A swirling vortex of entropy or the Black Hole.

The dark is falling upon the Vale Furado beach.

Location: High yellow sand cliffs overlooking the Vale Furado beach, close to the city of Nazare, central Portugal. ( a google map ). The wind, occasional rain and high waves photographed just after the sunset.

Gear: Nikon D80

Exposure bias: 0 EV Aperture: F/11

ISO: 320

Date Taken: Saturday, November 13th, 2010, 18:30

Maciek.

Three days in Lisbon and Cabo da Roca ( part 1 )

Elevador da Bica ( Bica funicular ) in Bairro Alto, Lisbon.

It was a quick decision: we packed our thing and drove south. Two and a half hour´s later we arrived in Chiado/Bairo Alto, the most beautiful district of old Lisbon. The weather was great. Some clouds in the sky but November temperatures in their high teens. Later we had a wonderful 2 hours long lunch at the Ibo Restaurant with the view over the Tejo river. This is one of the best places in Lisbon to taste Mozambican flavors. Simple things like good company, nice weather, relaxing atmosphere, a lot of light inside restaurant and a bottle of a wonderful white Quinta da Bacalhoa 2008 wine made these moments truly unforgettable. After lunch we had a relaxing stroll up and around elegant Chiado neighborhood not so much packed with tourist at this off-peak season time of year. Date: Friday, 12th November, 2010. Maciek.

Tenerife Opera House ( detailed )

Tenerife opera house in Santa Cruz and a plane taking off from the local airport.

Spanish architect Santiago Catalarva´s masterpiece.

Recommended photo at www.photomediaworld.com

Maciek.

Tenerife Opera House

Amazing modern architecture of Tenerife ( Santa Cruz ) opera house. Wave-lake famous Spanish architect Santiago Catalarva´s masterpiece.

Location: Self-portrait. Santa Cruz, Tenerife Island, Spain.

Gear: Nikon D80, ND soft 0.3

Aperture: f/14 Exposure bias: - 1/3 EV

Focal Length: 10 mm

ISO: 100

Date Taken: November 2nd, 2010, 18:35

Maciek.

Autumn break at Tenerife

A mid-day view over the Teide mountain with sea fog flooding the valleys.

We are back from our first autumn break this year. I got really mixed feeling about Tenerife.

Pros: There are not too many of these. We tasted a couple of local wines and found our favorite: a red Suertes del Marques made on the northern slopes of the island from the unknown for us before vine Listan. Floatarium in our Spa was definitely a place to be - a wonderful pool with high concentration of dissolved mineral salts where you can float endlessly and lose yourself in a state of infinite abyss- it was absolutely relaxing ( but obviously had nothing to do with a Tenerife island ). Mountain of Teide ( 3,715 m ) , the highest elevation in Spain, and the surrounding post-volcanic landscape of black sharp rocks were quite interesting. You can drive through it with a moderate interest and take some photos.

Cons: Herds of tourist were everywhere ( and we are still receiving those skewed news about an "economical crisis", don´t we ? ). There are infinite number of horrible hotels designed for mass-tourism located all over the coastal areas. Main avenues close to the beaches are outlined with an never-ending strip of ugly bars, crappy restaurants, gift-shops and "bazaars" - all with primitive aluminum walls, plastic chairs offering a non-recognizable kind of "international cuisine". All over the island there is a spread of chaotic urbanization. The Spanish villages don´t look nice ether.

The verdict: We have already traveled to other islands of the Canaries before. In 2006 we found two islands: Fuertaventura and Lanzarote together with the Kempinski hotel where we stayed quite nice. But Tenerife turned out to be an not-so-pleasant place to be. We probably will never go back there again.

Maciek.

Walking the hills of São Miguel island

Me walking the top of steep hills close to Lagos de Fogo. São Miguel Island. Portugal.

Location: Thursday morning walk. I met a lot of wind and constantly changing weather conditions which are so typical for this of of the highest areas of the São Miguel island. That morning I started from the road EN24 and begin a slow descent to the Rocha dos Campos village ( here is a google map ). We are heading tonight for a couple of days to Tenerife island so I hope to bring some nice pictures back here.

Gear: Nikon D80

Exposure bias: - 1/3 EV

ISO: 100

Date Taken: October 21th, 2010, 10:55

Maciek.

Islands in the Autumn

 
Mosteiros beach in rain. São Miguel Island.

Location: The summer was over and dark clouds from the western Atlantic appeared on the Azores skies. I stood that night taking photos in the rain, beaten by wind and waves. My camera and filters were soaking. But it was all worth it. Awarded the front page of http://onephoto.net/?p0=2&p1=6 Photographed at the beach of Mosteiros, Westernmost part of the São Miguel island, Azores, Portugal.

Gear: Nikon D80, ND hard 0.6

Aperture: f/11 Exposure bias: +1/3 EV

Shutter speed: 2 sec

Focal Length: 11 mm

ISO: 100

Date Taken: October 20th, 2010, 19:55

PS. Also awarded the front page of http://www.obiektywni.pl/

Maciek.

Day 9 and 10: The Napa Valley

We spent two days riding up and down the Napa and Russian Valleys. We´ve tasted old Zinfandel wines, been to small family run wineries in Dry Creek Valley and visited big Disneyland-like wine producers in Oakville. Just two days of fun, talks in tasting rooms, meeting nice people, eating in Don Giovani restaurant. Swirl, sniff and spit...

Photos from the Robert Mondavi winery.

Maciek.

Day 11: Sacramento and Columbia State Historic Park

After leaving city of Napa we drove to Sacramento, a capital of the California State. Sacramento old town turned out to be very pleasant. We parked the car, walked the streets along the riverfront with19^th century style beautifully renovated shops, cobblestone roads, antique houses. It was all simple and rustic beauty that used to epitomize the Old West the way I like it very much. Afterwards we went to the small Rush Era museum where we meet a very nice lady who was working there. She told us a story of Sacramento as the epicenter of the 19^th century California gold rush with such an enthusiasm that we fall in love with Sacramento at ones. There are many wonderful things about the United Stated we have been slowly discovering during out trips to this country over the last 6 years. World-famous natural landmarks, big cities, nice restaurants with free refills, general feeling of safety while you travel and many more, but none is more outstanding than the friendliness of the people. All the people you meet are friendly, kind and with an immediate will to bing you help.

Sacramento old district.

From the Sacramento we took highway 41 scenic road south. The landscape was nice with groves of trees, old farm houses and pastures. This was the land when California Gold Rush took place. In 1984 the gold was discovered in the creeks here up the mountains and people went crazy. Almost overnight 40.000 people poured into this area. In a decade 400.000 people looked for gold in this hills. Some of the towns are being preserved as they were at the time. One of the most intriguing places to explore is old Columbia, now turned into a State Historic Park.

Gold Rush Era general store at Columbia.

Maciek.

Day 12: Yosemite National Park, the Tunnel View

Tunnel View.

This is one of the most photographed views of the Yosemite Park. We are standing on the west edge of the valley looking east. From the left: El Capitan with its massive 1400 m wall of rock ( the world´s largest exposed rock ), Half Dome in the middle standing 1600 meters above valley floor, Cathedral Spirals peaks with its Bridaveil Fall merely visible in the summer.

Maciek.