Insta Fav #ignt_balloons: Daniel Rueda

Every Thursday we announce a certain topic via a hashtag, afterwards you’ll have 4 days to make a photo working with that topic and upload it to your Instagram using the hashtag. Who shot the best image will be featured as our Insta Fav in the following week. This weeks topic is #ignt_symmetry and here are a few rules and tips:

– The goal this week is to take a creative photo that plays with symmetry. Let your imagination run free.
– Please only submit your own photographs to the project. Any image tagged until Monday is eligible to be featured right here.
– If you want to submit your photo, use the hashtag #ignt_symmetry and upload your photo until Sunday the 01.03 on your Instagram account.

Have fun and good luck, we can’t wait to see your submissions.

Valencia-based amateur photographer and student of architecture Daniel Rueda won the following feature with his picture for our last weeks topic #ignt_balloons. Thank you for all your submissions.

Follow: @drcuerda

When and where did you take the picture? Tell us a little about the idea behind it.
Well, my partner in crime @anniset and I are always trying to bring new and fun ideas to life with our images. So, when we decided to create a balloon-themed picture, I immediately started to think about the feeling of lightness you always get when you grab a balloon. As a kid, I used to think I could take off the ground if I would grab enough of them. And that is basically the whole idea.

I would grab Anna’s foot in midair so that we could fly away… Which sounds really cheesy now that I wrote it down! I also wanted to create a very geometrical 45-degrees composition, but timing the shot perfectly on frame while standing up or jumping would’ve been way too complicated, so I came up with this little idea. Laying down on the floor would do the trick more easily. That gave me more time to think about other important things such as the specific position of our bodies and the black and white combination of our clothes and the balloons as well. And that’s pretty much it! However, whenever I think in this particular picture I feel very thankful for Anna’s mother, she was the one patiently holding the phone up on the roof of her house and shooting as many takes as it took. So all the credits should go to her.

Where are you from? How does that place influence the way you photograph?
I’m from Spain. I was born in a town called Albacete but I’m currently based in Valencia. Therefore, it is never too cold to go outside to look for new adventures – and that is pretty cool, right?! But there’s pros and cons for everything. In my photography, I’m usually looking for an homogeneous and tender light, but here the sky is so clear that sometimes I need to wait for the last minutes of the day to catch that softer light of the dawn in order to get rid of that striking shadow behind me.

Who and what are the things that inspire you?
Pretty much everything really! It sounds cliche, but it is true! A movie, a book, a song, a person, a word! Everything can turn out to be a photo. Although I must say architecture it really is my thing. Clean and empty large spaces drive me crazy.

Tell us what’s usually in your toolkit when leaving the house.
There is one thing you need to know about me. I’m a a man to his backpack attached! But it’s filled up with goodies. I live a few miles from the inner core of the city so I have to spend a great deal of time a day in the subway train. And I hate wasting time! So if we ever came across in one of the wagons, I will surely be reading a book or watching a documentary on my iPad; my one and only true companion. Nor can I be separated from my sketchbook and, of course, my iPhone. I can’t image a single day without one of those.

Your favorite instagrammers?
That is the hardest questions you could ever ask me! I’m going to name just a few of them not to leave the question unanswered, but the complete list of my all time favorites will be found in my following list. There is a lot of talent down there!
I love @nunoassis and @catarinalamy use of space in architecture. @ejota_seventyeight and their kids will melt your heart. @huntgram is the most attractive fox ever, and also the best app to discover the most talented people in this app. Pilar’s feed is just beyond words. But if you are crazy about editing, you cannot miss Javier’s account. Enjoy!

Which Apps do you use to edit your pictures?
Same old, same old! I use the classic Snapped-VSCO combo for level adjustments, and sometimes I use Instagram’s own app for the latest minor tweaks right before sharing it.

Tell us a little about your everyday. (Family, friends, work, etc.)
I woke up early everyday (or at least I try!) and I get on the train to get to the city while swallowing the last drop of my coffee… I’m a soon-to-be architect, which means I spend most of my time working on my thesis project. But whenever I’m not struggling with architecture, I love getting involved into very different kind of projects. I’m an architectural photographer who loves making videos and crafting graphic and web design… And much, much more! I like to think of myself as a one-man band!
In my spare time I love wandering the city with Anna looking for new adventures, although I enjoy a lot going to the cinema or watching a documentary at home… Which may not sound so exciting, but I really love it anyway.