of great used film cameras that will most likely accept those same lenses, especially from Nikon, Canon and Pentax.

Once you find that perfect camera for you, choosing what you do with the images is up to you. First you must get them developed either at your local photo lab or there are plenty available online in which you mail your film to the lab and they return within a week or two. You can also choose to have them scan the film for you to edit on your computer and upload to your portfolio site, send to friends, or post on Instagram. If you are adventurous, it’s rather easy to develop black and white negatives at home using a few simple chemicals and a bathroom.

rada

If you choose to print your photos, labs will typically do very good inkjet prints for you at a size you choose, or if you are lucky enough, there will be a darkroom lab in your community you can go to and print your photos yourself. That’s where the real magic happens! Many colleges also have at least a black and white darkroom that can be used if you enroll in a class. Color printing is a bit more difficult and requires specialized chemicals and equipment, but well worth it if you have access.

Lastly, for those who aren’t ready to dive into film but want to explore some of the looks of different films, companies like VSCO sell different “film stocks” that can be used as plug-ins in Photoshop and Lightroom or whatever other photo editor you use. Some of them are intended to replicate actual films both current and vintage but also offer effects like expired film or light leaks and faded photographs.

All that really matters, though, is that you find something that works for you. Maybe it’s one camera that does it all or several different cameras that offer their own experience. Go out and explore, experiment and be inspired.

Daniel Wood is a writer, photographer and musician who currently resides in Seattle, WA. He is a lover of music and art and is consistently working on blending different mediums together to create unique pieces that tend to focus on introspection through the outward examination of others. His works include “Self-Portraits” a hand-bound letter-pressed photo/story book featuring 4x5 fabric contact prints and “Untitled Dreams I, II and III” which are massive 35’ long prints. His ongoing project “The Streets” is merely a collection of photographs which document the surroundings in which he immerses himself in.