Lisbon Seafood

Portugal is a seafaring nation and seafood restaurants are everywhere in Lisbon.  These are barnacles; the edible part is in the black sleeve-like piece.  Rather chewy and very salty.

Lisbon Hums at night

Things don't really get started until around 9 on a typical evening in Lisbon and there are still plenty of people hanging about in restaurants and cafes until 1 or 2 in the morning at least.

Lisbon

Here's a strange shot...taken while we paused at a sidewalk cafe.  The cafe had transluscent red plastic chairs and when the sun shines through this is the effect.

Any One for Fish?

This lady spoke no English but was proud to pose for the camera.  When you're in the Lisbon fish markets there is a huge selection; most of it unrecognizable.  It tried to decipher the signs with no success.

A Day Out in Belem

This is Antiga Casa dos Pasteis de Belem, home of the Pasteis de Belem that were featured in yesterdays post.  The exterior is pleasant but unremarkable - inside it's bedlam as hundreds of people stop in for take-a-way to or to sit at one of the many tables - the restaurant goes on for ever it seems so nobody gets turned away.  From the look of him I'd say the chap in the foreground is a regular patron.

A Day Out in Belem

A day out in Belem would be incomplete without stopping at Antiga Casa dos Pasteis de Belem, renowned for their Pasteis de Belem;custard filled tarts in flaky pastry.  Conveniently, they come bite sized.  At least if you just stuff them in they're bite sized.  You will see these tarts all over Lisbon but we found none better than these.

Sometimes it's all a guy can do to stay awake...

I couldn't resist this opportunity.  I'm not sure I would take the risk of sleeping on a ledge (this chap is up about 10 feet or so) but if you're tired enough and you find a shady spot what the heck.

Driving in Europe

Driving in Europe is different from home; the roads are narrow and the parking is often improvised.  Sometimes things don't go well - here's a not so subtle reminder of that.

Lisbon Roof Tops

Rooftops of Lisbon with a view of the Castelo de Sao Jorga in the distance.

My Workplan for a Warm Day in Lisbon

11:30 am, 36 degrees...what to do???

Canon 5D2, Lensbaby Composer lens.

Lisbon in Black & White

Any one for Port?  Arguably Portugal's most famous export and certainly the nations greatest gift to the world of wine and spirits, Port is certainly not hard to find in Lisbon.  There are many stores that offer wide selections at all price points.  This particular store had an impressive range from which to choose in the 1400-1600 Euro range; all of them casually displayed in the store window for heaven sake.  The good stuff is in the back presumably.

Lisbon in Black & White

Another extractive streetscape.  I rather like the way the photo space is divided up in this shot.  The balance between light and dark, high contrast to low and the hard lines the separate everything worked very well.  All and I all I'm giving it a number 1 rating - there's something in this photo that commands me to do so...not sure what it is though.

Lisbon in Black & White

Do people still send postcards?  We do but not often.  These postcards were hanging on the wall of a little beach side store and they looked to be a bit past their best-before-date...faded, curled and slightly forgotten relics from the days before e-mail and facebook.

Lisbon in Black & White

Any one for the beach?  This photo was taken at Estoril just west of central Lisbon.  Fortunately there are plenty of thatch roof umbrellas as it does get rather warm.  No place for a pale skinned boy like me.

ISO 100, F10 at 1/200 sec, Nik Silver Efex Pro software edit.

Lisbon in Black & White

In north america - at least where we live - there is always order and structure to things, particularly anything to do with food service establishments.  Not so much in Europe where there are loads of casual little spots to grab a bite or a fast coffee.  Or cold beer.  The beer is really good.

ISO 400, F8 at 1/60 sec, Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Lisbon in Black & White

Here's an extractive streetscape with a little more structure to it.  Almost perfectly symmetrical with classic rule-of-thirds composition.

Lisbon in Black & White

I think people must wonder what's wrong with me.  Pictures of drinking fountains?!?  Well it was hot - around 34 degrees C or thereabouts and this public drinking fountain was a welcome site that was photo-worthy in my opinion.

Lisbon in Black & White

An 'extractive streetscape photo' is just a fancy term for a detail shot.   Here's another example, taken in Sintra - a short train ride from central Lisbon.  My extractive streetscapes are almost always taken flat-on to the subject.  Sometimes there is perfect symmetry, sometimes not as in this example.  There's often a lot of texture to old plaster and masonry, when I begin the editing process that's what I'm looking for.  Nik Silver Efex Pro software allows me to enhance the contrast of these heavily textured surfaces so it looks like what I saw through the view finder.

Lisbon in Black & White

Here's another detail shot of the Monument to the Discoveries in Belem, Lisbon.  The monument is meant to look like the bow of a ship.  That's Henry the Navigator leading the way.

Lisbon in Black & White

Here's a detail shot of the Padrão dos Descobrimentos - Monument to the Discoveries in Belem.  The tower was reconstructed for the Worlds Fair in 1940.  There are 33 figures on the monument, Henry the Navigator, Vasco de Gama and Ferdinand Magellan amongst them.

Lisbon in Black & White

This is the Torre de Belem; or Tower of Belem.  Constructed in the early 1500's to mark the start/end point for departing explorers, the tower was well out into the river originally.  The land north of the tower has been reclaimed from the sea in modern times; now visitors can get from the shore line to the tower via a short walkway.  I took several shots of the tower and I think I like this one best because of the two young boys in the lower left, I think they add another level of interest to this shot.

Lisbon in Black & White

Here's another extrative streetscape photograph; this too taken in Belem.  Edited in Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Lisbon in Black & White

I really like to take extractive street scape photos, particularly in older cities.  The overlapping geometery of the square and diamond shapes of this window in Belem appealed to me.

Lisbon in Black & White

We have just returned from a short trip to Lisbon.  I'll be sharing some photos of this trip over the next while.  Let's start out with some black and white shots.  This is Praça D. Pedro V in the heart of Baixa.  The sidewalks of Lisbon are paved with 75mm x 75mm rough cut marble.  In the squares and promenades there is usually a decorative flourish such as seen here.

Daylilies

I was happy with this snap shot when I first reviewed it but even more please when I saw the black and white version.  Photo taken in the front yard a couple of weeks ago; hand held with the Canon G11 ISO 400, F4.5 @ 1/60 sec; edited with Nik Silver Efex Pro software.  Final Edit in Photoshop CS4

Commonwealth Stadium Ligthing

Last - and my favourite - photo in the stadium lighting series.  Taken with the 15mm fish eye lens; this is two photo overlayed onto one another.  There was some residual smoke in the air following a scoring play and I wanted the beams of light to show up really well against the darkening sky.  By overlaying the dark image on top of the lighter one I could 'erase' the areas where I wanted the light to be brighter.  This is the result.

Commonwealth Stadium Ligthing

Sixth photo in the stadium ligthing series; this time with the 15mm fish eye lens.

Commonwealth Stadium Ligthing

Fifth in the Stadium ligthing series.

Commonwealth Stadium Ligthing

Fourth in the stadium lighting series; again using the 17mm TSE lens to create two side by side images merged together in one photo.  Normally photoshops 'automerge' function works quite well but in this case it balked so I had to merge the images manually.  There's a seam there somewhere but I think it turned out quite well.

Commonwealth Stadium Ligthing

Third photo in the Stadium Ligthing series.