A week of crystal clear sunsets

A story behind: This week a Nordic high pressure system stays over Portugal. All days the sunsets stay crystal clear and the air is very crispy and highly transparent.
Then it is a time just before sunset, when the sun is low, the light is golden and hazy, the time I call a ‘golden hour’.
That day I went to the beach and quickly snap a few photos and this one is one of my favorite. I know it was a waste trip – high contrast and hard light but this is what I ended up with. A peaceful scene from the foreground stays in sharp contrast with the windy and vast ocean in the background.
I am heading now for a 5 days trip to the islands so I hope to bring back some really decent shots.
Stay tuned.

Location: Vila Nova Gaia beach, Portugal ( google map )

Gear: Nikon D80, Tamron 28-75 mm, tripod, remote control
Post-processing: RAW to Tiff, white balance, sharp.
Shutter Speed: 1/30 sec
Aperture: f/9
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO: 100



Maciek.

It seems we are in for a nice spring

A strange path through the muddy banks of the river.

A story behind: Sunday morning started with bright sun and nice mid-teens temperatures. "If the weather continues this way we are in for a nice spring !" I thought. In the afternoon I grabbed my gear and headed to the delta of Vouga river.
Near Murtosa village I parked the car and put on my rubber boots. I followed a strange path through the muddy banks of the river. The sunset and clear sky created a point-source hard light. It didn´t "wrap" around objects but instead sourced unpleasant crisp shadows and accentuated textures and details in the water. I shot a photo but I didn´t like it.

Location: Delta of the Vouga river, Portugal ( google map )

Gear: Nikon D80, Tamron 2.8 28-75 mm, tripod, remote control, NDG 0.8
Post-processing: RAW to Tiff, white balance, sharp.
Shutter Speed: 1/3 sec
Aperture: f/22
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO: 150

Date Taken: Jan 24, 2010, 17:10


Maciek.

A home of a mussels catcher

A story behind: Monday´s afternoon started with dark cloud cover. I drove to Murtosa village and left my car where the road ended. After weeks and weeks of rain the whole delta of Vouga river was pretty much flooded. I wandered along the canals of the braided delta quite some time looking for a nice spot. The fishermen were coming back from the sea. I waited. They say that hope is a mother of fools. Maybe it´s true but that day the things worked for me very well. I spotted a wooden shag that belonged to one of the mussels catchers. The wind stopped blowing allowing clear mirror-like reflections in the water.

Location: Delta of the Vouga river, Portugal ( google map )

Gear: Nikon D80, Sigma 10-20 mm, tripod, remote control
Post-processing: RAW to Tiff, white balance, sharp.
Shutter Speed: 1/2 sec
Aperture: f/18
Focal Length: 17 mm
ISO: 100

Date Taken: Jan 18, 2010, 16:19


Maciek.

Sunset over the Aguda Beach

A story behind: So the surfers went away. I moved a little bit to the left to photograph a rock that started to appear from the water. As the low tide began the water went slowly down. The sky opened for a couple of minutes. I put two "grads" filters and shot a picture. Almost forgot: the waves hit me hard and soaked my legs.

Location: Aguda beach, Portugal ( google map )

Gear: Nikon D80, Sigma 10-20 mm, NDG 0.6 and 0.3
Shutter Speed: 2 sec
Aperture: f/28
Focal Length: 15 mm
ISO: 100

Date Taken: Jan 17, 2010, 17:10


Maciek.

The surfers from the Aguda beach

A story behind: On the Sunday´s late afternoon I was standing on the Aguda beach taking some photos. It was a stormy weather.
Suddenly two surfers appeared just in front of me coming from the water. I was as much astonished as they did. The waves were well over 3 meters high that day and I thought: "These people are really heroes". We talked. They asked me to take a photo. That´s how this picture was born.

Location: Aguda beach, Portugal ( google map )

Gear: Nikon D80, Sigma 10-20 mm
Shutter Speed: 1/30
Aperture: f/10
Focal Length: 15 mm
ISO: 500

Date Taken: Jan 17, 2010, 16:50


Maciek.

Granja beach

Photo location: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/31079920

Jan 14th, 2010.

Nikon D80
Sigma 17-70mm
FL 28 mm
F/9
ISO 100


Maciek.

For those who love watching sunsets

Enjoy !


Maciek

Nikon D80
Tripod
EV -1.0
RAW to TIFF

Monday, 17.15
January 04th 2010.

Travelers

Sunset over the Madalena beach, Portugal.

We came rather early, half an hour before sunset, not expecting anything special ( from the photographic point of view ). In fact there was a slight breeze from the ocean bringing millions of tiny droplets of salted water that are so murderous for the camera and the lens. The sky was dull and gray. But being there, at this magical place of The Lord of The Stone Chapel, with my son Lucas, something has told me to wait for the sunset.

We were more than awarded. Precisely 5 minutes before the sun went down, the wind has stopped . Dim and warm light that was softer, more intimate and pleasant, have entered the beach. The result can be seen on the picture above. Hope you enjoy it as we did.

January 03, 2010.

Nikon D80

Tripod.

ISO 100.

f/20.

Maciek.

Bad, bad weather

Photographed just a couple of hours before the New Year´s Eve.
Periods of heavy rain mixed with moments of sunshine and low 12ºC temperature.
Shooting photos with my son Lucas.

Friday, 31st of December 2009.

Nikon D80

f/20
ISO 200
Auto portrait.

Maciek.

PS. The photo was kindly awarded with the front page of http://plfoto.com

and front page of http://onephoto.net.

Photo was also distinguished as "photo of the day" at http://photomediaworld.com/.

Thank you all.

Quinta de Chocapalha wine profile

From the top left: mono varietal white Arinto ready to drink now, Vinha de Palha - basic Rosé from the producer, red Vinha de Palha - basic red ( table wine ) with no oak barrel maturation, White reserva Chocapalha from 2006, red Quinta de Chocopalha with 6 months french oak barrels maturation and finally best of producers wine: red Reserva ready to drink from Christmas this year.

Quinta de Chocapalha in a small family run wine producer in Portuguese Estremadura region. With the privileged location between the rolling hills of Southern Estremadura and nicely renovated, "Quinta" ( English: estate ) is a lovely place to live and make nice wines. We visited the place in mid-July 2009.

Road sign leading us to Quinta. Yu taste wines in the beautiful surroundings. Cork from red Quinta de Chocopalha 2006. Diogo Suplúlveda leading oenologist. Quinta exteriors.

Talking to the owner and the leading enologist is a must-do. To understand and get to know better the Quinta, we usually buy a wide spectrum of the produced wines, starting from the most simple to the best, trying to create a mental and tasting profile of the place.

We started our wine tasting with red Quinta de Chocopalha 2006 ( Vinho Regional Estremadura; made of Tinta Roriz, Castelão, Alicante Bouschet grapes ). The tannins were a little too aggressive I must say. The wine lacked the elegance of Douro wines and tasted a little more like vegetables than fruits. Gained only 14/20 points.

Next day we grabbed a bottle of pale white Arinto 2008. It was a nice middle class wine very similar to the vinho verde whites with a little touch of micro bubbles on your tongue. Got 14,5/20 points on our private scale.

Mid-June 2009.

Maciek.