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This year I’ve been lucky enough to travel quite a bit, for both work and personal reasons, and I’ve made the most of it to shoot plenty of film.

This time I want to share my experience visiting Asturias, in northern Spain. It was a trip I wanted to take at a slower pace for personal reasons—just enjoying the beautiful landscapes of the north without any rush.

As with my recent trips, I brought my Contax with the 45mm pancake lens. In a place like this, I was especially grateful not to have brought a digital camera. My memories of the trip would have been completely different if I had been constantly checking a screen after every shot, taking 200 photos of the same view. Shooting film forces me to slow down, be more intentional, and simply look around.

That said, on this trip I did feel some of the 139Q limitations. Even with the pancake lens not being particularly fast, I sometimes wished for more shutter speed so I could shoot wider open and get more separation between layers in certain scenes. And since I already own a couple of Contax lenses, and want to stay in the system (Carl Zeiss, you know…), I’ve been browsing other bodies that could give me a bit more flexibility. But more on that soon.

Of course, it rained on many days (it is the north, after all) but I was lucky to get some stunning weather when I visited places like the Lagos de Covadonga, Senda de los Acantilados de Cabo Vidío or Faro de Cabo Peñas.

The way I planned my excursions meant I got to see quite a few sunsets, and in a matter of minutes the light would change dramatically. It’s one of those small rewards that makes me glad I took the trip slow.

I had the chance to return to Japan for two weeks. It was my fourth time in Tokyo, so I didn’t feel the pressure to check off tourist spots like I did on my first visits. And honestly, that made the trip even more enjoyable.

Even if I didn’t see that many new places. I spent more time just being with people, wandering without a plan, and letting the city unfold at its own pace. It made me wonder what it might be like to live there for a longer stretch.

Something that’s quietly become a little personal tradition: on arrival, I grab a melonpan and a coffee, then head straight to explore some neighborhood with an Ichiran Ramen close by, and to end the day, I make my way up to a viewpoint to watch the city glow at night.

This time I went up to Shibuya Sky. It’s one of those iconic city views—amazing perspective on the Shibuya crossing. I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of videos online with people riding the escalators and filming the skyline. It’s very crowded (no surprise given the location), but still worth it. That said, I think I preferred the Mori Tower view—maybe because it holds more personal meaning for me.

I also visited Harajuku. I’ve been there before, but this time I wanted to lose myself in the side streets. I’d recently been reading about the complex world of Japanese denim, and it turns out there’s a solid cluster of local brands with domestic production just a short walk from Shibuya. I ended up buying a couple of denim jackets—which will have to wait a few more months until Barcelona’s scorching temperatures finally cool down.

As I’ve mentioned on this blog before, photography is one of my biggest passions. But it’s not the only one outside of animation, I’ve also had a deep interest in watches for many years. So being back in Tokyo, I couldn’t pass up the chance to revisit the legendary second-hand camera shops in Shinjuku, or browse the watch stores tucked inside Nakano Broadway. I’ll write more about watches soon, as I managed to pick up a really interesting piece on this trip.

I came to Tokyo with my Contax setup, the one I’ve taken on a few trips already and that I’m more than happy with. But as I walked past Katsumido Camera, I couldn’t resist this titanium beauty: the Contax TVS.

During my previous camera hunts I had considered getting a Contax T2, but its high price and the risk of mechanical failure always held me back. The TVS, on the other hand, is a really compelling point-and-shoot. It has that same “luxury” aura thanks to its materials, build, and lens, but it costs about a quarter of the price—mostly because it (still) hasn’t fallen into the hype bubble.

This time I was staying at a hotel in Ginza, very close to the Sumida River, so my walk to the studio each morning was quite short. After all, this was a work trip, so I made the most of those morning walks to test out my new camera with a roll of Kodak Gold 200 I had originally brought for the 139Q.

They’re not great photos—just a first roll to make sure everything was working properly—but the results speak for themselves. The Carl Zeiss zoom (28–56) is super versatile and, to my untrained eyes, doesn’t lack sharpness compared to a big SLR.

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Each time I come back to Tokyo I leave with more reasons to return. There’s always something new to discover, but also a growing sense of comfort in the familiar. This trip reminded me how energizing it can be to slow down, stay curious, and make space for small routines and quiet moments.

I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I already look forward to the next time I’m wandering through backstreets with a camera in hand and nowhere particular to be.

This March, I had the chance to speak again at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. A few years back (2019), I made a small appearance during the Animation Tricks of the Trade microtalks. But this time, I shared the stage for a full hour with my teammate Liam Wong, diving into the process behind the Kemuri trailer we created for The Game Awards.

Giving talks is one of those strange motivators. I don’t particularly enjoy public speaking, but the idea that something I say might inspire or resonate with someone else makes it worth the nerves.

As always, Laura came along as my moral support. Since it was our second time in the city, we wanted to skip some of the typical tourist stops and explore a bit deeper. San Francisco reminds me a lot of Barcelona. Similar size, tourism and tech-forward energy, coastal light, and that sharp contrast between affluence and hardship.

Now that I’ve rekindled my love for analog photography, this trip was the perfect excuse to test out my new setup. I packed a few rolls of Kodak Gold 200 and Portra 400. In the end I mostly shot with Gold 200, which turned out to be the right call. My camera maxes out at 1/1000s shutter speed, so shooting higher-speed film in bright daylight is tricky. Plus, I just love the warm tones the Gold gives me (and hey, it’s cheaper than Portra!).

Since these were my first real rolls and it was such an important trip I still took plenty of safety shots on the iPhone. But once I got home to Barcelona and developed the film, the difference floored me. Even if the film photos are “technically” worse, I much prefer them. The colors are richer, the grain is real, and somehow, they look more like how I remember things.

When I edit digital photos, I’m always trying to bend them toward memory. Adjusting light, tweaking tones to match what I saw. But with film, the memories seem to surface on their own. A little light adjustment here, a small crop there, and suddenly I’m back in the moment.

It ended up being such a great trip. Super relaxed, no real itinerary, just walking around, seeing where the days took us. And honestly, the best parts were the ones we didn’t plan at all (like randomly getting to visit Pixar!). After developing those first rolls I’m completely sold on shooting film. It just feels better. Slower, more thoughtful, and way more rewarding. There’s something really special about not knowing exactly what you’re going to get and then being surprised by how much it actually feels like the moment you were trying to capture.