Dawn by the river

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.

River Mira blues.

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.

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.

First light.
Morning quiet.
Tranquility reflected.
Floating.

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.

Waiting for the tide.
Here comes the sun.
Sand ripples.

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.

Golden river.
Early morning practice.
Reflection.
Reflection.
Arriving.

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.

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pbizarro35

I was born in Lisbon in 1966, and I am a geologist. My main interests as a photographer are Landscapes, Travel, and People. I have been fortunate enough to work in different places and contacted diverse cultures. I am also fortunate to live in a small, but beautiful country, Portugal.