Wednesday, 25 October 2017

Shot no.25











Shot no.25 (Canon EOS M10 with lens Canon EF-M 15-45mm and Canon EF 75-300mm, Huwaei Mate 9)

Photos taken at Palácio da Pena, Sintra, Lisbon District in October 2017.
Quick trip to Lisbon to watch Benfica for the Champions League and on the following day, photo mission for the blog. Palácio da Pena in Sintra was the chosen place. I was meant to wake up at 8.30am and go early, of course that didn't happen! Woke up at about 9.45am, got ready very slowly, had a huge breakfast at the hotel (very slowly again), planned to get the train from Lisbon to Sintra but I was so lazy that I had to call an Uber to pick me up at the hotel door and drop me at the palace entrance. My laziness was probably due to the rain in Lisbon but fortunately, in Sintra, the rain only arrived in the evening.
Sintra is a very beautiful village, very posh, just about 30 minutes driving from Lisbon. Sintra was always a very important town in Portuguese history, from Roman times to modern history,  that town has a castle from medieval times, several palaces, extravagant houses and beautiful gardens. The most important one is Palácio da Pena which was built in 1836 on the top of a mountain at 476m high and surrounded by forest that is part of Parque da Pena. From the start it was the favorite residence of Portuguese Royal Family until the end of monarchy in 1910. It's a beautiful piece of architecture visited by hundreds of thousands of people per year. I should have thought about that better because I don't really like to photograph crowded places and that palace was crowded (that is my excuse for so little photos and in none of them you can see the ground). Inside the palace the light wasn't the best, it was crowded and tripods weren't alowed so there is only one photo in this post from the chapel. The palace is the second highest place in those mountains so you have a great 360º view. Spent the whole afternoon shooting and in the evening (when the clouds started getting heavier) went down town to try Travesseiros de Sintra and Queijadas de Sintra, two typical pastries and they are just delicious!
One day in Sintra is not enough! There is several palaces to visit and the beach is not too far so it's a perfect spot for holidays, not far from the capital but not that busy! Certainly I'll visit it again!

Info:

Sunday, 8 October 2017

Shot no.24











Shot no.24 (Canon EOS M10 with lens Canon EF-M 15-45mm and Canon EF 75-300mm)


EN

Photos taken at Powerscourt Waterfall, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow in September 2017.
Monday morning, a beautiful Autumn day that started with a visit to the gym with some friends and then we went South to find a spot to photograph. I thought about many places but I decided to go somewhere that wasn't too far. One of my first posts on this blog was about Powerscourt gardens (Shot no.1 and Shot no.7) which I visited in May. At that time I didn't have the opportunity to visit the waterfall so I said that I would have to do another visit someday. So, four months later that day had arrived!
When we left the gym we hit the road straight away so after 30min we got hungry so first we stopped in Powerscourt House to have lunch. It was expensive but delicious, worth every cent and having tasty food with that view is priceless! Also had a chance to give a little taste of Powersourt Gardens to my friends... I believe they might want to visit it at some stage, they were very impressed!
After that, driving about 10 minutes on countryside roads (which made me want to stop the car to take photos but the roads were so narrow that I couldn't do it and of course we were running out of time), we arrived to the waterfall. You enter with your car and at the entrance you have to pay about 6€/person then, already inside the premises, you still have to drive for another 3min until you get to the car park. There you have facilities like toilets and a kiosk where you can buy food and tables for picnic and barbecues. Also there is a playground for kids. All this is surrounded by mountains and trees painted with Irish green, astonishing!
The waterfall is impressive with it's 121m height, which is Ireland's hightest waterfall. There is a road for people drive to very close to the waterfall if someone has mobility limitations, the only problem is that the cars don't fit well in the photos!
If you ever get enough of watching the waterfall you have trails for hiking. I didn't have time for hiking because obviously I spent nearly 2h photographing.
I was a little disappointed with myself because I didn't plan this mission very well. I went in the afternoon, I was in a valley surrounded by mountains and high trees which reduced my hours of light but then, just to make it worse, the sun set just behind the waterfall so all my pictures were blinded by the sunlight and the sky looked white instead of blue in some photos. However, on the upside, I had to work way more with the manual settings on my camera which made me learn a lot!
Don't forget to visit Powerscourt House & Gardens and Waterfall if you come to Dublin, there is many bus tours from the City Centre. 
Hope you enjoy my shots!

PT

Fotos tiradas em Powerscourt Waterfall, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow em Setembro de 2017.
Segunda-feira de manhã, um lindo dia de Outono que começou com uma visita ao ginásio com alguns amigos e depois fomos em direcção ao sul para encontrar um lugar para fotografar. Pensei em muitos lugares, mas decidi ir a um que não fosse muito longe. Um dos meus primeiros posts neste blog foi sobre Powerscourt Gardens (Shot no.1 e Shot no.7) que visitei em maio. Dessa vez, eu não tive a oportunidade de visitar a cascata. Ficou decidido que eu teria que fazer outra visita algum dia. Então, quatro meses depois, esse dia chegou!
Quando saímos do ginásio, metemo-nos na estrada de imediato, depois de 30min ficamos com fome por isso, primeiro nós parámos em Powerscourt House para almoçar. Era caro, mas delicioso, valia a pena cada cêntimo e, com comida saborosa, aquela vista não tinha preço! Também tive a chance de dar a conhecer um pouco de Powersourt Gardens aos meus amigos ... Eu acredito que vão querer visitá-lo no futuro pois ficaram muito impressionados!
Depois disso, conduzímos cerca de 10 minutos em estradas secundárias (o que me fez querer parar o carro para tirar fotos, mas as estradas eram tão estreitas que não conseguiria fazê-lo e, claro, ficaríamos sem tempo), chegámos à cascata. Você entra com o seu carro e na entrada, tem que pagar cerca de 6 € / pessoa, então, já dentro das instalações, você ainda tem que conduzir por mais 3 minutos até chegar ao parque de estacionamento. Lá você tem instalações como casas de banho e um quiosque onde você pode comprar comida e mesas para piquenique e churrascos. Também há um parque infantil para crianças. Tudo isso é cercado por montanhas e árvores pintadas com verde irlandês, surpreendentes!
A cascata é impressionante com uma altura de 121m, é a maior queda de água da Irlanda. Há uma estrada para as pessoas conduzirem até muito perto da cascata no caso de alguém com limitações de mobilidade, o único problema é que os carros não encaixam bem nas fotos!
Se você já tiver observado suficientemente a cascata, sempre tem a opção de fazer as trilhas para caminhadas. Não tive tempo para fazer caminhadas porque, obviamente, passei quase 2h fotografando.
Fiquei um pouco desapontado comigo mesmo porque não planeei esta missão muito bem. Eu fui de tarde, eu estava num vale cercado por montanhas e árvores altas que reduziu bastante as minhas horas de luz mas então, para piorar, o sol estava bem por tráz da cascata, então a claridade tornou o céu branco em vez de azul. No entanto, o lado positivo é que eu tive que trabalhar muito mais com as configurações manuais na minha câmara, o que me fez aprender muito!
Não se esqueça de visitar Powerscourt House & Gardens e Waterfall se você vier a Dublin, há muitas excursões de autocarro desde o centro de Dublin.

Espero que você goste das minhas fotos!

Info:

Saturday, 30 September 2017

Shot no. 23 - part II








Shot no.23 - part II (Canon EOS M10 with lens Canon EF-M 15-45mm and Canon EF 75-300mm)


Photos taken at Killiney Hill, Co. Dublin, Ireland in September 2017.
So exactly one week later, another Sunday, morning time was terrible for photography but the afternoon and evening were just golden! Drove all the way back to Killiney Hill 100% sure that it would be a day for good shots and I don't think I was wrong. The sky was blue but still with some clouds so didn't make the background so boring.
This time I managed to photograph what I had planned when I went on the first visit.
To reach this monument you need to do a little hike, very easy!
That obelisk was built in 1742 and has been restored several times after that and still knows how to look well in a photo! The pyramid was built in 1852 at the edge of Killiney Hill and it was a great spot for me to put my tripod on the top of and take several pictures of Co. Dublin, Dalkey Island and Co. Wicklow... just had to turn around! Sea and mountains so close, just undescribable!
Killiney Hill Park is a great place to spend time, you can hike, mountain climb, play sports or just chill! It includes Killiney Hill and Dalkey Hill, just a few minutes away from Dún Laoghoire. 
I read somewhere that there is many famous people living in Killiney and Dalkey like U2's Bono and The Edge. Who knows if you will find Bono on a hike around the hills?

Info:

About Killiney Hill:


Sunday, 24 September 2017

Shot no.23 - part I










Shot no.23 - part I (Canon EOS M10 with lens Canon EF-M 15-45mm and Canon EF 75-300mm)

Photos taken at Killiney Hill, Co. Dublin, Ireland in September 2017.
It was Sunday, at 8am a beautiful sunny day at 10.30am, heavy rain! Had it in my head that I would go to Killiney Hill to take photos. I've never been there but through my research I had no doubt that it would be a super spot for photos. Honestly, nearly gave up on that idea but looking at the sky noted that the clouds were moving south and, behind them, a blue sky started to appear. Killiney Hill is located south of Dublin, 153m high and at the North side you have Co. Dublin and Dublin Bay and at South side Co. Wicklow and you can see as far as Bray Head (shot no.20).
In this post I didn't manage to go too far. As soon as I got out of the car, I started to take photos straight away, still in the car park. I was impressed with the view of Dún Laoghaire, Dublin city, Dublin Bay, Howth and the Irish Sea. In these shots that's all you can see.
Killiney Hill is very rocky so it's a perfect spot for mountain climbing, of course I spent at least 1h taking photos of people climbing the hill.
I spent at least 3h there, only walked around 300m, only saw the Northern side, still have too much to see and that's why this is called the part I of shot no.23. I need to have another visit to the park when, I don't know, but hopefully soon! Hope you enjoy this first part!

Saturday, 16 September 2017

Shot no.22









Shot no.22 (Canon EOS M10, Fujifilm Finepix SP8200)

Photos taken in Sal Island, Cape Verde in October 2016.
Summer is long gone in Ireland and it's nearly gone in the rest of northern hemisphere. I'm not on holidays and don't have time to go over to some nice and hot southern European country to give a boost to my tan. I have no option but to look back on some summer photos and remember warm memories of sun, sea and sand. These ones are from Cape Verde, it was October but still very hot. You can check more about Cape Verde on Shot no.3 and Shot no.4.
Hope you enjoy it! :D

Saturday, 9 September 2017

Shot no. 21










Shot no. 21 (Canon EOS M10)

Photos taken at Phoenix Park, Co. Dublin, Ireland in September 2017.
Another rainy Irish day in September... was planning to go out in the afternoon to take pictures somewhere but didn't work that way. Clouds were very dark, thunder decided to make some noise so I completely gave up on that idea. However, about 18.30h, the sun started to show up again,  the clouds were not that heavy anymore, I actually could see a bit of blue sky every so often and believe it or not,  it stopped raining. That was time to capture shots but where to go? Being lucky to live close enough to Phoenix Park, drove to a little corner called The Furry Glen. Never explored much of that part of the park, decided to go there because I was hoping the deer would be around there and I was right! Had probably around 1h of proper sun light and then the sun set. The clouds kept appearing so the light wasn't the best but this is Ireland and I'm starting to get used to it!
Phoenix Park is a huge park attached to Dublin city centre, I still have many, many hours to spend taking shots over there!

Info:

  • Phoenix Park: 
        • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Park
        • http://www.irelands-hidden-gems.com/phoenix-park.html
        • http://phoenixpark.ie/