I have written before about this small town located in SW Portugal, at the estuary of the river Mira. It is considered as the “pearl of Alentejo”, and is home to one of the most beautiful beaches in the country. Coming summer, it can be a bit congested, given the affluence of vacationers. But throughout the rest of the year, it is a haven of tranquillity and beauty.
In one of my recent visits, just a few weeks back, I planned to shoot the hay bales that dot the countryside during this time of the year. I had envisaged to use the bales as foreground interest, using the rising sun and the Cercal hills as backdrop. Of course, shooting the sunrise during the summer implies waking up at around 5am, but this is just one of the challenges of landscape photography!
I wanted to capture both wide angle and more telephoto field of views, so those were the lenses I carried with me: the Zeiss Loxia 21 f/2.8 and the Sony G 70-200 f/4. I prefer to have the flexibility of a zoom for my telephoto shots, as the light changes quickly, and “zooming with your feet” is not always practicable.
Shooting towards the East, I got lucky for the bonus of the mist and fog that were present along the river Mira course. This extra element provided some fantastic depth and feel to my photos, thus really paying off for the early rise!
Shooting from my tripod, I soon entered in the rhythm of composing, relaxing, taking my time, while at the same time enjoying the light play over the rural landscape.
In the end, I consider this session as a success, and fully recommend this location for landscape photographers; within a small area, there are several subjects of interest, either facing the sea, or inland.
