Wednesday 31 March 2010

Lusitania boat stories ( part IV )





Location: Ovar, Portugal

Gear: Nikon D80, Sigma 10-20 mm, tripod, remote control.

Post-processing: RAW to Tiff, white balance, sharp.

Aperture: f/10

Focal Length: 10 mm

ISO: 100

Date Taken: March 28th, 2010, 18:53


Maciek.

Saturday 27 March 2010

Lusitania boat stories ( part III )




A story behind: After one of the harshest winters in the last decade it getting warmer and warmer every day. Temperatures get into low twenties. That Wednesday afternoon at the bay of Ovar mosquito buzz could be heard for the first time this year. Summer is finally coming !


Location: Ovar, Portugal

Gear: Nikon D80, Nikkor 50 mm, tripod, remote control.

Post-processing: RAW to Tiff, white balance, sharp.

Aperture: f/18

Focal Length: 50 mm

ISO: 200

Date Taken: March 24th, 2010, 17:20


Maciek.

Thursday 25 March 2010

Flood in the volcano crater


Location: Sete Cidades ( Seven Cities ), Azores archipelago, Portugal. Sete Cidades volcano crater flooded after the highest levels of precipitation in decades.

Gear: Nikon D80, Sigma 17-70 mm, tripod, NG hard edge filter.

Post-processing: Raw to Jpg, manual white balance, cut, sharp.


Date Taken: March 20th, 2010. 18:56.


Maciek.

Tuesday 23 March 2010

No title





Location: Mosteiros beach, Westernmost point of S.Miguel island, Azores archipelago, Portugal.

Gear: Nikon D80, Sigma 17-70 mm, tripod, NG filter.

Post-processing: Raw to Jpg, manual white balance, cut to square, sharp.


Date Taken: March 19th, 2010. 19.09.


Maciek.

Monday 22 March 2010

Ferraria lighthouse



A story behind: 18 meters high, the Ferreria lighthouse stands over the high cliffs of the Southern coast of S.Miguel island. On Friday´s early afternoon I was wandering around that building with my camera and a big friendly dog from the lighthouse. It´s a fairly known tourist attraction in that area but in middle of March we two were completely alone.


Location: Ginetes, Azores archipelago, Portugal

Gear: Nikon D80, Sigma 17-70 mm, tripod.

Post-processing: Jpg, white balance, sharp.


Date Taken: March 19th, 2010. 13.20.


Maciek.

Thursday 18 March 2010

Azores island hiking



A story behind:
This Thursday morning
and early afternoon I spent hiking along one of the most beautiful trails in the Sao Miguel island. The trail wanders along the narrow ridge overlooking the Sete Cidades volcanic crater giving 360º panoramic views of the island.

When you walk Azores Islands you soon notice that there is something wrong with the colors palette around you. One can see plenty of green tones - practically 99% of the island is made of green meadows. Then there is a lot of blue color. The sea, sky and lakes make all the blue color varieties. But the color balance in somehow distorted by the lack of red tones.


Location: Sete Cidades , Portugal

Gear: Nikon D80, Nikor 50 mm.

Post-processing: Jpg, none.

Aperture: f/18

Focal Length: 50 mm

ISO: 100

Date Taken: March 18th, 2010, 11:44


Maciek.

Wednesday 17 March 2010

Lusitania boat stories ( part II )


A story behind: Lusitania is a synonym of Portugal - named after the Roman imperial province in Central and Western Iberian peninsula ( today a part of Spain and Portugal ).

Location: Ovar, Portugal

Gear: Nikon D80, Nikkor 50 mm, tripod, remote control, rubber boots, NDG 0.6 hard Tiffen.

Post-processing: RAW to Tiff, white balance, sharp.

Aperture: f/18

Focal Length: 50 mm

ISO: 100

Date Taken: March 15th, 2010, 19:18


Maciek.

Monday 15 March 2010

The light hunter



A story behind:
Photographed on Monday afternoon, close to town of Ovar, 50 kilometers south from Porto.


Location: Ovar, Portugal

Gear: Nikon D80, Nikkor 50 mm, tripod, remote control, rubber boots, NDG 0.6 hard Tiffen.

Post-processing: RAW to Tiff, white balance, sharp.

Aperture: f/18

Focal Length: 50 mm

ISO: 100

Date Taken: March 15th, 2010, 19:44


Maciek.

Memories from Miami Beach


When going through thousands of photos from our last summer holidays I spotted this one.
Warm feelings of summer lazy days flooded my memory.
Hope to be back there soon.

Place: Miami Beach, Fl.


Date Taken: September 5th, 2009


Maciek.

Sunday 14 March 2010

B&W version


B&W version.

Recommended photo on the front page of http://photomediaworld.com/ ( March 13-14th 2010 ) and Photo of the Day ( March 15th 2010 ).



Maciek.



Friday 12 March 2010

Thursday night at Ria


A story behind: Ria de Aveiro lagoon is located in central Portugal, 60 kilometers south of Porto city. This is where I spent last Thursday´s night.

Recommended photo on http://photomediaworld.com/


Location: Murtosa village, Portugal

Gear: Nikon D80, Sigma 10-20 mm ( f 4.0-5.6 ), tripod, remote control, rubber boots, NDG 0.6 hard Tiffen.

Post-processing: RAW to Tiff, white balance, sharp, channel mixer, saved in jpg.

Aperture: f/14

Shutter speed: 2 sec

Focal Length: 10 mm

ISO: 100

Date Taken: March 11th, 2010, 19:34


Maciek.

Thursday 11 March 2010

My town - March 7th 2010


A story behind: Casa da Musica, is a major concert hall space in Porto. It was designed by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and was built as part of Porto's project for European Culture Capital in 2001 but was only finished in 2005 and immediately became an icon in the city. To me it looks like a big vacuum cleaner though.


Location: Porto, Portugal

Gear: Nikon D80, Tamron 28-75 mm, tripod.

Post-processing: Jpg, white balance, sharp.


Date Taken: March 7th, 2010. 18.35.


Maciek.

Tuesday 9 March 2010

A wallpaper for new Windows 2010


A story behind: Vivid blue and green colors, sharp contrasts, rather few details, shiny but with a few lovely clouds in the sky and macronesian style vegetation - this is how the area around the small post-volcanic lake in the middle of São Miguel island looks like.

Location: Lagoa São Bras, São Miguel island, Portugal.

Gear: Nikon D80, Sigma 10-20 mm

Post-processing: Tiff to Jpg, manuel white balance, cut, sharp, dogde.

Aperture: f/18

Focal Length: 10 mm

ISO: 200

Date Taken: Feb 25, 2010, 13:26


Maciek.

Monday 8 March 2010

My two photos on the front page of Onephoto





I am very honored and happy to tell that two pictures taken during my last trip to Azores were distinguished and placed on the front page of http://onephoto.net/ (March 7th, 2010 ).


Maciek.

Sunday 7 March 2010

My town - March 3rd 2010


A story behind: A long hike around my home town: 1 day - March 3rd 2010.
From the top left corner clockwise: an old lady selling traditional salted chestnuts, a sunset at the mouth of the Douro river, magnolias flowers blooming at the S.Clara square, an old town of Sé.



Location: Porto, Portugal

Gear: Nikon D80, Tamron 28-75 mm

Post-processing: Jpg, white balance, sharp.


Date Taken: March 3rd, 2010.


Maciek.

Friday 5 March 2010

A few moments later....





The same place a few moments later.

Enjoy as I did.
PS. Awarded the front page of http://plfoto.com/ ( March 3rd, 2010 ) and the front page of http://onephoto.net/ (March 6th, 2010 ).

Aperture: f/18

Focal Length: 10 mm

ISO: 200


Shutter: 2 sec.


Maciek.

Thursday 4 March 2010

A star and water lines




A story behind: I arrived at the right time. It was late afternoon - the time the surfers started coming out of the water. I had plenty of time to prepare my gear, put the tripod and wait. Sometimes it seems it takes hours to get the right light. So you wait and wait. And then it happens. Out of the blue the things start rushing up. The light gets gorgeous and the moment the sun passes the horizon line is very short.
The Mosteiros beach is very diverse: sand, rocks, curved beach line, many different light angles. Here one can learn discipline and patience.


Location: Azores Islands, Mosteiros village, Portugal

Gear: Nikon D80, Tamron 28-75 mm, tripod, remote control, rubber boots, camera case, NDG 0.6 hard Tiffen.

Post-processing: RAW to Tiff, white balance, sharp, channel mixer.

Aperture: f/32

Focal Length: 28 mm

ISO: 100

Date Taken: Feb 26th, 2010, 18:35


Maciek.

Wednesday 3 March 2010

Snow trip - day 3


A story behind: We spend the day at French Font Romeu ski resort. This is a nice but small ski resort very close to the Spanish border.
At night we had a lovely dinner
at our hotel served by one of the best chiefs in Spain: Josep Maria Boix. Mr Boix was responsible for preparing the banquet held in honor of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in 1987. It also prepared the banquet held in honor of the King and Queen of Spain at Sant Sadurni d’Anoia. The cooking of Josep Maria Boix received the National Gastronomy Prize of 1983 for the best hotel restaurant of Spain, and the National Gastronomy Prize of 1987 for the best individual chef.
Believe me: the dinner was great.


Location: Relais & Châteaux Hotel Torre del Remei, Spain.




Maciek.

Tuesday 2 March 2010

Snow trip - day 4. A star light.


A story behind: On the fourth day of our skiing week we went to the oldest ski resort in Pyrenees mountains - the Spanish Catalonia : La Molina resort. The weather was great. Very few people. Wonderful skiing conditions.
The picture of my wife was taken on the red Sollell ski-run.

Lots of nice things are happening now and I have traveled
much recently with my camera. It resulted in many nice photos and memories not to be missed so for the next few days I will be publishing photos on the daily basis.


Location: La Molina, Spain.

Gear: Nikon D80, Nikkor 18-70 mm

Post-processing: RAW to Jpg, white balance, cut, sharp.

Aperture: f/32

Focal Length: 18 mm

ISO: 200

Date Taken: Feb 18, 2010, 12:18


Maciek.

Two trees


A story behind: Only 3 days at home and I flew back on the main Azores island - São Miguel. After the last heavy rains the Sete Cidades volcano lake flooded the surroundings.
Almost no tourists at that time of the year. Emptiness and solitude all around me.

Location: Sete Cidades, Azores, Portugal.

Gear: Nikon D80, Sigma 10-20 mm

Post-processing: RAW to Jpg, white balance, cut, sharp.

Aperture: f/25

Focal Length: 11,5 mm

ISO: 100

Date Taken: Feb 26, 2010, 12:41


Maciek.