“I consider myself a lifelong learner”: photographer Eva Blanco in interview

Photography colleagues influenced Eva Blancos‘ entrance into the world of royalty-free images. We highly appreciate this path into the business, especially when we hear it from photographers who decided to work with us. It shows that there is a powerful sense of community among our photographers. We believe a mutual inspiration between our art department and photographers and solely amid photographers drives our portfolio’s quality. Eva is one of the newer drivers fitting in perfectly within our community. Time to get to know her a little better. Thanks to our Spanish Community Manager Alba Vitta, we get the chance.

Hi Eva, nice to meet you today. Tell us, who is is Eva Blanco?

Uhmm, It is a good question, hahaha. It is not very easy to define oneself.
I could say that I consider myself a lucky girl who has the luck to dedicate herself to what she likes most, photography.

When and why did you start taking photos?

In 2015, after ten years of working in the world of tourism, I realized I was not happy and considered that it was time to make a radical change in my life in many ways. I always liked photos as memories with my family and friends. Yet, I never thought about photography as a way of life until I applied for a scholarship. As they gave it to me, I did not know what a RAW was, nor had I edited anything. It was an incredible learning stage from zero.

What other photography approaches do you follow, besides stock?

When I realized that what I enjoyed the most was working with people, I turned to social photography, especially weddings.

After some time, I got to know stock. Still, due to the extraordinary dedication that social photography requires, I could not devote all the time I needed. It was not until last year that I was finally able to get into the stock world. One year later, I can say that it is my primary income source, especially since the pandemic. Even though I still stick to social photography and try to combine social photography stock imagery.

What is your favorite theme to photograph?

People, especially children, are a challenge but 100% authentic.
And pets, each with their character and that unconditional love for their humans.

And the theme you dislike the most?

Anything related to fashion, a photograph in which the clothes or accessories stand out more than the person. I just don’t feel that.

What is a highlight in your stock career?

Definitely, the photoshoot that has been the most challenging so far. It took place inside a swimming pool. As I always like to go to the locations before the shoot and have everything well planned with this project, I could not check the shoot location. We went there early in the morning so that no one would be there. I had never been at the spot, and I never did an underwater photoshoot. Trying to focus with the model in motion, holding my breath, and trying to get good photos was a huge challenge. But leaving the comfort zone is something that certainly creates results and learnings that are worth it.

What do you like the most about being a stock photographer?

My work’s versatility, being able to work how, where and when I want, meeting different people in each production, and always looking for new locations. It is a job that demands being constantly aware of trends.
And of course, as I mentioned before, meeting different people in each session, each with a different story, is very exciting.

It’s probably tough to answer the question with a pandemic hanging over our heads, but what are your plans for the future?

I want to keep improving and continue to learn. I consider myself a lifelong learner, doing photoshoots I haven’t done yet, traveling, and continuing to get out of my comfort zone as much as I can.

Is there something you want to say to photographers that want to start working in the production of royalty-free images? Or do you have a question for those who are very experienced already?

Constancy, effort and hard work, this is not an easy world and every time there is more competition and more quality, there are difficult moments, but you have to be 100% aware that this is a marathon and a very reciprocal work, so much time you dedicate to it, so many benefits it brings you, maybe not in the short term, but in the medium or long term. With hard work, everything can be achieved.

What motivated you to work with W61? What makes it special for you?

I have been following the work of W61 for a long time, and I had always liked it. When I decided to make the jump from microstock to macro, I asked several colleagues, and the feedback was very good, especially from Javi Sanchez, who also helped me with the application. So I am very grateful for all the help he gave me.