PauloBizarroPHOTOBLOG

One of my favourite photographic subjects are rural fields with hay bales. At the end of Spring, farmers start to harvest cereals and hay, the latter to store as cattle feed for the following months. This is a centuries old seasonal activity, still important for the economy of several parts of the country. In previous visits to Longueira, I noticed that some fields already had the typical bales. Every year I go to familiar locations to photograph the bales, so avoiding repetition in the resulting photos can be a challenge.

The photos I am showing here were made last week, in a small field near Longueira. The weather had been quite variable, thanks to the presence of Saharan dust brought in by the wind. This made for unique weather and light conditions. For example, for a few days, the Sun was pale and obscured; the presence of high levels of dust in the atmosphere also created rain showers and thunderstorms.

The dust gradually cleared out after a couple of days, and I decided to go out one morning to photograph a nearby field. In the Summer, this entails waking up very early, well before 6 am, but at least the location was only a couple of km away. I grabbed my tripod, plus two of my Fuji cameras and lenses. I had my Fujinon 14mm wide angle lens, and the Fujinon 35mm standard lens. Before sunrise, the sky was covered with stormy clouds, but I started to make a few test shots, using the bales as the main foreground subject. I was walking around between the ends of the field, making photos towards the East and the West; it is important to look in all directions, as the light can change rather quickly.

For a brief period, there was a break in the dark sky, and light illuminated the landscape in a golden glow. This period only lasted for a few minutes, so I had to photograph quickly.

After that, the clouds covered the Sun again, but there was still an opportunity to photograph the filtered rays, an effect that can add a bit of drama to the photos.

I am happy with the photos I got, thanks to the interesting weather and light, which conveyed a different mood to a familiar and common subject.

About 1 month ago I wrote about the white storks of the Southwest Alentejo Natural Park, describing my first attempt of photographing them this year.

In fact, every year this unique species returns to this coast, reusing previous nesting places. In April, my visit was during the late afternoon and sunset time; now, in May, I have returned before sunrise, hoping to photograph the birds under a different light and with different behaviors. Thus, I arrived before sunrise at Cabo Sardão, just past Almograve and Cavaleiro villages. Parking the car near the lighthouse, I grabbed my gear and walked towards the edge of the cliffs. I had with me the Fujinon 70-300mm zoom lens, mounted on the Fujifilm X-T3 camera, plus a tripod.

From previous visits, I knew that several nests had been occupied, namely in a tall sea stack with several ledges. In fact, there were 3 nests built in 3 different ledges, and they were all occupied with 1 stork per nest. The sun had just risen, and the mates had gone away to fetch food for their partners and little ones. I spent the following hour or so making photos of the different storks; for convenience, I have named them Storks 1 to 3, starting from the highest nest. The weather was nice, sunny with a light breeze, so it was safe to approach the edge of the cliff. Seems like grooming the feathers and taking a small walk are popular activities.

As the sun rose on the horizon, it progressively illuminated the 3 nests. After a while, I noticed Stork 3 starting to move, and to my surprise there were 2 chicks under it. I quickly adjusted the camera and lens, and made a few shots. The whole action lasted a few seconds, and pretty soon the bird was lying again over the baby storks, for protection and warmth.

It was nice to be able to witness the birds at the beginning of their day. After a while, I walked back to the car, making a couple of stops to photograph some wild flowers along the way.

Sorry, could not resist the reference to a famous Neil Young song… the river in this case being the Mira, in Vila Nova de Milfontes, where it reaches the Atlantic ocean. If you are familiar with this blog, you will know that I have photographed in this region of Portugal’s southwest coast many times before. I never tire of visiting and photographing this well – preserved piece on Nature, and last week I had the chance of spending a few days there. As the days are longer, it is not easy to get up before dawn at 5am to be on location well on time. Even though I am quite familiar with the place, I still like to arrive early and explore a little bit, looking for some new aspect or feature that might produce a different photo.

I planned this outing to coincide with the low tide, which exposes the river bank, and makes access to the water line somewhat easier. I walked down to the small pier, being careful to avoid slipping or burying my feet in the soft and squishy mud. This made for an overall slow photography process, but that was fine, I normally take my time composing. I had with me my trusty Fujinon 14mm wide – angle lens, plus my Fujinon 70 – 300mm zoom. My first shots were examples of the so called “blue hour”, those minutes before sunrise, where the light is still transitioning from night to day.

I made several photos using the small fishing boats as points of interest. The low tide had even exposed an old wooden boat rotting in the mud.

The hints of the first morning light were coming over the distant hills, and pretty soon the sky was acquiring warmer tones. There were some clouds in the sky, which were reflected in the quiet water below.

After a while I walked a short distance along the bank, arriving at a small beach, where the low tide had exposed some nice sand ripples. With the low angle of the sunlight, they made a very interesting subject.

As I was walking around, I noticed the kayaking team leaving the nautical club for their morning practice, and I made a few photos of them in the distance. This is where my telephoto zoom (70 – 300mm) was very useful. The zoom was also useful to isolate the reflections of a colorful boat in the river, and to photograph another boat floating in the golden water.

After spending the early part of the morning photographing along the river bank, it was time to drive back home for a well deserved breakfast.

I like to visit the Pego das Pias pools after a period of rain, because then the Torgal creek is flowing with abundant water. I wrote about this place already, so more details can be found here:

This is indeed a magical place, especially during springtime, with the green oaks and ash trees, plus the conspicuous rockroses in bloom. There are a few excellent places to make interesting photos, like the main pools at the end of the walking path, with the large boulder in the middle. For this visit, I had with me the Fujifilm X-T30 and X-Pro3 cameras, the former with the Fujinon 14mm f/2.8 wide-angle lens, and the latter with the Fujinon 35mm f/2 standard lens. These provide plenty of flexibility and can be carried in a small backpack.

From there, it is possible to continue to walk upstream, negotiating around a few rocks along the way. From the top, it is possible to admire the narrow canyon that has been excavated in the quartzitic rock by the Torgal creek.

Continuing upstream, I made several photos of the water running around the rocks, using a density neutral filter to obtain a smoothing effect.

Walking even further, one reaches another set of pools, which was illuminated by the late afternoon light. The water level was higher than usual, which was nice.

After spending some time exploring the area, I walked back downstream, following the southern bank of the Torgal creek. The light was filtering through the trees, bathing the forest and the water in a golden light.

Closer to the tarmac road, the valley widens a little, and there is a small pasture area, where some sheep were grazing.

My final stop was to photograph the bridge that spans the Torgal creek valley. It makes an interesting subject for a wide-angle lens. As I was crossing the bridge, I also noticed the sunset light on the forest below, which was being filtered through the trees.

Pego das Pias is one of those beautiful hidden places, quite close to Odemira, but still a well kept secret.

This walk starts in the village of Odeceixe, which is located in the southwest coast of Portugal, in the limit between the provinces of Alentejo and Algarve. It is a companion walk to route 14, which I have described before (see link below). That one was a circular trail that crossed the coastal plateau, reaching the coast and returning to the village along the river Seixe.

Route number 15 also starts in Odeceixe, but heads to the interior, along hilly terrain, approaching the slopes of the Algarve mountains. This is where the source of the river Seixe is located; in fact, a good part of the trail follows the river valley, as indicated in the map below. The total distance is around 16 km.

Leaving Odeceixe behind, the trail heads to the South, crossing cultivated land and a few farms. In the beginning of March, there are some fields of flowers announcing the coming Spring.

It is an easy walk along the flat plateau, with some pine tree forests along the way. After a few kilometers, the trail starts to descend towards the river Seixe, which makes its way along a narrow valley. This is a wonderful part of the trail, walking close to the running water, and amidst small forests of ash and elm trees. Here and there, frogs jump into the pools.

The rest of the walk continues to follow the course of the river, sometimes with a short diversion to the top of the nearby hills. The importance of this small river is clear, especially in the surrounding flat terrain, which is cultivated with seasonal crops and fruit orchards. The water also permits the existence of pasture for grazing animals.

Approaching Odeceixe, the valley becomes wider, and there are more farms along the way. The land is covered in places by yellow rapeseed flowers, and I spend some time making a few photos. During this walk, I only carried the Fujifilm X-Pro3 camera and my trusty 35mm f/1.4 lens, a combination that is flexible enough to cover the different subjects I encountered along the way.

Soon I am back at the starting point, and I rest for a while in a café, where it is possible to taste the local delicacies, which are made with fig, almond, honey and pumpkin. As I mentioned in the beginning, this trail route is an excellent complement to the other path that goes to the coast. Together, they provide a wonderful experience of the region around Odeceixe, which is one of the icons of the Costa Vicentina.

The coastal region between Odeceixe and São Vicente is part of the Southwest Alentejo and Vicentina Coast Natural Park, and throughout the years I have written many times about the region. Today I would like to make a visual summary of the main points of interest along this coastline. This comes as a result of the several Rota Vicentina trails that I have been walking in the last few years.

The main reference points along this coastal region are often associated with a few villages and/or nearby beaches. From North to South, we will find: Odeceixe, Aljezur (Amoreira, Arrifana and Monte Clérigo beaches), Bordeira (Carrapateira, Amado, and Murração beaches), Vila do Bispo (Cordoama and Castelejo beaches), and finally Sagres/Cabo São Vicente (Telheiro and Ponta Ruiva beaches). In all of these it is possible to admire wonderful seascapes, which are dominated by tall cliffs that drop precipitously into the azure ocean.

These cliffs are formed by heavily compressed, folded and faulted Paleozoic rock formations with around 300 million years of age. Quite often, it is this geologic complexity that shapes the topography of the coastline. Given the nearby mountains, like Monchique, several small rivers and brooks make their way to the coast, where their estuaries lead to the formation of several of the beaches mentioned above (like in Amoreira, Bordeira, and Odeceixe). What follows is a compilation of photos from these beaches, most of them taken off-season, when the silence and tranquility prevail.