
Every pixel matters. Every color detail, every tonal gradation, every nuance you spent hours adjusting in post-processing. And yet, when you upload that photo to Instagram or any other social network, all of that disappears. Compression, cropping, algorithms that decide who sees it and who doesn't. Your work gets reduced to a 1080-pixel square that people scroll past in half a second.

![Website source code on GitHub {"priority": true, "align": "left"}](/blog/2026-09-04_por-que-construi-mi-web_codigo.png)

That frustration is what pushed me to build **my own website**. I didn't just want a template portfolio — I wanted a place where I could control every aspect of how my photographs are presented. A space where the image is the absolute protagonist, without distractions, without format limitations, and with all the technical information that I consider part of each photo's story.

## Photos the way they deserve to be seen

In [the gallery](/en/gallery) of this website, each photograph is displayed at the highest possible resolution, with a viewer that respects the original proportions and lets you enjoy every detail. But what mattered most to me was being able to accompany each image with its **real metadata**: the camera, the lens, the exposure parameters, the location, the date... All of that tells a story that social networks simply strip away.

When you take a [long exposure](/en/gallery/tags/long-exposure) of 120 seconds on the coast at dawn, the technical data isn't a _geek_ indulgence — it's part of the narrative. Knowing that the silky water required a 10-stop filter and almost two minutes of exposure changes how you look at the photo.

## Built from scratch, with care

![Photo detail with its metadata {"align": "right"}](/blog/2026-09-04_por-que-construi-mi-web_detalle.png)

The website is developed with **Next.js** and designed for performance. Images are served in optimized WebP format at multiple resolutions, loaded progressively with a dominant color _placeholder_, and the design is fully _responsive_. I don't use external image optimization services — everything is pre-processed so the experience is as fast as possible without sacrificing quality.

The dark theme is no coincidence: a neutral background is the best frame for photography, like the walls of a gallery. Every design decision serves the image.

## Not just a gallery: prints too

A photo on screen is beautiful, but a quality print on paper is something else entirely. That's why I've opened a [print store](/en/store/prints) where you can order copies of my photographs. I'm just getting started with this project, and in a future article I want to tell you all about the process: how I print at home, what papers I use, what color profiles I work with, and why I believe it's worth having a physical photo hanging on the wall.

## A living space

This website is not a finished product — it's a living project that I keep improving. I want to add more content to the blog, create tutorials on planning and editing photography, and keep refining the gallery experience. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading, and I invite you to [explore the photos](/en/gallery) at your own pace. That's how they're best enjoyed.


Why I built my own photography website


As a simple computer program written in a programming language yet to be learned, a `Hello, world!` That's how I start this adventure that I've long wanted to embark on. You know how they say, "the cobbler's children go barefoot." I've always tended to set aside my own things, a place where I can share my way of expression and the knowledge I've been acquiring along the way. A path where I've stepped on different puddles, but perhaps it's in the creative one where I've gotten wet the most, be it through graphic design or graphic interfaces, although also, especially in recent years, in the world of [photography](/en/gallery).

![Savia Magazine sketches {"priority": true, "align": "left"}](/blog/2023-04-23_hola-mundo_bocetos-savia-magazine.jpg)

The reality is that in my professional field, I leaned towards the programming side, specifically web development, a world I discovered back in 2004, almost twenty years ago now 😅, while I was studying **Graphic Design** at [EASDA](https://easda.es/) (School of Art and Superior Design of Alicante). Maybe that's why, when I remember my origins in the world of web development, I feel some nostalgia for that aspect where I dedicated myself more to conceptualizing and developing corporate, typographic, or editorial identity projects, like the final project I presented titled [Savia Magazine](/documents/savia-magazine.pdf) (with real interviews to creative people of the time) or other works I collected for [my first portfolio](/documents/portafolio-kikoruiz-2006.pdf).

Over time, I realized that I was focusing too much on developing in the world of programming but not so much on the creative side, and I felt like something was missing. Probably because of that, and also because I had an interest in it before, in 2016 I bought my first digital SLR camera, a **Canon EOS 6D**, which I still keep in good condition. With it, I started immersing myself in [landscapes](/en/gallery/landscapes), and after a few months, I also bought some filters (neutral density, gradient...) to begin capturing [seascapes](/en/gallery/seascapes) and [long exposures](/en/gallery/tags/long-exposure), which is what I felt most drawn to during the first years.

![My first long exposure of coastal landscape {"align": "right"}](/blog/2023-04-23_hola-mundo_primera-larga-exposicion.jpg)

So, I could say that since 2017, I have increasingly become fond of photography. I've been learning a lot on my own and also thanks to the people I've met and learned from through courses, YouTube videos, tutorials, etc... Currently, I have several role models and professional photographers worth mentioning, who have guided me in many aspects. Among them, I would highlight [Pablo Ruiz García](https://pabloruizgarcia.com/) or [David Aguilar](https://www.davidaguilarphoto.com/) for the local scene, and [Albert Dros](https://www.albertdros.com/) or [Michael Shainblum](https://www.shainblumphoto.com/) on the international stage.

With all this, even though today I still dedicate myself to photography as an amateur and can't dedicate all the time I'd like to it (due to family and work reasons, etc...), I consider that I've gained experience and knowledge that I'd like to share through this channel, **my new website** (I would say it's the one I've given the most affection 🥰), where I not only want to share my works in great detail and all the information possible but also start creating some **photography tutorials** covering aspects such as planning, editing, and even printing. In fact, I would also like to set up a direct channel for selling prints of my photos, but this is still in the ideation process. I don't rule out writing articles about web development and programming, which is what I'm currently dedicated to, as well as about my personal life and another of my great passions: trail running. But we'll see how it goes, for now, it's time to let everything flow... **welcome to my website!** [You can start exploring it now](/en/gallery) 🕵️
