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Photoshoot in Wexford, Ireland

Despite of poor weather, bad lighting, being pooped on and almost being sucked into the sea, I managed to get a couple of good pictures in Co. Wexford in Ireland.

More to come…

 

 

del.icio.us Tags: Ireland,Olympus,Wexford,Photo,Photography

Portugal Photowalk..

 

This is a quick summary of a recent trip to Portugal, my plan was to visit Lisbon, and while Lisbon seem to present great photo opportunities, I actually ended up spending most of my time driving around the little towns within 2 hrs around Lisbon. This is a quick summary of what to see and some tips if you are planning to take some pictures. While I didnt take pictures within Lisbon, I would recommend this place for a great view of the city at night including St George’s Castle, the park itself is quite safe and nice to walk and photograph.

See the entire set here…

The park in the street called Sao Pedro de Alcantara offers great views of the city and the castle..

Here is the route followed..

Sintra

Sintra is a very little town on the outskirts of Lisbon, is a 30 min drive, but there are also train service in 45 mins.  If you go by train, make sure to take a taxi all the way up to the Pena and Moor castles, they are worth it. If  you decide to walk, you will be rewarded with great views of the ruins of the old castle, trough wooded areas and expensive houses.

Palacio Nacional

OK inside, not too much to see, however views trough the windows are quite nice for both shots of the city as well as shot of the hills, framed by the windows.

Photography allowed in some areas, not in thight quarters. Nice view of the castle above, specially when is foggy,

The Moor castle (Old Castle in the park)

While I didnt take the steps, the driving road is worth walking. Towards the top of the castle, there are amazing views walking up trough the woods of both the old castle ruins as well as the houses and pathways. Very picturesque, specially at dawn, when foggy.

Pena Castle

By far, one of the best places to take pictures in Portugal., lots of opportunities, but make sure that you go very early, during low season as I am sure it must get really crowded. In January there was very few people, so I just had to wait a couple of minutes to get clear shots. The hike up the hill is pretty steep so I recommended you take the little bus if you are hauling equipment.

 

Fatima

This is the location of the Virgin Mary’s apparitions, its been said that millions of people flock there during the anniversary of the apparitions around May and October. There is a church, a very big square and an atrium where the apparitions took place.

As a place, to  me didn't represent a lot of opportunities for pictures, it must be nice with a clear square and with a fish eye capture the sheer size of the place, but other than that, didn't offer anything interesting.

If you venture on going during the festival, try a vintage point as I think a picture with the plaza full of people must be quite interesting

 

Batalha

While the town of Batalha does not offer lots of things, the monastery there its quite impressive with a lot of Gothic details that can be very well photographed with a nice zoom lens.

But probably the best feature of it all is, towards the end of the walk you can go where the tombs of the kings are, there is no roof, so stop in the middle of the square and take a shot like this with a wide angle lens. (This was taken with an Olympus Zuiko at 8mm)

Nazaret

Nazaret is a sleepy fishing town that while in the Summer must be packed with tourist, during the month of January is practically dead. Not much to see during this month, but is a nice place for a break. Only interesting feature is how the old women dress with traditional clothing.

Obidos

This is the last town we visited, and by far the most interesting. Its a very small town on a small hill with a castle on top. I recommend the view of the west of the castle as it offers a better view of the walls of the city. The picture below was taken from the roundabout on the right corner of the map, good view, but I missed the road on the west of the city which presents better views.

The little cobbled streets present great opportunities for pics, there a lot of places to take great pictures and I would recommend you actually try and spend the night there. At night it must be a great site for pictures.

 

del.icio.us Tags: lisbon,portugal,lisboa,olympus,photography,photowalk,tips,tour

A little preview of Portugal shoot..

A little preview of my recent trip to Portugal, drove around little towns outside of Lisbon…this is the town of Obidos 2 hrs outside of Lisbon…

 

Worth a trip if you are close…

 

 

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About Microsoft Ireland: www.microsoft.com/ireland
Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited. A company incorporated and registered in Ireland number 256796.
Microsoft Ireland Research. A company incorporated and registered in Ireland number 342235.
Registered office 70 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2, Ireland

Esto es lo que pasa cuando haces un post desde el celular

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About Microsoft Ireland: www.microsoft.com/ireland
Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited. A company incorporated and registered in Ireland number 256796.
Microsoft Ireland Research. A company incorporated and registered in Ireland number 342235.
Registered office 70 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2, Ireland

Wicklow Workshop October..

Here is my set of pictures taken on my first photo workshop with the guys from explorelight (Peter and Ed Gordon). Find out more about their upcoming workshops here, I will try and see to sign up for the ones at the West of Ireland.

They take care of pretty much everything, drive you around different sites, depending on the quality of the light for that day. For this specific workshop we followed this route..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

del.icio.us Tags: olympus,ep-1,Pen,Wicklow,Photography

Haarlem, Netherlands

As part of a quick business trip decided to do a morning side trip to Haarlem just between Schipol and Amsterdam.

How to get there..

From Schipol take the 300 Red Bus just outside of the airport terminal, and go until the very end of the route. You can find more information here. The bus service is perfect as it runs on its own road, so there is never traffic.

The bus will drop you at Haarlem rail station.

Walk towards the city center, see attached my route. I actually got lost coming back from the city center back the bus station but bumped into this housing area perfect for shots.

The main photographic areas for Haarlem are definitely the

• Windmill (The Aadrian)
• Grote Mark In the center of town
• Cathedral in the Center
• And the little neighborhood area along the Pieter Kieestraat.

Here is a quick video of the things you can hope to find in Haarlem…

The Aadrian…

Is better if you get to the Aadrian before dawn, as you can still use some of the street lighting to help you with the exposure. After 6 am then, the lights will go off making it significantly darker and at Fall the sun will be coming down right behind it, making it lose quite a bit of detail.

The cathedral is quite nice, but on a Sunday there is a market and if you dont get there earlier than 7am you will be fighting for space with the street vendors, so better go during the week or on a Saturday.

The market provides lots of opportunities for people and food shots such as this… Eel on a stick..

 

Once you make your way back, try and see the neighborrhood along Pieter Kieestraat, lots of little white houses with flower pots perfect for postcards.

If you can once you ge the bus back, there is housing community with very interesting architecture 3 stops before Haarlem.

Here is the equipment used for this session

Olympus E3

Olympus E30

Olympus EP-1

Zuiko 50-200mm 2.8

Zuiko 11-22mm 2.8

ND Filters

Manfrotto 190XPROB

Manfrotto Ballhead

Thinktank Street Walker Pro

GPS AMOD

Hoya Polarizer Filters

del.icio.us Tags: Haarlem,Netherlands,Photography,Olympus,Shooting,Dawn,Golden Hour

Rock of Cashel

The Rock of Cashel is a landmark in Ireland for most tourists and is one of the oldest pre-Norman castles in Ireland. The Rock of Cashel served as the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion. Few remnants if any of the early structures survive; the majority of buildings on the current site date from the 12th and 13th centuries. Cashel is reputed to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by St. Patrick in the 5th century AD.

Here is the equipment used for this session

Olympus E3

Olympus E30

Olympus EP-1

Zuiko 50-200mm 2.8

Zuiko 11-22mm 2.8

ND Filters

Manfrotto 190XPROB

Manfrotto Ballhead

Thinktank Street Walker Pro

GPS AMOD

Hoya Polarizer Filters

I decided to take a different approach to the pictures using Hore Abbey on the foreground at dawn. Here is a view of the Abbey from the Rock of Cashel.

Here is the location on the map where I positioned myself in the morning, which is right behind the stone wall on the left.

 

I drove from Thurles which is a 30 minute drive coming from the North, but is actually a 2hr drive from Dublin. You can come from the R505 and make a right on St Patricksrock. The abbey is on a field with some cows (careful with the poop) . Looks like a private field but people camp there, and on the same day  at least 3 groups of photographers on the same area so get there early to claim a spot.

During summer time the sun will come out directly behind the castle creating silhouettes, fog will be there almost for sure so it could create pretty nice effects, this will give you more time to drive around and take some shots of the castle from the other side, then you can go back to the Abbey once its lighted.

Here is a video on how the place looks at dawn during the summer:

 

If you want to use some farm animals on the foreground, just make sure you are aware of the sun position, as animals tend to move to look for the first sun rays to warm up.

As you drive back to Dublin or leaving Cashel take the back roads as there are great opportunities for pictures of farmland, houses, churches and landscapes, I took advantage of this cemetery outside of Thurles

 

 

del.icio.us Tags: Photography,Olympus,EP-1,PEN,Ireland,Cashel,Dublin

Olympus EP-1 Walk about Dublin

I just shot my first video with the recently released Olympus EP-1 camera. I purchased it in the US trough Amazon.com, visit the link to see the kit that includes the 17mm f/2.8 and the Olympus Optical Viewfinder.

I decided to go for the 17mm lens as I already own several wide angle and telephoto lenses for other Olympus cameras so I am eagerly awaiting the 4/3 converter in pre-order also in Amazon. Not sure if all sw functionality will be available trough the converter but we will see.

I am looking at this camera as a way to have a high-quality point and shoot when I don't want to haul all my equipment and long lenses for a few quick and dirty shots, so downgrading from SLR to this is a though proposition but I can see how somebody trying to upgrade from a regular point and shoot can be more than pleased with the high quality shots u can get out of this baby.

After taking the camera to its first trip, here is what I have to say…

The good:

1. It shots on RAW (there are still no converters for Lightroom but Adobe has come up with a beta version of camera RAW that can convert the EP-1 files into DNG so then you can manipulate anywhere. Follow this thread to get the download of Adobe Raw RC 5.5 which will allow the conversion of .ORF from the EP-1 to DNG to be used anywhere including LightRoom.
2. Feels very sturdy with the metallic body
3. Viewfinder is great where the sun is out (not very common in Ireland) and you need to take a shot
4. Fast autofocus
5. The 17mm 2.8 lens is pretty fast
6. Good video quality, even in low light
7. Art filters are fun to use both with video and stills
8. Very original, retro look
9. Is fun to use the same concepts of still cameras to video such as f-stop, ISO, etc.
10. iAUTO mode pretty accurate on the settings
11. Large, nice big display on the back. Wish my E-3 had something similar
12. Level is very useful when shooting trough the LCD, gives you a good idea how straight your shot will be
13. Very impressive quality on high-ISO (for an Olympus) I think it has better quality shots at ISO3200 than my E-3 or E-30
14. Using the SanDisk 32GB memory card the writing of both RAW and Video happens very smoothly and quick. I can record video, switch to camera without even noticing
15. The feature to take a still at the end of the video comes pretty handy
16. Can control aperture when recording video

I have never shot video (as you can see on the quality of the footage, but this will give you an idea of the quality of both stills as well as video).

 

Things to improve on 2nd release:

1. When using art filters autofocus takes quite a while
2. Video with some art filters can be a little jerky (slow motion kind of look)
3. For a small camera it feels heavy, heavier than the Oly E-420 if comparing just bodies
4. Strap seem a little heavier and gets in the way of shots
5. Would it have been nice to have a wrist strap as well
6. Small lens cap for the 17mm is too small without any attachment to the camera, I am sure I am bound to lose it
7. SW takes a little bit to get used to even if you use Olympus cameras, the dial on the top and on the back to access and manipulate various controls can be confusing or not very intuitive at times.
8. For the price, they should have included some screen or camera pouch!
9. Not having on the screen or the viewfinder the focus points being displayed can be very challenging when trying to use autofocus or MF.
10. Video sound is OK, as soon as the lens needs to autofocus the sound of it can overtake ambience sound, very bad issue I think

del.icio.us Tags: olympus ep-1 EP-1 Pen new camera raw lightroom Dublin

Photowalk around Morocco

Morocco route

We flew from Dublin into Malaga, Spain and via coach crossed the ferry to Ceuta Northern Africa (which is still Spain) and then cross the border into Morocco.

In general Morocco feels safe, however large equipment and lenses do call attention. I would feel comfortable walking with my equipment at night on touristy places such as Marrakech, but on some other places like downtown Rabat some of the streets can be scary. Leave some of the equipment at the hotel safe and take only with you what you are going to use.

Equipment

If you bring anything to Morocco, bring a polarizer filter  :)

Olympus E3

Olympus E30

Olympus Flash FL-50R (Very useful for alleys at the Medina)

Zuiko 50-200mm 2.8

Zuiko Teleconverter 2X EC-20

Zuiko 11-22mm 2.8

ND Filters

Small Table top tripod (Gorillapod)

Hoya Polarizer Filters

Fes

The most important thing about Fes is the Medina (old city) is almost like being in India (Varanasi) where you will walk around food stalls, people selling clothes, artifacts and more. If you use a GPS, don't be surprise if you lose connection on the narrow alley ways.

At the medina there are great opportunities to take colorful pictures of food, donkeys and more.

Important thing to notice is that in Morocco other than in Marrakech’s Djemaa el Fna square, people don't like their picture taken. Be very mindful as picture of women (alone and accompanied) can be very offensive for them. I managed to get a couple of candid pictures, and as always no matter the culture is,  kids are always very open to having their picture taken.

This kid kept following our tour group, so while waiting to enter the tannery I asked him if I could take his picture, very seriously he said OK, but after I showed him his portrait on the LCD screen he smiled and ran away. I would recommend bring small trinkets for the kids (pens, candy, cheap small school supplies, or money from other countries) be careful on how and when to give them as you can quickly have a huge amount of kids surrounding you and that can get dangerous.

While walking in the Medina, is hard to manage removing and puting back on the polarizer, you will lose at least 1 f-stop on what are very narrow and dark streets. I suggest you leave it on, and either compensate +1 steps or bump your ISO to 200-400.

In Fes as in all of Morocco the harsh light is present from very early in the morning 7am for the whole day, clouds are rare, so rather than wait for the most optimal light, live with it and make the best of your shot

Marrakech

The most impressive place in Marrakech is without a doubt Djemaa el Fna just the sheer size and amount of people can be very intimidating. This is definitely one of the places I would go back for picture opportunities. I believed I lost a lot of great pics because of the hour we got there, the heat and the fear you can feel mixing with strange people, heat, snakes, monkeys and food.

Beware of the heat as well as your equipment, Marrakech is the entry to the Sahara and in August it can get up to 54C, 135F. I swear my E-3 stopped focusing when it reached 55C on the sun, weird.

The plaza has a different feel at different times, at evenings is a great place to take picture of people, food stalls, etc. Beware, there are hundreds of tourist here getting hooked by locals in trying to get their picture taken with their animals. Dont agree to anything until a price has been reached. First negotiate with them for the pictures, then allow them to put the monkey, snake or other on you. They will begin at 300 dirham (around 30 EUROS) but you can take them down to 50 dirham. If aggressive just tell them you will go get the local tourist police and they will back off, they are truly afraid of them.

Another good things to do at night or day is take a seat on one of the cafes above the stores surrounding the square, this have balconies that can make for great photo ops, with a long lense you might get away with some great shots.

During the rest of the day the plaza is full of street performers, orange juice stalls (don't be afraid of trying it, best frozen orange juice I have ever had)  and cafes.

If you go into the Medina, its not nearly as impressive as the one in Fes, it might be worth a stroll, but other than that, not much.

Rabat

I didn't get to see much of Rabat, the capital of Morocco, we stayed in a central hotel which was not very nice. The central streets of Morocco are going a lot of renovation and can seem scary at night. You can tell is not a town used to tourism as people will stare right at you. Also notice how in the French style cafes, only men no women or couples sit down outside to look at the bystanders.

In Rabat there are some famous Roman ruins, Its not  a very nice neighborhood so it should be safe to walk there at sunrise. It should make for a very nice shoot, (I didnt get to do this). The place is called Chellah or Sala Colonia.

We walked to city for a little bit as there were some celebrations due to the King’s ascension to the throne. This is July 30th, unfortunately the king wasnt in Rabat so the celebrations were OK, if you can be on the same day and the same city where the king will be, there is a very nice parade and fair as I saw on TV later that night. We just managed to see an open air concert

Impressive about Rabat is its mausoleum of Mohammed V. Bring a long lense and wide lenses to capture details as well as the size of the place.

Guards are allowed to have their picture taken with tourists, for some reason this guard was pissed off at me for using such a long lense to take his portrait. He argued with a tourist police (brown uniform) but there was nothing that he could do.

Another site is the Royal Palace where the king lives, a little bit disappointing as even though nice, you are only allowed to stand 100 meters from the royal palace entrance. The palace kind of looks like an expense California style house in my opinion. Bring a long lense (200mm) and have fun trying to take pictures of the guards and other servants.

By far the best site in Rabat is the Kasbah of the Udayas, great for people shots (if you pay in advance, $1 or $2 EUR) beautiful architecture that reminds of you of Oia, Santorini in Greece. Spend as long as you can as the sun, and shadows make every street look different.

There is also a spot that I didn't visit which is the River Marina, North of the Roman ruins, this reminds you of a French village with its fishing boats and people swimming.

Casablanca

Not much to see in Casablanca, nice little city, more famous from the movie than for anything worth visiting, however walk around the marina and on a hot summer day try to count the people bathing in the sun.

Tanger

Not much to see in Tanger, its a good stop before taking the long drive back to Ceuta, if you want stroll around the beach and see how people walk and bathe on the sea.

There is much more to see in Morocco, that is a place worth visiting several times with a personal guide. Marrkech is considered to be the entrance to the Sahara desert, as well as spending more time in places like Fes and Marrakech would be worth another visit.

del.icio.us Tags: photowalk,Morocco,Marrakech,Fes,Fez,North Africa,travel blog,travel photography,photography,travel