No matter how often you visit and photograph one place, there are always new opportunities to find out and explore. This adage was proven true once more when I visited an old familiar area of mine, the Southwest Coast of Portugal, specifically near Cabo Sardão. I was in the area for my annual summer vacation, when the day dawned a bit foggy.
Such foggy spells are recurrent in the coast, and normally clear out later in the morning. With this expectation in mind, I set out to take some photos of the nearby fields, with typical houses, hay bales, and grazing cattle. The yellow colour of the field provided a nice contrast with the fog, while covering the scene with some mystery.
As the day evolved, it became clear that the fog was there to stay; in fact, it lasted to nightfall… therefore, I changed my plans (which entailed going to the beach) and went out on a short trek near Cabo Sardão, where the cliffs, sea, and fog, hopefully would result in interesting and different photos. I walked the area until sunset and was rewarded with a new take on a familiar landscape, where the fog played a central role; now and then, it would become somewhat weaker, allowing glimpses of the cliffs entering the sea in the distance.
For those wanting to visit this place, it is worth mentioning that care must be taken when accessing some of the best viewpoints, as they are normally at the end of rocky spurs, with precipitous drops nearby. Especially with fog, the rocks may be slippery.
As I mentioned above, there are many interesting subjects; one of them, which opened due to the fog and the soft, low contrasting light, was the numerous rock formations and erosional features present in the dunes. Some of the dunes are consolidated with ferruginous materials, which highlights the red colours. The soft sky light results in a natural enhancement of the colours, like a natural saturation slider.
I played around with both wide angle and telephoto compositions, trying to convey the ruggedness and mystery of this stretch of coast, which is beautiful. Hope you like the resulting images.
