Winter overrides spring

After a couple of days of very shinny and quite warm days, winter has made a sudden comeback and has overridden flower blossoms with a mantle of white fresh snow. Had no time to photograph it but I still had this one from last February’s snowstorm.

Serra do Gerês, Portugal
2017, Fevereiro

Salamander’s Pool

[EN] And then I realized I was not truly alone. This fire-salamander passed by, swimming upstream just to find a steady spot. Then it stood there, gently floating and holding itself by a grass leaf, while warming up with the sunlight. I was truly witnessing the undisturbed Nature’s most peaceful beauty. I found no given name for this specific part of the stream. Thus, and at least for my records, I hereby claim it as The Pool of The Salamander.

[PT] Foi neste momento que me apercebi que não estava sozinho. Uma salamandra-de-pintas-amarelas passou por mim, nadando corrente acima até encontrar um local calmo. E ali ficou, a gentilmente a flutuar, segurando-se por uma erva submergida, enquanto se aquecia ao Sol. Eu estava, realmente, a testemunhar o lado mais pacífico da beleza da imperturbada Natureza. Não encontrei um nome para esta poça em particular. Desta forma e pelo menos para os meus registos, baptizo este local da “Poça da Salamandra”.

Fire salamander / salamandra-de-fogo ou salamandra-de-pintas-amarelas – Salamandra-salamandra

Serra do Gerês, Portugal
2017, March

Ode to the skies

The day as awakened with a perfect and very deep blue sky. No clouds in sight, temperatures rising above 25ºC, and a slight breeze, nothing else. While this weather would be perfect for walking a trail, it dulls landscape photography by filling the upper composition with a rather monotonic and texture-less blue. Well, I said to myself, just dedicate your compositions to the mountains. Fill in those two thirds with rocky landscapes and patches of grass. That’s what matters.
And then this happens… the sky fills in with all its glory, steals all the protagonism from the mountains and, essentially, draws poetry in motion. I just stood there, witnessing it, and holding the camera and pointing it way to high, above the horizon…
[PT] O dia acordou com um céu de um profundo azul. Sem qualquer nuvem à vista, temperaturas acima dos 25ºC, uma pequena briza, e nada mais. Embora estas condições sejam óptimas para percorrer um trilho, acabam por empobrecer a fotografia de paisagem por encherem a parte superior da composição com um azul monotónico. Dediquei-me a encher as minhas composições com montanhas, enchendo os primeiros dois terços de rochas e vegetação. Era o que interessava.
E depois isto acontece. O céu enche-se de glória, rouba todo o protagonismo às montanhas e, essencialmente, desenha poesia em movimento. E eu fiquei ali, a testemunhar algo de extraordinário e a segurar a câmara, apontando-a bem acima do horizonte….

Serra do Gerês, Portugal
2017, March

Horizons – Laje dos Bois Panorama

The greatest gift I could receive in my birthday is… myself! And then make use of this day to walk a beautiful trail in the mountains and get my own ego crushed by the magnitude of these landscapes.
Laje dos Bois is a very small plateau, in the Gerês Eastern Mountains. It holds a patch of grassland, encircled by human laid rocks. This ancient grazing area is used to keep and feed cattle at high-altitude and very rocky landscapes. This is a 360º panorama of the horizon observable from its center.

Serra do Gerês, Portugal
2017, March

By the way, my “spring has arrived series” was suddenly interrupted by a 30ºC summer day in March. I’ll return to it…

Spring has arrived series - II

How many ways you can observe the same phenomena from the same subject. This photographic series, entitled “Spring has arrived”, is exactly that: how many perspectives am I able to take from one single subject: an absolutely astonishing Armenian Plum fruit tree with its early spring’s blossoms. From this rather simple photographic exercise, I can extrapolate to society: exploring and looking at things from different perspectives is an effective form to avoid adopting dogmas or limiting our knowledge to certain ways of thinking. In a side note, I must say that the first photograph is, clearly, one of mine most chaotic compositions. And it, actually, works…

Armenian plum, damasqueiro – Prunos armeniaca

Vieira do Minho, Portugal
2017, Março

Spring has arrived series - I

One of the local fruit trees has informed me that spring has arrived…

 

Armenian plum, damasqueiro – Prunos armeniaca

Vieira do Minho, Portugal
2017, Março

Old trees are unique

Growing firmly on the ridge of a trail, an old almond willow has shaped itself uniquely. Despite its size, any bonsai enthusiast would envy such natural achievement. Salix triandra is a native/autochthones species, although this particular specimen is interestingly far from its most natural region, Trás-Os-Montes

Almond willow, salgueiro-de-folhas-de-amendoeira – Salix triandra

Serra do Gerês, Portugal
2017, February

Serra da Cabreira – Fragas de Toco

Fragas de Toco (and Toco Mountain) in the central region of Cabreira Mountain Range.

Serra da Cabreira, Portugal
2017, February

Serra do Gerês - a full panoramic view

Looking North, towards the entirety of Gerês Mountain Range, quite properly exhibiting Winter in all its glory (and coldness). Gerês Town can be seen in the valley at the right, with its households fading into the altitude of the mountains.

Olhando para Norte, para a totalidade da Serra do Gerês, apropriadamente no seu glorioso estado Invernal. A Vila do Gerês pode ser vista, no vale à direita, esbatendo-se em altitude.

Serra do Gerês, Portugal
2017, February

Sunset at Arado’s Waterfall

Being relatively close to a road, and a starting point for many trails in Gerês Mountains, Arado’s waterfall is one of the most scenic and tourist spots of the National Park. The waterfall is formed by the streams of Teixeira river, Lomba and Corga da Giesteira streams, and other lesser affluent. Yet, at this location, the river vertically drops 30m in a magnificent succession of waterfalls. Returning from a trail, what caught my attention were not the waterfalls themselves but the late afternoon sunlight hitting and strongly coloring the trees that frame this location.

Sendo relativamente perto de uma Estrada, e um excelente ponto de partida para vários trilhos na Serra do Gerês, a Cascata do Arado é um dos locais mais cénicos e visitados do Parque Nacional. A cascata em si é formada pelos caudais do Rio Teixeira, da Ribeira da Lomba, da Corga da Giesteira e de mais alguns afluentes menores. No entanto, neste local, o rio caí verticalmente em quase 30m, criando uma magnífica sucessão de cascatas. No regresso de um trilho, o que me captou a atenção não foram as cascatas em si mas o intenso Sol de fim de tarde, a embater e a colorir as folhas das árvores que enquadram este local.

(Note: in this photography, only the intermediate waterfall can be seen).
Serra do Gerês, Portugal
2017, February