In the age of ubiquitous smartphones and obsessive social sharing, it could be said that no good sunset these days goes unphotographed. In some cities and popular destinations, Instagramming a particularly vibrant sunset, as in the case of “Manhattanhenge” or the nightly sundown gatherings on Rio’s Ipanema Beach, is a key to participation in the collective experience. Posting a sunset photo, no matter its quality, is how one can simply say, “hey, I was there.”
With Instagram so overdosed with sunsets, photographers who specialize in them truly must stand out from the pack. Enter Eric Rubens (@erubes1), a 32-year-old from Orange Country whose images, chiefly taken against sunrise or sunset, have garnered more than 390,000 followers and partnerships with brands such as Disney, BMW, Sennheiser, and Colorado Tourism.
Adorama caught up with Rubens to discover how he’s made a career from what began as an after-work hobby, and to find out the ethical reasoning behind his vague location tagging.
Adorama: First things first. What is your gear setup and your usual editing workflow?
Rubens: I shoot with the Sony a7R III and typically a 16-35mm or 24-70mm lens. My drone is the DJI Phantom 4 Pro. I often use polarizer filters, since shooting water, reflections, and clouds are a huge part of my style. I then edit everything in Adobe Lightroom and send those files to my phone, where I edit again in Adobe Lightroom Mobile to optimize it for phone viewing. I use my own presets for every picture I post, mostly to set the tone curves and some hue adjustments. At the end of the day, I treat each photo as an individual project. I love experimenting with pushing the colors and exposure to the limits in all my pictures.
Adorama: What would you consider to be elements of your signature style?
Rubens: I’ve always been attracted to neon colors, so my style would most likely be described as bright and vivid. I love the colors brought by beach sunsets, and I try to emphasize those elements in my post production.
“I’d go to the beach every day after work, and I remember when I realized that photography was not only stress relief but my passion.”
Adorama: Was there a moment you remember first falling in love with photography?
Rubens: I went to college for electrical engineering and after graduating, worked in that field for seven years. I’d go to the beach every day after work, and I remember when I realized that photography was not only stress relief but my passion. I have no formal training in it, other than the crash course of buying my first DSLR and shooting with it every day.
Adorama: How do you make a living right now, and how big a role does your photography play?
Rubens: I work full-time as a photographer and videographer. The majority of my income comes through social media campaigns for brands around the world, although I also spend a good deal of time with other start-up companies in which I’m invested.
Adorama: How much preparation do you put into an image? Can you give an example of an image or project of yours which required a great amount of prep?
Rubens: The majority of my work comes from scouting out spots along the coastline of Southern California, often times paying close attention to the tides and trying for access to areas only reachable during low tide. There’s a variety of sea caves throughout San Diego and Orange County, so timing a low tide with a sunset in such a location is my winning recipe.
Adorama: How do you prepare for travel, and what steps do you take to ensure that through multiple flights (or other transport) that your cameras, lenses, drones, and other accessories are 100-percent ready when you reach your destination?
Rubens: I’m very fortunate to use the Sony Alpha mirrorless line, making my gear so much smaller and lighter than that of some of my other friends. I always carry my gear with me in a camera bag when I travel, with another bag for my drone, and make sure I’m in possession of these at all times. I also stock up on portable chargers so I can keep my gear charged on jobs where power isn’t readily available.
“I love helping people experience the places I take pictures, but I just always try to think about the effect I might have on a location.”
Adorama: Occasionally you shoot in spots that you leave unnamed and untagged, despite many follower comments asking for location information. How do you find out about some of these “secret” spots, and why do you feel it’s important to not readily pinpoint exact locations?
Rubens: I tag almost all my pictures with the locations, except for the places I think are sensitive to increased traffic. There’s a couple sea caves I’ve seen grow in popularity, and now they always have trash in them when, in the past, there wasn’t this littering. The same goes for spots in the mountains that get increased exposure, resulting in wear and tear to the environment. I love helping people experience the places I take pictures, but I just always try to think about the effect I might have on a location.
Adorama: Your photos often capture a location or subject during sunrise, sunset, the golden hour, or the blue hour. What is your biggest tip to ensuring you get the light you want, in the spot you want, during these limited times of the day?
Rubens: I try to get to a spot early to check out the clouds and anticipate where they’re moving and how the light will be during sunset. I also make sure my position is such that I’m shooting towards clouds or the light, and line up my subjects accordingly. I often under-expose my photos since the sky is the main priority and it’s a lot easier to brighten up the shadows in the foreground than it is to recover the cloud detail if you overexpose it.
Adorama: When shooting with a drone, how do you manage the glare off the water, and do you have certain considerations you keep in mind when sending up a drone for over-water shots?
Rubens: I use a PolarPro polarizing filter almost any time I shoot with the drone. I typically shoot bodies of water, and glare is a constant concern for me when doing aerial work. Using a polarizer is a game changer, especially when the water is so clear in many of the destinations I visit.
Adorama: In the caption of one of your recent Instagrams you reflect on how this little app has so profoundly changed your life. Have you thought of what you’d be doing if Instagram never existed, and what would that be?
Rubens: It’s really amazing to think about the social media industry and how it has evolved in the last five years. If it didn’t exist I would definitely still be an electrical engineer. Over the past year I’ve been trying to strategically align with a couple tech startup companies and merge my two passions. Photography started out as an after-work hobby and somehow turned into my career. I’m always blown away when I reflect on this. I’m very fortunate to be able to do something I love for a living, and hope I can continue to do so down the road.
“Photography started out as an after-work hobby and somehow turned into my career. I’m always blown away when I reflect on this.”
Adorama: What’s your single favorite photo you’ve captured and shared, and can you tell the story behind it?
Rubens: It’s a photo of a San Diego sea cave, one that has a hole in its ceiling and is very challenging to enter. Timing my arrival with sunset and a low tide is difficult enough, but what makes it even more tough to shoot is having a wide enough lens to capture it all. Not until Sony came out with the 12-24mm lens was I able to effectively fit it all in the frame. I think this photo summarizes the amount of planning that goes into my more successful photos, and how evolving technology plays a major role in capturing new angles and the reality of a scene.
Check out Rubens’ full Through the Lens episode below:
