Rainy Days

Title: Rainy Days
Date: 2006/02/25
Location: Guimarães (Portugal)
Camera: Olympus c-3030 zoom
Aperture: F/2,8
Shutter speed: 1/160 s
ISO speed: 100

This shot was taken almost a year ago. Although, with all the rain in this Autumn I could have taken it in the early past days. We haven't got so much rain in Portugal for years.

I like rain. Sometimes it is uncomfortable, it wets and make the days look gray, but on the other hand it makes all different. It adds some kind of melancholy, some strange mood. This is what I tried to capture in this photo. When I saw the red bench, full of small water drops, and in second plan an empty garden, I instantly knew what shot I had to make.
But for now, I think I'm had enough of rain!

Sublime

Title: Sublime
Date: 2006/02/05
Location: Somewhere at the forest near the village of Outeiro, Viseu (Portugal)
Camera: Olympus c-3030 zoom
Aperture: F/4,5
Shutter speed: 1/500 s
ISO speed: 100

Since I was a little boy, every year I spent some time at my grandfather’s homeland, a little village called Outeiro, located at the center of Portugal, near the city of Viseu. I guess it was there, where I would go for walks with my father, that I’ve learn to love and respect the nature and all its beauty and power.

I still go to Outeiro in the summer, and I still go for walks, or for strolls on the bicycle. I rarely leave my camera at home, so when I see something worth take a picture, I won’t miss that chance.

This summer, on one of these strolls, I’ve encountered a small bare place in the forest full of huge butterflies. They all looked the same, some bigger than others. They were all flying from flower to flower, from plant to plant. There were a large number of butterflies, but catching them on a photo wasn’t easy…

Approaching without scare them and make them flew away was difficult. I spend many, many minutes trying the best approach. Very slow movements were the trick. When I learnt that I got really close to them and make some fine shots. This one of them. And it’s this kind of contact that makes me realize one of these sublime and wonderful aspects of nature.

In flames

Title: In flames
Date: 2006/09/01
Location: Outeiro (Viseu), Portugal
Camera: Olympus c-3030 zoom
Aperture: F/2,8
Shutter speed: 1/25 s
ISO speed: 200
Edits: crop

Get together with some friends and make a barbecue.

Even better: have some friends and family and make a barbecue.

Even better: get some friends and family and make a barbecue in a summer’s hot night.

This was a night to remember. I’ve invited some friends to come to my grandfather’s house in a little village. My parents helped my with the barbecue. Thank you!
This is my father taking care of the fire. It looks like he was set on fire!Lol!

In the backseat

Title: In the backseat
Date: 2006/08/26
Location: somewhere between Cuenca and Toledo (Spain)
Camera: Olympus c-3030 zoom
Aperture: F/2,8
Shutter speed: 1/50 s
ISO speed: 100
Edits: crop

We were heading from Cuenca to Toledo, where I and my family were staying on holidays. It was late afternoon and the sun was already setting down. It was right in the middle of Castilla-la-Mancha, which is known for its endless plains, sprinkled with mills, the typical landscape described by Cervantes at his master-work “Don Quixote”.

The sky turned like fire. The colors were amazing! It was one of the most spectacular views, I’ve ever seen in last years. We were heading towards the west, to the sun. We couldn’t take our eyes from the horizon. It was a dream scene.

My father was driving, my mother was next to him, and I and my sister were in the backseat. I can’t express this moment in words. It was unique. I daydream every time I remember that afternoon.

If there is a music that can put out some of those feelings, it is a song from Arcade Fire called “In the Backseat”. I thought a lot about this song when I’m traveling on the backseat, but now I thought about that day when I hear this song. I hope you enjoy…

In The Backseat - Arcade Fire

I like the peace
in the backseat,
I don't have to drive,
I don't have to speak,
I can watch the country side,
and I can fall asleep.

My family tree's
losing all its leaves,
crashing towards the driver's seat,
the lightning bolt made enough heat
to melt the street beneath your feet.

Alice died
in the night,
I've been learning to drive.
My whole life,
I've been learning.

I like the peace
in the backseat,
I don't have to drive,
I don't have to speak,
I can watch the country side

Alice died
in the night,
I've been learning to drive.
My whole life,
I've been learn----Oh....

Path to Heaven

Title: Path to Heaven
Date: 2006/08/21
Location: Toledo's Cathedral (Spain)
Camera: Olympus c-3030 zoom
Aperture: F/2,8
Shutter speed: 1/125 s
ISO speed: 100

The Cathedral of Toledo it is more like a museum rather than a church, because of all its treasures, its precious details, its architecture… You walk in and you don’t know where to turn, as there is so much to see.

The photo was taken at the cathedral’s deambulatory, where there is an impressive baroque retable. The light coming from the opening creates an atmospheric mood and also makes the scene look quite real. You feel like you could lift up towards the light and go just trough the path of salvation…

Urban Speed

Title: Urban Speed
Date: 2006/02/05
Location: Oporto's subway, Porto (Portugal)
Camera: Olympus c-3030 zoom
Aperture: F/6,3
Shutter speed: 1,6 s
ISO speed: 100
Edits: black and white

At the subway we find people of all races, shapes, religions, beliefs, classes… Most people don’t talk, but we know they have a lot to tell. They just sit there, minding their own business. Each one has their own story. Their family. Their friends. Their problems. Their hopes. Each one has an identity. Each one is unique.

And so these persons sit next to each other in the subway’s train. Not knowing if they’re ever going to cross each others again. What is fate going to bring to them?

Streets of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen

I was bruised and battered and I couldnt tell
What I felt
I was unrecognizable to myself
I saw my reflection in a window I didnt know
My own face
Oh brother are you gonna leave me
Wastin´away
On the streets of philadelphia

I walked the avenue till my legs felt like stone
I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone
At night I could hear the blood in my veins
Black and whispering as the rain
On the streets of philadelphia

Aint no angel gonna greet me
Its just you and I my friend
My clothes dont fit me no more
I walked a thousand miles
Just to slip the skin

The night has fallen, Im lyinawake
I can feel myself fading away
So receive me brother with your faithless kiss
Or will we leave each other alone like this
On the streets of philadelphia

Force of Nature

Title: Force of Nature
Date: 2006/07/18
Location: Porto (Portugal)
Camera: Olympus c-3030 zoom
Aperture: F/2,8
Shutter speed: 1/25 s
ISO speed: 400
Edits: crop; blue tone added

This photo was shot just from my room's window at Oporto. It was in the middle of July. The temperature was high. Suddenly, some strong winds began to blow and these dark clouds came. And then, the thunder storm began. I was radiant to have the chance to assist to this nature exhibit. I always loved lightning and thunders. It makes me small before this force of nature.
I had never tried to photograph this kind of phenomenon before. This was the first time, but I'm really satisfied with the results, taking in consideration the fact I had no tripod to make the camera steady. With the huge number of lightning taking place everywhere, I just had to point firmly the camera with the multiple photo mode on.

Make Your Order

Title: Make Your Order
Date: 2006/07/14
Location: Cafe Concerto - Centro Cultural Vila Flor, Guimarães (Portugal)
Camera: Olympus c-3030 zoom
Aperture: F/2,8
Shutter speed: 1/13 s
ISO speed: 200

Quotidian and simple day-life details always interested me. Most of the times we don’t notice them, as they are so much implicated in our routine. I like to capture moments as those.

This is the first photo I posted on the blog. Most of photos that I'm going to post, are already or are going to be posted at flickr.

My eyesight

My father always enjoyed photography. In addiction to the compact cameras, that would come and go as they broke, he had this old SLR camera that he had bought from a professional photographer. I remember since always he took me and my sister photos when we were little children. As every father he liked to make these records for memory. I’m glad he made them! Who doesn’t like to pick up an old album and bring to mind old times? But he also took some other beautiful photos, artistic ones. I realize now he has a great eye for this. I’m just pity he doesn’t make the use of his gift as he could.

Maybe because of him I have become more and more interested in photograph as I grew up. At the arrival of the digital era, I’ve started to take some photos just for myself. Digital cameras had this particularly advantage: inexpensive costs. You didn’t have to print it anymore. This gave me the liberty to take all the photos I wanted and not paying a cent! As I said, I started with a few photos. Photo after photo I began to learn and improve with my experiments. I started to ask my father for the basic, and I went on reading information on books and on the internet. I never went far on reading books. I’m not the theory kind of person. I like being on the field. So, I’ve learned the basics, and the rest I’ve learn with experience.

Some years ago I’ve decided to put my photos (or my work, if you could call that) on the internet. I started looking for a place to post them and I was lucky to found flickr.com, which was just in the beginning back then. It was in beta version, it was a new thing. I know now I couldn’t have chosen better. We can say flickr is for photos, like goolge is for web searching.

Now I can say I do make some photography. I have a lot to learn, but I hope to express in here what I've learned so far. Furthermore, because we can’t forget photography is an art, I consider my photos to be, not only images of what surrounds me, but a also my vision of them. They are my point of view. They are my angle. They are my eyesight.

The Eyesight - Definition

eye‧sight  /ˈaɪˌsaɪt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ahy-sahyt]
noun
1. the power or faculty of seeing.
2. the act or fact of seeing.
3. the range of the eye.