Photo of the year

My photo from Bilbao ( Spain ) has been awarded "Photo of the year" ( Category: Architecture ) by the most prestigious Polish photo portal ( link ) .



Maciek.

3D

Murtosa beach, Portugal.

A story behind: Photography is all about light.

Three main rules govern the appearance light for photographic purposes.

Rule number 1. Quality of light: The larger the light source, the softer the light. Direct light from the sun alone will be much harsher than light coming from the sky covered with clouds ( look at the picture above ).

Rule number 2. Reflected light. Direct light is basically colourless but the light bouncing from the clouds at different level and the water surface takes the colour of the structure off which it bounces ( look at the picture above ).

Rule number 3. Intensity of light decreases in a manner inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the light source and the subject. In landscape photography this rule can be important when the light bounces for many times decreasing the quality.

That was a wonderful night for me at Murtosa, a night when shooting photos gives you a real pleasure.

Gear: Nikon D700, Nikkor 16-35 mm, ND reversed 0,6, HE 0,3


Place taken: Murtosa, Portugal.

Aperture: f/16

Shutter speed: 6 sec

Exposure bias: 0 EV

Focal Length: 16 mm

ISO: 50

Date Taken: October 30th, 2011, 18: 31

Maciek.

The summer´s gone

October on the abandoned Santa Barbara beach, Portugal.

A story behind: Windy and rainy. Waves were crashing along the Santa Barbara beach with the last surfers leaving. On the horizon you can spot the lights of the Santo Antonio village. Summer residents, vacationers and tourists are all gone. With November upon us, there is just a month to shot the best landscape photos one can imagine. I am so anxious !

Gear: Nikon D700, Nikkor 16-35 mm, ND reversed 0,6.

Aperture: f/16

Shutter speed: 1/2 sec

Exposure bias: -0,3 EV

Focal Length: 18 mm

ISO: 250

Date Taken: October 26th, 2011, 19: 00

Maciek.

The foggy evening

An Arrábida bridge seen from the Southern bank of the Douro river.

A story behind: Finally yesterday, after 2 long months of high temperatures and pale blue skies, the weather in Porto started to change. In the evening the chilly and full of moisture breeze came from the sea. I crossed the bridge and found myself on the Southern bank of Douro river looking for a nice spot. A thick fog wrapped around the illuminated Arrabida bridge. I set up my camera to B&W and the wide 16 mm lens did the rest of the job enhancing the curvature of the lower arch. B&W additionally "cleared" the image reducing a number of the unnecessary details.
Find a full size image on the front page of onephoto.

Location: Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.

Gear: Nikon D700. Nikkor 16-35 mm.

Aperture: f/16

Shutter speed: 6 sec

Exposure bias: - 0,7 EV

Focal Length: 16 mm

ISO:200

Date Taken: October 16th, 2011.

Maciek.

Imperial War Museum

Imperial War Museum was the first project in the UK designed by internationally-acclaimed architect, Daniel Libeskind. This is my B&W version.

Location: Manchester, UK.

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.

And meanwhile somewhere far away there is a war going on in Europe

Year 1940. The war rages all across Europe, but in Portugal people still make a pretty normal life and a good wine.

This is a very special Port wine for a very special occasion.


Maciek.

The unforgettable moments

Early morning storm approaching the coast.

A story behind: I arrived at this spot very early in the morning ( it was 6 a.m. ). The early morning storm bringing heavy rain and dark clouds was about to hit the Northern coast.
The view was breathtaking. Standing alone I had these unique moments all by myself.
Unfortunately the scene did not last long. Soon clouds cleared just in the nick of time and the strong glare from the rising sun unpleasantly covered the landscape.

The larger sensor size of the full frame camera results in less depth of field, so I am frequently bracketing my focus with F9 to F13 do compensate sharpness. Using a reverse ND-Grad filter resulted in a cloud-filled exposure that left the foreground reasonably exposed and a dreamy feel in the sky.

For the full 1200 pix image click here.

Location: Ribeira Grande, Portugal.

Gear: Nikon D700. Nikkor 16-35 mm. Tripod.

Aperture: f/13

Shutter speed: 1/5 sec

Exposure bias: + 0,3 EV

Focal Length: 19 mm

ISO:400

Date Taken: September 23rd, 2011, 07: 22

Maciek.

Somewhere

Santa Barbara beach, Portugal.

A story behind: Just sit down and enjoy the view as I did that evening.

Gear: Nikon D700. Nikkor 16-35 mm.

Aperture: f/16

Shutter speed: 1/60 sec

Exposure bias: 0 EV

Focal Length: 22 mm

ISO: 200

Date Taken: September 3rd, 2011, 18: 20

Maciek.

The night when I lost my shoe

Sunset over the beach of Mosteiros, São Miguel, Portugal.

A story behind: I arrived at the beach quite early. Had time to buy an ice cream, watch some surfers breaking the waves. There were a few German tourist on the beach and we had a little chat. Then I started to put up my gear and prepare for the sunset. Usually I put on the rubber boots to protect me from the cold water but it was summer-time so I enthusiastically took off my shoes and went bare foot into the water.
Some dogs were playing on the beach. Suddenly one of them grabbed my shoe and ran away. For a second I considered to chase the dog but sacrifice your own personal comfort, or miss the shot. But who needs comfort when you get light like this, right? Believe me, getting back later to the hotel on one shoe was not pleasant.

Gear: Nikon D700. Nikkor 16-35 mm.

Aperture: f/18

Shutter speed: 1 sec

Exposure bias: 0 EV

Focal Length: 18 mm

ISO: 200

Date Taken: September 2nd, 2011, 21: 11

Maciek.