Carcavelos beach at dawn

I live close to Carcavelos beach, west of Lisbon, so when I can I just take the opportunity to go and make some photos. I like it very much especially off-season and early in the morning, when I almost have the place to myself. The beach is big, with many photo opportunities, provided by the sand, sea, sky, and the fort at its eastern tip.

This particular time, I was trying to come up with different photos, trying long exposures, abstracts, to convey the feeling of “being there”.

Photos were taken with the Sony A7II plus the Zeiss Sonnar 50. Sometimes slowing down with just one normal lens is really great.

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The Vasco da Gama Bridge, Lisbon

The Vasco da Gama Bridge, inaugurated in 1998 for the Lisbon Expo, is one of the places to visit and photograph in Lisbon; preferably at dawn, when the light is more interesting. There are several photographic opportunities, from the typical wide angle shots that include the bridge and the river, to the more unusual viewpoints, such as right underneath it.

So pack a tripod and your wide angle lens, and explore the area, as there are many more interesting structures to photograph. These shots were taken with the Canon EOS 6D and the EF 16-35 f4 L lens.

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Two similar images, different interpretations

Today I want to share a couple of photos that I took recently, as an example of how just a small difference in viewpoint  can have a large impact on the final result. I was driving to the town of Odemira, in Alentejo Province (South Portugal) (subject of my previous post) in the early morning, when I noticed the landscape by the side of the road. What caught my attention was that with the arrival of Spring, the fields are getting some more colour, in this case reds and greens. Together with the blue sky and some wispy clouds, the colour palette was simple and nice.

So I stopped the car and walked into the field, trying to look for interesting framings. Photo #1 is probably a type of photo that most would click: colourful field, typical house farm against the sky, classic Alentejo image. I then started thinking about something different, exploring different viewpoints. Hence photo #2; as it turned out, I just rotated my angle of view to the right of the previous framing, basically eliminating the farm house.

To me, photo #2 is more about the idea of Spring, just the open fields, colours, and the sky. It could have been taken anywhere, as there is no more a cultural or geographical registration or identity. This is a type of photography that is less immediate, and a bit more challenging.

So, when out an about looking to photograph familiar places under a different interpretation, think about this example, hope it helps.

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Photos from Odemira – Sony A7II and ZEISS C Sonnar f1.5 50mm ZM

These are some photos I took recently in the town of Odemira, in South Portugal’s Alentejo province. The name of the town comes from combining “Oued” (from the Arabic Wadi) and “Mira” (name of the river). This town is located about 20 km from the coast, inside the Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina. As such, it is very close to some of the best beaches in Portugal, but it has a rural and interior feel to it.

Unfortunately, as many interior towns and villages, the younger population has migrated to the large centers, in search of better opportunities. This leaves behind an aging population, plus some houses going to ruins. But Odemira still preserves a charm and character of its own, with the gentle rolling hills, and a life style that takes its own leisurely pace. There are also some local industries and associations that try to preserve old ways of life and traditions, in areas such as tapestry, pottery, and farming.

In this occasion, I visited the town in the morning, just walking the streets and going to the local market (I actually wanted to buy some fruits and vegetables!). The Sony A7II and ZEISS C Sonnar f1.5 50mm ZM lens continue to impress me very favourably as a documentary and travelling photographic tool. It is really liberating just using the basic photographic controls: set aperture priority, choose the aperture according to the shot (lens ring), focus manually (lens ring), and shoot.

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