Sunday, 14 September 2014

Just seconds before a storm arrived

The  Arrábida bridge as seen from my window over the Douro river. For a full size photo please click on the image.


A story behind: Early Sunday. I was woken up by a roar of the distant thunderstorm. Got up and rushed to my window. For the first time in my life I saw so beautiful clouds speeding over the bridge. All the storm and rain fallowed. The hole spectacle lasted no more than 10 minutes.
 
 
Location:  From my window, Porto, Portugal.
 
Gear: Nikon D 610, Nikkor 16-35mm 4G ED AF-S, handheld

 
Focal Length: 16 mm

Aperture: 8

Exposure: 1/640 sec.

Date: September 14th, 2014. 8:58 a.m.
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Saturday, 30 August 2014


Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, Douro river. For a full size photo please click on the image.


A story behind: Before all the tourist come, a few minutes before the sunrise, a dense fog covering the river od Douro. A mistical time of the day. The houses on the other side of the river and a steel bridge are shrouded in the fog.
 
Location:  Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.
 
Gear: Nikon D 610, Nikkor 16-35mm 4G ED AF-S, tripod.

 
Focal Length: 27 mm

Aperture: 22

Exposure: 3 sec.

Date: August 29th, 2014. 6:58 a.m.

Tuesday, 12 August 2014

A Moselle river valley

 
Moselle (Mosel) river valley, Germany. For a full size photo please click on the image.


A story behind: a view from the hilltop overlooking the meanders of the Moselle river surrounded by Riesling vineyards and a small town of Bremm.
 
Location:  Bremm, Germany. GPS: 50.106674, 7.115432
 
Gear: Nikon D 610, Nikkor 16-35mm 4G ED AF-S, a panorama made of 8 vertical shots.

 
Focal Length: 16 mm

Date: August 1st, 2014. 17.17 p.m.

Sunday, 10 August 2014

Just one more photo from the sunrise at the Kirchberg plateaux. For a full size photo please click on the image.

 
Location:  Kirchberg plateau, Luxembourg. Just after the sunrise.  
 
Gear: Nikon D 610, Nikkor 70-300 mm, handheld.

 

Date: August 3rd, 2014. 7.30 a.m.

Saturday, 9 August 2014

A simple and pure photography compositions



Sunrise at tKirchberg plateuax.. For a full size photo please click on the image.



A story behind: As you probably know I am a big fan of simple and pure compositions in photography.

My today´s work is all about lines. Vertical and horizontal lines suggest order and stability; vertical lines convey strength and horizontal lines are lazy and rather relaxing.
A slightly curved line of the part of the opera´s roof adds a natural beauty and will softly guide your eye through the lateral part of the image rather than from one corner or edge to another.
The same is true for diagonal lines, which can also make an image appear more dramatic and can even convey a sense of motion.

Today´s architecture is extremely modern, almost entirely made of black, white or grey blocks, thus very inhuman and industrialist.
To bring some life to the image I decided to add green trees that look almost the same: symmetrical, almost identical and in that sense they do nor disturb much the geometry of the image.

Balancing your image is an another difficult task. My image is composed of five different geometrical pieces. Bear in mind that black parts "weight" more than whites ones so you must balance them carefully separating (and not putting together) dark and bright parts of the composition.
Balance is almost obligatory in most of the some photos, but if you want to make your images a little more interesting, you can unbalance a composition to attract the viewers attention (my four green trees are unbalanced).

 

Location:  Kirchberg plateau, Luxembourg. Just after the sunrise.  
 
Gear: Nikon D 610, Nikkor 70-300 mm, handheld.

Aperture: f/10, 1/320 sec.

Exposure bias: -0,3 EV

ISO: 640

Focal Length: 230 mm

Date: August 3rd, 2014. 7.10 a.m.



 

Tuesday, 29 July 2014

Algarvian summer.



Sunrise at the Algarvian coast, Portugal. For a full size photo please click on the image.


A story behind: 30 minutes before the sunrise.  


Location:  Luseta, Portugal.
 
Gear: Nikon D 610, Nikkor 16-35mm 4G ED AF-S, rubber boots, tripod.

Aperture: f/20, 20 sec.

Exposure bias: -0,3 EV

ISO: 50

Focal Length: 16 mm

Date: 28th of July, 2014. 6.10 a.m.

Sunday, 6 July 2014

A spine

The Arrábida bridge  spanning the Douro River.
For a full size photo please click on the image.


A story behind: Saturday evening, just a few steps from our house. The warm rays of the dying sun was lighting up the "spine-like" middle structure of the Arrábida bridge.

To make the image not so boring I added 2 traffic lights.


Location:  Porto, Portugal.
 
Gear: Nikon D 700, Nikkor 16-35mm 4G ED AF-S.

Aperture: f/11, 1/125 sec.

Exposure bias: +0,3 EV

ISO: 320 EV

Focal Length: 19 mm

Date: 5th of July, 2014.

Monday, 30 June 2014

The evening of Saint Peter at Afurada.

 
Fireworks over the Douro river, Afurada, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.
For a full size photo please click on the image.


A story behind: Just one week after the street feast of St John we have another fireworks over the river of Douro, just on the other side of the Arrábida bridge.

I positioned the camera just above the water level to get the fireworks and their reflection in the river simultaneously. The water was calm allowing a nice colourful mirror image.


Location:  Porto, Portugal.
 
Gear: Nikon D 700, Nikkor 16-35mm 4G ED AF-S.

Aperture: f/8, 3 sec.

Exposure bias: +0,3 EV

ISO: 320 EV

Focal Length: 16 mm

Date: 29th of June, 2014.

Wednesday, 25 June 2014

St John's Eve, Porto, Portugal.


A reddish river with a fireworks over the Douro river, Porto, Portugal.


A story behind: The Feast of St John coincides with the June solstice also referred to as Midsummer. The St John aslso hapens to be a patron of the city of Porto, Portugal.
Every year there is a big party going one all over the city with a fireworks over the river of Douro being the high point. St John's night in Porto (Noite de São João) is considered by several guides as one of the best street parties in the world.

Location:  Porto, Portugal.
 
Gear: Nikon D 610, Nikkor 50 mm, handheld

Aperture: f/3,2, 1/100 sec.

Exposure bias: -0,3 EV

ISO: 1600 EV

Focal Length: 50mm

Date: 23rd of June, 2014.

Monday, 12 May 2014

A few days in Douro Valley, Portugal



A late afternoon  in the vineyards of the Douro River region.


A story behind: We stayed the at beautiful rural hotel Quinta da Pacheca.  Located at the bank of the Douro River with a serene surroundings the hotel is a place to stay when you are visiting the region.

An evening at the gardens of the hotel with a glass of Reserva Tinto wine, a dinner at the excellent Gato Preto restaurant and the sunset over the vineyards.

Location:  Regua, Portugal.
 
Gear: Nikon D 610, Nikkor 70-300 mm.

Aperture: f/5,6

Exposure bias: -0,3 EV

Focal Length: 270mm

Date: 1st of May, 2014.


Quinta da Pacheca hotel at night.