José David Riquelme

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My name is Jose D. Riquelme and I am a young forty-two-year-old graphic designer and photographer from Murcia, a city in southeast Spain. I have been a graphic designer for twenty years and on a good day five years ago I decided to change from using photographs to actually taking my own.

My main interest in photography is with landscapes and night scenery.

When I started five years ago I started using the Canon EOS 6d Mark II with the Sigma Art 14mm f/1.8. It was a perfect match for my night photography as the camera handled noise very well and combined extremely well with the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 to produce sharp images.

Only a few months ago I changed to a Sony A7R IV, the brilliant flip screen and 61MP sensor were what made me decide. I can’t conceive of life without either the flip screen or the 61MP image sensor as they make it possible for me to go one step further with my panoramas.

Sony A7R IV– this is the perfect size camera I need for shooting my panoramas and together with the invariant ISO 32000 that reduces noise in the low- and mid-sensitivity ranges it is perfect for my night photography. Other strong points of this camera are the shutter that closes to protect the sensor when changing lenses and the fantastic flip screen.

Having more megapixels with any other camera would be inconvenient to work with in panoramas as I would need a NASA-style computer to edit and move them around.

Lenses

Sony FE 14mm F1.8 GM – this is very sharp and very light and its f/1.8 aperture makes it easy for me to work on my night photography.

Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM – this lens is also fabulous. It’s an all-rounder and with it, you can work from a 24mm landscape to a 70mm portrait. It is very versatile to walk around the city with the camera in hand but it has the drawback of being quite heavy.

Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5–5.6 GM OSS– this lens is a delight to use. Its sharpness is second to none regardless of the focal length you choose. It is very comfortable to wear and its weight is not as extreme as others of similar size.

Lights/Triggers

I mainly use a ball of light for my photos costing only three dollars that I buy in a common store. I find this to be enough if you know how to control the light properly.

Bags/Straps

Lowepro ProTactic BP 450 AW II – this is my backpack and I find it incredibly versatile. I can configure everything inside adding supplements to carry the tripod or a bottle of water. It is very comfortable to wear and to walk for several hours.

Tripods

Benro Mach3 – after using many brands I think that this one has the quality and hardness that I need. It’s a comfortable medium-sized tripod that provides everything that I need. I think that carrying a large tripod is inconvenient and does not offer anything extra.

Hardware & Software

To process my images I use DxO PureRaw which cleans noise, and sharpens and optimises my raws before editing them, it’s unbelievable. I then go through my editing in Camera Raw and Photoshop.

Final Words

I think we are losing real photographers who create new photos while creating a crowd of people who only copy photos that they have seen.

That’s why I think there are two types of photographers: photo collectors and photographers who create new things!

www.josedriquelme.com | @josed.riquelme