The silence

Murtosa, Vouga river delta, Portugal. On the horizon the lights of the city of Aveiro.

A story behind: Standing alone in the shallow waters of the Vouga river delta surrounded by the silence. Me and my camera.

Full frame Nikon D700 allows to capture a great number of details from the full of light clouds on the horizon to the very poor lit boat hull.
With the help of my polarizer, I simply waited for the ambient light on the water to match the sunset light on the horizon. The magic happened a couple of minutes after the sunset when the light got pleasant allowing the rest of the scene to fade to softness.

Enjoy.
Location: Village of Murtosa, Portugal.

Gear: Nikon D700, Nikkor 16-35 mm AF-S ED. Tripod. RAW to Tiff.

Aperture: f/22

Shutter speed: 3 sec

Exposure bias: 0 EV

Focal Length: 16 mm

ISO: 50

Maciek.

A white boat

A morning look at Santiago and Blue Lakes.

A story behind: On Azores Islands cutting trees is a kind of a necessity. Have a small earth tremor plus extreme precipitation combined with heavy trees growing on steep slopes and sooner or later you will have a land slide. The water acts as a lubricant causing already wet and unstable soil laying over solid basalt rock to move.
Cutting trees is done every 10-20 years.

In late September 2011 the local authorities slashed down trees on the Northern slopes of Santiago Lake. It opened a never seen before window of opportunity to shoot new landscapes.
I left my car on the small road connecting Sete Cidades and Vista de Rei and started climbing up a narrow path on the mountain ridge that separates Santiago and Laga Lakes.
After half and hour I finally reached the summit. The view was splendid. With a Santiago Lake down close, Blue Lake far away and the glimmering ocean on the horizon I stood there with my mouth wide open. How big and overwhelming the scenery was one can imagine looking at a small white boat on the surface of the Santiago Lake that looks like a tiny dot. After a while I shot my mouth with my hand and started to take pictures.

Location: Close to Sete Cidades, Portugal.

Gear: Nikon D700. Nikkor 16-35 mm.

Aperture: f/16

Shutter speed: 1/250 sec

Exposure bias: - 0,3 EV

Focal Length: 19 mm

ISO:200

Date Taken: September, 2011.

Maciek.

In captivity

A story behind: My last Thursday trip was a disaster. But the day didn´t started so bad. In the morning when my lady housekeeper came, her first words were: " Parece que a primavera chegou !" ( "It seems the spring has arrived !"). I quickly peered through the window. It was warm, the sky was clear and the sun was bright. "Damn it !" I thought. Today I was planning my ride south to take photos of the boats and there is nothing worse for the landscape photography than clear skies and bright light. At mid-day I packed my stuff and still hoping for some clouds I left. When I arrived at the spot the light was still sharp, unpleasant and camera-unfriendly. You can see the result above.

Location: Aveiro, Portugal.

Gear/post processing: Nikon D80, a tripod, RAW to Tiff. Tiff to jpg.

Aperture: f/22 Exposure bias: - 0/7 EV

Focal Length: 11 mm

ISO: 100

Date Taken: Thursday, January 13th, 2011, 18:19

Maciek.

One more afternoon with my boats

Location: Murtosa, Portugal.

Gear: Nikon D80, Sigma 10-20 mm

Aperture: f/22 Exposure bias: -0.3 EV

Focal Length: 10 mm

ISO: 100

Date Taken: Thursday, December 09th, 2010, 16:15

Maciek.

Portugal in mid-September

Sunset at the Ria do Aveiro lake, Portugal.

I am taking a small break with my holiday diary to present one of my latest work. I will be back with "2010 Trip to America" the first 10 days very soon. A story behind: I went back to my favorite photo location where peace and serenity prevails. Enjoy the gorgeous sunset as I did that night. Location: Ria do Aveiro, Portugal.

Gear: Nikon D80, Tamron 28-75 mm

Aperture: f/22

Shutter speed: 2 sec

Focal Length: 30 mm

ISO: 400

Date Taken: September 21th, 2010, 20:07 Maciek.