The storytelling landscape

The very end of Mosteiros peninsula. A view to the Eastern cliffs of Sete Cidades mountain, Portugal.

A story behind: The entire route along the Western coast of the São Miguel island is considered a visual treat for the eye, but my personal preference is the northwestern-most point around the small village of Mosteiros. This is where I concentrate the majority of my photography and walks. Recently I felt a little bored with the Mosteiros beach so I looked for the new spot for shooting photos.
That night the landscape was playing the big show and the only person standing at the audience was me. The sky was covered with quickly moving dark clouds with some light patches from the dying sun. The massive cliffs of the Eastern side of the Sete Cidades volcano were bravely standing against the Middle Atlantic waves. And in the foreground lava-formed stones and small waterfalls with amazing parallel wave lines emerging only on the long shutter images.


Technique: Rapidly changing water and weather conditions with suddenly appearing/disappearing big bright water areas in the foreground were really a big challenge to set up a right white balance. Tripod, cable remote and 3-stop reversed ND Grad filter.

Location: Outside the village of Mosteiros, Portugal.

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

Aperture: f/10

Shutter speed: 2 sec

Exposure bias: 0 EV

Focal Length: 16 mm

ISO: 200

Maciek.

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.

Sixty Nine - a picture from Liverpool

Number "69"

A story behind: This is another example of the modern architecture photography. I took this picture during our short stay in Liverpool early this week. Museum of Liverpool located at the famous city´s Waterfront is a recently opened space hosting exhibitions and galleries. At the center and heart of the building these beautiful spiral stairs arise.

One can find this photo on a front page of http://www.onephoto.net/.

Location: Liverpool City Museum, Liverpool, Great Britain.

Gear: Nikon D80, Sigma 10-20 mm, handheld. RAW to Tiff.

Aperture: f/9

Shutter speed: 1/125 sec

Exposure bias: 0 EV

Focal Length: 10 mm

ISO: 500

Date Taken: Wednesday, February 15th, 2012, 14: 45

Maciek.

Playing with the light

Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal

A story behind: Modern architecture comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, styles, and forms. The main entrance to the Serralves Museum of the Contemporary Art is a multidimensional space: tree basic dimensions, the light that changes rapidly with time and the movement of the people. That morning an almost horizontal light coming from the upper left corner added some new convergence lines to the whole scene.
I searched for patterns paying special attention to the contrasting polygons and avoiding the unnecessary and uninteresting elements. By adding a human subject to the picture I created a natural perspective and brought some life to the final image.
One can find this photo on a front page of http://www.onephoto.net/.


and on 1x.com: www.1x.com/#!/photo/48245



Location: Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal.

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

Aperture: f/13

Shutter speed: 1/125 sec

Exposure bias: 0 EV

Focal Length: 16 mm

ISO: 400

Date Taken: Thursday, February 9th, 2012, 10: 31

Maciek.

The clouds have finally appeared

The Granja port lighthouse.

A story behind: The sunset over the Atlantic ocean with heavy clouds, low tide, rocks and quiet sea observed from the mouth of the small fishermen port of Granja.


Gear: Nikon D700. Nikkor 16-35 mm. Tripod. ND 0.6. Standing and taking photo from one of the most furthermost rocks of the shoreline accessible by foot.

Aperture: f/22

Shutter speed: 12 sec

Exposure bias: -0.7 EV

Focal Length: 16 mm

ISO: 50

Place taken: Granja beach, Portugal.

Date Taken: Sunday, February 5th, 2012, 18: 00

Maciek.

A Friday night

The Felgueiras lighthouse. The late afternoon at the Foz beach, Porto, Portugal.

A story behind: The Felgueiras lighthouse was built in 1886. Its system of lamps and lenses is now deactivated due to the construction of the new lighthouse close-by.

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

Aperture: f/22

Shutter speed: 5 sec

Exposure bias: -0.3 EV

Focal Length: 20 mm

ISO: 200

Place taken: Porto Foz beach, Portugal.

Date Taken: Friday, Fabruary 3rd, 2012, 18: 07

Maciek.

The sun sinking into the horizon - a view from my window.

A story behind: Days and weeks pass and the weather continues the same: cold nights, nice days with blue sky and ZERO clouds. This is an landscape-photographer nightmare. I long for clouds, soft light and photo opportunities.

That Thursday night being completely desperate I took my Nikkor 75-300 mm lenses opened the window and shot the sunset.



Gear: Nikon D700. Nikkor 75-300 mm. Handheld.

Aperture: f/5.6

Shutter speed: 1/120 sec


Exposure bias: -0.3 EV

Focal Length: 300 mm

ISO: 500

Place taken: Porto, Portugal.

Date Taken: Thursday, February 2nd, 2012, 18: 50

Maciek.

The lighthouse at the end of the world

Ponta de Arnel lighthouse in the early morning.

A story behind: With a completion of the new highway along the Northern coast of São Miguel island ( with several impressive sky bridges ) the access to this remote part of the island was made quite easy. Now from the island´s capital Ponta Delgada it only takes around 45 minutes to get to the lighthouse.

This particular morning when I got to the place the light was far from perfect but I tried to do my best. The place is beautiful but not quite serene: abandoned, with stunning 180º views, strong but steady winds and overwhelming sound of crushing 50 meters below waves.
"The lighthouse at the end of the world" is also the title of one of the novels by Jules Verne.
Gear: Nikon D700. Nikkor 16-35 mm. Handheld.

Aperture: f/5,6

Shutter speed: 1/60 sec

Exposure bias: -0,7 EV
Focal Length: 16 mm

ISO: 500

Place taken: Nordeste, Portugal.

Date Taken: Friday, January 27th, 2012, 07: 15

Maciek.

A spring time in our garden

Two hyacinths flowers just emerging in our garden are the true sign of the approaching spring.

Date: January 20th, 2012.

Gear: Nikon D80, Nikkor 17-75 mm.

Maciek.

My town at dusk

Porto old town view at dusk.

A story behind: Most of the times even our most modern cameras simply cannot 'see' the same way our eyes see. Our camera's sensor does not record anything close to the full 'dynamic range' of the human eye, meaning it can only capture so much difference between the darkest and brightest parts of an image. This means we must frequently control or moderate the light entering the camera into a more narrow range of tones which the camera will be able to 'see' as it should.

But sometimes we need to do the opposite. By setting long exposure time camera can record the images that are impossible to capture by the naked human eye. Just look above: smoothing the water surface with long shutter speed gave a great effect.

The picture was made on Sunday at dusk.

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

Aperture: f/22

Shutter speed: 14 sec

Exposure bias: 0 EV

Focal Length: 16 mm

ISO: 320

Place taken: Porto, Portugal.

Date Taken: Sunday, January 22th, 2012, 07: 36

Maciek.