Manuel Bruges

complete print&web services

Camel in the desert.

CONTACT

Manuel Bruges

complete print&web services

Contact Manuel Bruges

If you have questions about me or my work, you can contact me using the form below. I would love to hear from you.
I will reply as soon as possible. But please allow me some time as I might be engaged in some other urgent matter.

In the future, I will add a blog to this web-portfolio. Only those on my mailing list will have access to it.
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Have a great day and thank you very much for visiting this web-portfolio.

complete editorial and web services contact

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The flamenco wear.
The flamenco wear.

Copy Writer vs Copy Editor.

Copywriters use language in a creative and persuasive manner to communicate a message effectively. Through their efforts, an article or piece of advertising gets its structure and shape, to form a solid and logic argument. Then, the copy editor goes through the piece and polishes it, making corrections for inconsistencies and errors, refining it until it is ready for its intended audience.

Focus on the essentials.

sevillana dancers.

From functionality and appearance to navigation and coding integrity, a lot goes into creating an eye-catching, user-friendly website. Whether you decide to build the website yourself or have it done, you should not ignore current website considerations and best-practices.

Focus on the essentials.

From functionality and appearance to navigation and coding integrity, a lot goes into creating an eye-catching, user-friendly website. Whether you decide to build the website yourself or have it done, you should not ignore current website considerations and best-practices.

Good website goals are SMARTER.

Specific.

Measurable.

Achievable.

Relevant.

Time sensitive.

Evaluated.

Reviewed.

Sevillana dancer.
Sevillana dancer.

Complete Print&Web Services

In this web-portfolio, you will find examples of my published work, which are also samples of the services I provide. Those services can compete with larger agencies, but are naturally more personalized and affordable. With Manuel Bruges, you deal with one individual, the one who is producing your material, and one who highly values each client. For those valued customers, I promise the kind of quality and efficiency that only a personal touch can give.
If you require my work in any of its forms or wish to know more about my complete editorial and web services, please do not hesitate.

Various ways of treating an image.

Image manipulation

In here an ordinary horizontal framed image is turned into a larger vertical movie poster. In this class, the student starts with a simple portrait and gradually turns it into a billboard. To ease the learning process, I dived this class into various distinct steps. At first, the students learn the basic technical aspects of image manipulation by completing a project using the class assets and following the teachers' instructions. Afterwards, as the students become more familiar with the manipulation process, the class turns to the practical aspects of planning and gathering one's original assets, often photographs taken by the students. Back at the class, the students learn how to compose and manipulate their assets to produce the movie poster they envisioned.

This class is particularly useful to photographers who want to pursue a commercial career, but often excuse themselves by lacking the budget needed to build their portfolio. Photo manipulation decreases the need of costly models or expensive settings. In this class, the student will learn that to produce compelling commercial images, using some basic technical skills and a fertile imagination.

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Location Lighting

I took this image while on an editorial assignment; NYC at Christmas time. NYC has various Christmas icons; one of them is the Santa Claus at the department stores. This particular one was at the Bloomingdale, who unexpectedly gave the magazine I was working for the permission to shoot during pick hours. The Santa's room if often dark and I was given 15 minutes, from setting to clean up, and the result is what you see. Unlike many of NYC Santa Claus, which are actors and love the camera, this one was a story teller and camera shy. After setting up my strobe-lights and positioning the Santa, I started to shoot and realize that the Santa had no clue of what to do, without time to explain, I just grabbed the nearest stuffed animal and told him to hold it. Current digital cameras provide good-quality images at high ISOs, but the need to recreate a setting using artificial lighting when requested is an important skill the freelance photographer has to master. There is no time for trails; no Polaroid backs on the analogue cameras and no time to check back-screen on today's digital cameras. When you have just a couple of minutes of actual shooting time, there are no second chances. In this particular case, I used a Hasselblad, and I took five frames, three of them with the stuffed animal.

This class you can learn how to be quick setting up lights to recreate a new environment on location.

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Analogue Photography

The time-tested traditions of film photography are more than a nostalgic or fashionable necessity to many photographers. It is not easy to reproduce the ‘film’ look in a computer and for that reason, many photographers are going back to analogue photography. Magazines dedicated to analogue photography are, likewise, sprouting everywhere inspiring those who entered photography via the digital realm and never experienced the film to give it a try.

This class is mostly about B&W film photography, and while I start with camera basics, I gradually delve into advanced topics such as how to choose the right film for the task and how to manipulate film curves during development.

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Vector

Unlike pixel-based images, vector graphics are not made of a specific number of dots. Therefore, vector-based images can be scaled to a larger size without losing image quality. Because vector graphics use mathematic equations and geometric primitives (points, lines and shapes), their appearance is clean and crispy, impossible to reproduce using pixel based applications. Photoshop out o the box already possesses a few vector tools that with each version become more refined. There is a reason for adding vector tools to a predominantly pixel based application.

In this class, I teach the importance of vector images and introduce Adobe Illustrator to photographers.

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Street Photography

This image was taken in Venice for the Fujifilm technical data for professionals. It was used to advertise the Fujifilm Rembrandt B&W printing paper. I find this picture to be a perfect example of street photography along the lines of a photographer I highly admire, Henri Cartier-Bresson. While walking around town, I saw this scene and capture two frames without been noticed, even the dog was unaware of my presence. Only afterward did I approach the group to introduce myself and learn a little about them. As you might already realize, street photography is one of my favorite topics. To walk around town documenting life as we see it, is a photographic practice and mental exercise demanding a well-balanced blend of introspection and camera skills. It does not matter if you use a large analogue camera or a modern smartphone, the process and what you are trying to achieve don't change, only the tools.

In this class, I introduce documentary photography with a particular emphasis on street-photography.

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Illustration

The line dividing photography from design is a thin, but a well-defined line, that is getting blurred with every passing year. Presently, the need for a designer to know how to manipulate a pixel based image is as important as the necessity the photographer has to incorporate their pictures in the larger context of presentations and page layout in particular. Especially those photographers interested in product photography and advertisement can significantly benefit from familiarizing themselves with vector based applications. To learn how to blend both, vector and raster, images to achieve a final composition that conveys one's vision is an exciting challenge that can open the photographer to new possibilities. You do not need to be a detail maniac to submit your ideas to a commercial agency, has they often welcome proposals from outsiders with basic skills but fertile imagination. Those looking for a chance in the advertisement field should keep in mind that commercial agencies have the know how, but at times need outside refreshing ideas.

In this class, the student will learn how to create and blend pixel and vector images to create a product campaign for a fictitious company.

The line dividing photography from design is a thin, but a well-defined line, that is getting blurred with every passing year. Presently, the need for a designer to know how to manipulate a pixel based image is as important as the necessity the photographer has to incorporate their pictures in the larger context of presentations and page layout in particular. Especially those photographers interested in product photography and advertisement can significantly benefit from familiarizing themselves with vector based applications. To learn how to blend both, vector and raster, images to achieve a final composition that conveys one's vision is an exciting challenge that can open the photographer to new possibilities. You do not need to be a detail maniac to submit your ideas to a commercial agency, has they often welcome proposals from outsiders with basic skills but fertile imagination. Those looking for a chance in the advertisement field should keep in mind that commercial agencies have the know how, but at times need outside refreshing ideas.

In this class, the student will learn how to create and blend pixel and vector images to create a product campaign for a fictitious company.

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Going to Roccio by horse.

WRITING

PHOTOGRAPHY

WEB-PRESENCE

WRITING

PHOTOGRAPHY

WEB-PRESENCE

ABOUT

For the past 25 years, I’ve been working as a Creative Professional, most often as a travel journalist. Along the way, I worked in many countries and meet many people who happily showed me their favorite places, told me their best stories, and above all, shared friendship. A special thanks to them, without whom my life had been far less exciting.
Now that I traded the road for a more sedentary work style, I found that my experience and expertise is of great use to many people, particularly those seeking an independent career or running a small business.
It doesn’t matter if you are an individual or have a small team supporting your business. More often than not, the job seems too great and the time too short to execute it properly. This is when an outside, but knowledgeable helping hand, can save the day.

Please evaluate my work and if you find that I may be beneficial to you, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Manuel Bruges

Web and Print Services

©2024 Manuel Bruges