The Nature Reserve of El Remolar-FilipinesA Windswept Day at El Remolar-Filipines Nature ReserveThe Nature Reserve of El Remolar-Filipines

Sunlight, Wind, and Wild Beauty Near Barcelona

Barcelona’s airport isn’t exactly where you’d expect to find a peaceful stretch of protected wetland—but just beyond the runway, the El Remolar-Filipines nature reserve offers a surprising escape. On a crisp, windy day, I headed out there with a journalist and the editor from Metropolitan Magazine. The wind nearly took the car door off, but the light? Absolutely unreal.

We arrived mid-morning. The sky had that rare winter sharpness—sun blazing, clouds tumbling across the horizon like something out of a dream. I spent most of the shoot pointing directly into the sun, a risky move depending on your mood and camera settings. This time, though, it paid off.

When the Sky Does Half the Work

The cloud formations added an almost surreal drama to the scene. It’s not every day nature gives you high-contrast, diffused light without a softbox in sight. The final images required hardly any editing—just a light touch in Aperture to prep them for print. When conditions line up like this, you realize how much photography is about showing up and not getting blown over by the wind.

This wasn’t a high-drama assignment. No exotic animals. No sweeping drone shots. Just a quiet reserve, a lot of wind, and some beautiful light doing what it does best. Sometimes, that’s more than enough.