Lucho Vidales is an Argentinian photographer currently based in Barcelona. Specialized in sports and lifestyle photography, he has been chosen by Red Bull to be part of the team of photographers of this brand known all over the world.
At present Lucho is using artificial light for a large part of his productions, which is supported by broncolor lighting equipment. The other day Lucho paid us a visit in the tx-lab studio and talked to us about his current projects.
How did you start in photography?
"I started in photography some five years ago, everything began as a hobby. At that time I was playing rugby, and for personal reasons I had to stop, but so as not to give up the habit I started to carry my camera to the matches and take photos. Both of the action itself and of the people and situations which arise in these meetings of the family which is larger than the club."
"In the course of time I became more and more interested, I began to experiment with other types of photography and other sports and studied a lot on my own. I improved with prac-tice until I realized that I didn’t want to do anything else besides photography."
Where does this bias towards sports photography come from?
"My enjoyment of sports photography comes from everyday life. I have always been surrounded by sports, both rugby in the past and now more urban sports. I believe that it is vital to lead a healthy and active life and to take care of our body, this also helps us to hold our heads properly."
"I have always been very interested in action, but I try not to focus on this. In my photographs I try to place importance on the settings in which the activities take place, and also to tell the story of those who practise these activities and their lifestyle."
When and why did you decide to include artificial light in your photographs?
"The subject of flashes came up after a Red Bull workshop in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I was intro-duced to this new universe of possibilities offered to us by the use of external flashes."
"I had my first experience there, and to discover new tools and to be able to continue learning more every time this was sufficient for me to become intrigued by the subject and become more interested in it. I very much like the aesthetics which the use of artificial light gives us, all the variations and possibilities which can be generated. Both for portraits and for action photographs."
At what point in your work did you decide to start using broncolor? What are the advantages of being able to use this type of lighting?
"This came about after seeing that some colleagues who are involved in fast-action sports photography were using this, and the results looked very good thanks to the advantages of the broncolor packs. What I hope to see from these packs is how they freeze the action thanks to their short flash duration and their large power capacity to beat the sun; even so, I do not understand how these 1200 watts fit into such a small pack … Hahaha."
An Argentian who has recently settled in Barcelona. What are your reasons for coming here?
"Well, my idea is to be able to express all the possibilities which can open up in a city like Barcelona, and hopefully to continue knocking on doors; some close while other new ones open. Time will tell…"
"For the time being I am here and I very much want to continue growing and following the photography road. My plan is to get to know a lot of new people, so if they already know whether they want to start taking photos they should just ask my permission first!"
Check out Lucho Vidales and his work on Facebook and Instagram, where he shares behind the scenes photos of his shoots.
This article first appeared on the broncolor blog