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.

A postcard from São Miguel

Rays of morning light filter through the clouds above the Lake of Fire, São Miguel, Portugal.

A story behind: It took me 20 minutes to get from the hotel to the viewing point pictured above. I got up early, climbed the mountain to see the sun being born over the mountain ridge and waited for the right moment. I managed to take a few snaps and be back to the hotel for the breakfast. ´Not a bad beginning of the day´, I thought.
Photographing rays of sun can be tricky. If you do not get aperture and shutter speed under control, images tend to have high contrast, blown out highlights, lens flare and colours that might even look overly saturated. So pick a mid-tone area to meter off if you want everything to be exposed relatively well. Check your histogram and - if necessary - take multiple shots metering off different parts of the scene so that you can choose the best one later.

Gear: Nikon D700. Nikkor 16-35 mm.

Aperture: f/14

Shutter speed: 1/250 sec

Exposure bias: 0 EV

Focal Length: 19 mm

ISO: 200

Date Taken: August, 2011, 07: 40

Maciek.

Sunrise over the Tejo river.

A story behind: Three different things went wrong yesterday morning. First the sky: no clouds nor river fog and consequently no natural light filtering, just hard and unpleasant feeling. Second the temperature: we are still in the middle of the summer so 20º C at 6.30 in the morning may be normal for this time of the year but it is a "killing machine" for photography. And finally the low tide that I have encountered that morning deteriorated the reflection of the bridges in the water.

In such difficult conditions it is important to remember to be very precise with the initial color settings during exposure and the shutter speed to balance the unwanted light and weather conditions.

Location: Lisbon, Portugal.

Gear: Nikon D700. Nikkor 16-35 mm.

Aperture: f/14

Shutter speed: 3 sec

Exposure bias: -0,9 EV

Focal Length: 19 mm

ISO: 500

Date Taken: August 24th, 2011, 06: 32

Maciek.

A view from Quiraing.

A story behind: We were climbing the Trotternish ridge for over an hour. Every moment the views were more and more amazing. But when we got close to the top and the plateau of the Quiraing the breathtaking 360º panoramic views have opened.
To the west we could see the Outer Hebrides islands, to the east the Scottish mainland and down there were some small lakes and a pyramidal rocky peak ( the Prison ).
The full frame camera is ideal to capture vast and spacious landscapes. Minimal adjustments were made to this image using Photoshop. It’s as straight out of the camera as possible.

Location: Quiraing, Scotland.

Gear: Nikon D700. Nikkor 16-35 mm.

Aperture: f/14

Shutter speed: 1/250 sec

Exposure bias: -0,3 EV

Focal Length: 16 mm

ISO: 200

Date Taken: July 08th, 2011, 12: 52

Maciek.

Cuellar Castle and a man with a dog

A story behind: It was Sunday, rather early morning, the 7th of August. It is rare to see the main square in front of the famous Santiago Cathedral empty. Usually the square and church are packed with tourists and pilgrims from around the world.
So that morning I savoured this unique moment of solitude and beauty of the place.
Later I took some photos and spent a couple of minutes talking to a pilgrim who walked here from France. Bon voyage home my friend !

Location: Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Gear: Nikon D700. Nikkor 16-35 mm.

Aperture: f/4

Shutter speed: 1/60 sec

Exposure bias: 0 EV

Focal Length: 18 mm

ISO: 640

Date Taken: August 07th, 2011, 06: 38

Maciek.