Category: Azores Islands

Last month I visited the island of Sao Miguel (Azores) for the second time in about one year. I was in vacation with my family, but I wanted to take some quality time for photography. As always, this means going out when before sunrise, and staying after sunset. During the rest of the day, we visited the usual touristic spots, plus some other not-so-well-known locations.

With the introduction of low-cost airline transport to the island, it is becoming busier every year, but it is still possible to get away from the crowds; one should try to visit the most popular sites outside of the “tourist bus schedules”, and to enjoy the many signposted and beautiful hikes around the island.

When I visited last year, I came away with some good photos, and visited many of the popular places. This time around, I wanted to get something different, something that would convey the “soul” of the place. In the Azores, even during the summer, one gets “4 seasons in one day”, meaning that the weather changes quite quickly. This can lead to unexpected photo opportunities, especially in the mountainous volcanic lakes. From West to East, the major ones are Sete Cidades, Fogo, Furnas, and Nordeste (the latter is inactive, the others are not).

My favourites are the Fogo and Furnas lakes, for their sense of isolation (Fogo) and very active fumaroles (Furnas). The weather being unpredictable, one must combine good planning with some luck. I visited Fogo and Furnas twice, for example; in Fogo, the sunrise was amazing, while in Furnas the sunset was covered by dense fog. Both occasions ended up in great photos. I particularly like the Furnas lake covered in fog, which adds to the sense of mystery and timelessness.

In the Nordeste I was welcomed by tall precipitous cliffs dropping vertically into an endless sea, with menacing clouds rolling by. In Ferraria, the small lighthouse made a good counterpoint to the immense sea beyond. Sky, sea, weather, nature, all mix in the Azores, providing lasting emotions and memories.

For my memories of this trip, I chose to get rid of colour, as I wanted to enhance the raw beauty of the island, stripping it to the very basics of its framework. I converted the files to black and white, adding a light sepia toning and rough frames, for a consistent look to this body of work.

I hope you like it, and that you visit these wonderful islands.

This year I had a special birthday (the 50^th), atop Portugal’s highest point, the mountain of Pico, in the Azores island of the same name. At 2351m above sea-level, the volcano rises majestically from the ocean, being the third highest in the Atlantic to rise from the ocean bottom. The idea to go up the mountain was my wife’s, and I am grateful to her for such an incredible experience.

We planned everything in due time, since July is a busy month in the Azores. We wanted the event to be a family one, so my son and daughter also went with us. After some research, we decided to book with Tripix, a recently established adventure company. Everything went smoothly, the guide was very good and knowledgeable. The company is also ecologically sound, as it provides wooden poles, not metal tipped ones; the latter end up eroding the lava rocks, which is bad, especially with the increasing number of trekkers. We went up on the afternoon of the 19^th, camped inside the crater, and came down the following morning.

The climb is not a technically difficult one, but it still requires relatively good physical shape, due to steep inclines, and some loose ground near the top. Our group consisted of 8 people, plus the guide. The Pico volcano is integrated in a natural reserve, and provides amazing views over the central group of islands of the Azores archipelago, like Faial and São Jorge. It took us about 5 hours to climb up from the starting point at 1200m altitude, and about 3 hours to come down the following day.

Of course I wanted to do some photography, and it is always a challenge to decide what to take on the backpack; especially when also carrying a tent, sleeping bag, food, and some extra clothing for the colder night. In the end, I decided to carry my two Sony A7 cameras, one with the Zeiss Batis 25mm lens, and the other with the Sony 55 lens. Plus, a small but robust Manfrotto table top tripod for long exposures at night. This light kit fitted nicely inside a small 22 litre backpack.

It just happened that the night of the 19^th was a full moon, which was a good opportunity to photograph under special conditions at night; also, the weather was clear during the sunset and the sunrise, so I managed to get some interesting shots of the moonset and the shadow of the volcano. We stopped a few times going up, which allowed for some picture taking time of the great views. In the morning of the 20^th, we woke up at 4am to climb the Piquinho, the small volcanic cone created by the last eruption in the year 1718. From there, we watched the blue hour developing, and after that the sunrise. The volcano is still active, with some fumaroles smoking through the vents.

In the end, this was a memorable experience, that my family enjoyed very much. And I came away with some unique photos for my portfolio too. The Sony kit performed really well, never missing a beat.