I was relaxing in the garden after the excitement of hearing a colony of Bee-eaters returning to the area when I realised that the clouds were going to provide a colourful sunset so I set the camera up using a Palm Tree in the foreground as a silhouette and waited.
It really didn’t disappoint! Our sunset in the hills is about 10 minutes earlier due to the ridges, this can sometimes provide some amazing colours.
{Click image(s) to view on Flickr - opens in new tab}Before you read on, a word of warning! If you are hoping to take a similar photo shown below, please do not look through the viewfinder of a DSLR, it will seriously damage your eye!
Ok, that is out of the way……. Today was another hot spring day in the Algarve and even more so in the Northern Hills. Late afternoon, the strong sun was beginning to set and just before it disappeared behind the ridges of the hills I took this shot directly into it and captured the fantastic glow it was giving. Of course, the sky wasn’t orange at this point, but because it was taken at 400mm only a small portion of the sky is visible, hence why the sun is also huge.
{Click image(s) to view on Flickr - opens in new tab}I’ve been thinking about this shot for a while. I have had to wait until the spring sun is lined up and tonight I decided to get a shot of the sun setting behind the ridge silhouetting the Stork nest on the disused Bakery chimney in São Marcos da Serra. It was also great to be able to have a Stork landing too.
{Click image(s) to view on Flickr - opens in new tab}I keep telling myself that I don’t take enough Seascape shots so whilst I was in Balaia Golf Resort on the weekend taking (Real Estate Shots, I decided to head to Praia de São Rafael for the sunset.
I arrived well before sunset to also use the opportunity to take some product shots of my new Photography Bean Bags which will be launched later today!
Of course, after living here for over 2.5 years, even though the temperatures were mid 20s, it was a nice surprise to see people sunbathing and even swimming in the sea! Soon enough the sun started to lower in the sky and most of the sun-cravers started to leave the beach and replaced by sunset watchers. I set myself up near the iconic rock in the centre of the beach and waited. The result of the session was the following 4 photographs which are shown below in time order. All are available in print in the Shop, please see individual links below each image.
First, the sun just about to dip below the west cliff.
{Click image(s) to view on Flickr - opens in new tab}Yesterday afternoon a thin haze, high in the sky was developing which usually results in a colourful sunset. I headed to the nearby Sapeira to get a shot of the sunset with the river bridge in the foreground. The colours did not disappoint with the sun lighting up the haze, as a bonus when I turned around to start packing up the Cold Moon (the name given to December’s Full Moon) was rising with the fading sunset still providing some colour.
{Click image(s) to view on Flickr - opens in new tab}If you live in the Algarve, you’ll know that after quite a damp November, December has so far been amazing with temperatures reaching low 20s during day. This morning whilst out walking Wally I came across an area of Thistles where the angle of the sun was perfectly backlighting the bright white seeds. It created a magical photograph, the Bokeh (the term meaning pleasing out of focus areas) circles are created by light reflecting from other nearby Thistles.
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