Portugal - David Mathre Photography

Friday (19-October-2018) — Portugal

Gone to See Portugal. Street Photography Workshop with Steve Simon. Day 5: Lisbon, Portugal.

Miguel took us out for our morning walkabout so Steve could sleep in and allow the antibiotics to work their magic. I took my small Leica CL camera with the 23 mm f/2 lens and the Garmin VIRB-360 camera. We went through an area with many bars with lots of empty bottles and plastic cups from the night before. The only activities were a few locals on their way to work, and the some city workers picking up the bottles and cleaning the streets. I wandered off on a side street and came upon a film crew with motorcycles and police cars doing practice runs. I got a picture of the movie director viewing the activity. We then walked back to the hotel for lunch and our afternoon image review session. Just before getting to the hotel, a woman with a bright orange dress walked by a street beggar in blue.

Movie Motorcycle Practice Run. Morning Street Photography in Lisbon. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Movie Director. Morning Street Photography in Lisbon. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Color Contrasts. Morning Street Photography in Lisbon. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Time-Lapse Video (360 degree Pano, Tunnel View and Little Planet View) of the Morning Walkabout. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

For our afternoon session, we rode a couple of taxis to the LX Factory. I took the Nikon D850 camera with an 8-15 mm fisheye lens. The LX Factory is a tourist attraction with many arts and craft shops and restaurants. “Kiss the Cook” a Portuguese cooking class that I attended during the 2014 Semester at Sea voyage is located in the LX Factory.. A commercial photographer didn’t want we to take any images of his model. In addition to the street photography, I also took a series of images for a high-resolution composite 360 degree panorama and little planet view. I wish we stayed at the LX factory for dinner, and not return to the hotel. The 2nd taxi took a long time to return, so four of us went to a local Italian restaurant for dinner.

Commercial Photographer. Afternoon Street Photography in the LX Factory. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Model. Afternoon Street Photography in the LX Factory. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Time-Lapse Video (360 degree Pano, Tunnel View and Little Planet View) of the Afternoon LX Factory Walkabout. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

LZ Factory Back Street - 360 Degree Panorama. Composite of 25 images taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 110, 15 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and stitched together with AutoPano Giga. (DAVID J MATHRE) — LX Factory Back Street – 360 Degree Panorama. Composite of 25 images taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 110, 15 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and stitched together with AutoPano Giga. (DAVID J MATHRE)

LZ Factory Back Street - Little Planet View. Composite of 25 images taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 110, 15 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and stitched together with AutoPano Giga. (DAVID J MATHRE) — LX Factory Back Street – Little Planet View. Composite of 25 images taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 110, 15 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and stitched together with AutoPano Giga. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Time-Lapse Video (360 degree Pano, Tunnel View and Little Planet View) of Dinner. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

Thursday (18-October-2018) — Portugal

Gone to See Portugal. Street Photography Workshop with Steve Simon. Day 4: Sintra, Pena Palace, and Cascais, Portugal.

Miguel, our local photography guide hired a van for a road trip to Sintra, Pena Palace, and Cascais. We departed a little after 07:30. I was a bit late because I wanted to take a different camera kit for the day trip. We still arrived in Sintra at 08:30 before the big tour buses. A rainbow helped guide the way to Sintra. By arriving early we had time to wander around the town to see the locals at work before being overrun by tourists. I used a Fuji X-T3 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens while in Sintra. Afterwards, the van took us to the park entrance to Pena Palace. Just after leaving Sintra, I notices a photographer taking images of a model on the side of the road. We hiked the trail to Pena Palace. From a previous visit, I knew there was a bus that would drive folks up to the Palace for those that couldn’t make the walk — but it wasn’t running yet. I did the walk slowly since my left foot big toe still hurt. I also remembered to start the Garmin VIRB-360 camera. Since I visited Pena Palace twice before while on Semester at Sea trips, my main focus was the Triton guarding the entrance to the Palace. For this I used a Nikon D850 camera and 19 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (Images for another post). Low clouds/fog covered the Fairy Tail castle as we arrived. I really liked the subdued lighting for the series of images I took of the Triton. Rather than tour the Palace, I sat in one place and enjoyed the view. I collected several images of other folks taking pictures of the Triton. After walking back to the van, we went to Cascias — a fishing and tourist village on the Atlantic ocean. We had a great lunch then walked down to the small harbor. Steve was able to find a doctor and pharmacy for his respiratory infection. I switched to my Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm lens in Cascias. A great camera for working at a distance, and catching images of people in motion (and in focus) with its high-speed burst ability.

Rainbow Leading the Way to Sintra. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Model. Morning Street Photography in Sintra. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Time-Lapse Video (360 degree Pano, Tunnel View and Little Planet View) of the hike up to the Pena Palace. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

Time-Lapse Video (360 degree Pano, Tunnel View and Little Planet View) of the the Pena Palace Entrance. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

Triton over the Pena Castle Entry. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Time-Lapse Video (360 degree Pano, Tunnel View and Little Planet View) of the hike down from the Pena Palace. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

Cook Cleaning a Fish. Street Photography in Cascias. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Time-Lapse Video (360 degree Pano, Tunnel View and Little Planet View) of the Fish Lunch in Cascias. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

Acrobatics on the Beach. Afternoon Street Photography in Cascias. Image taken with a Nikon 1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR telephoto zoom lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Time-Lapse Video (360 degree Pano, Tunnel View and Little Planet View) of the Afternoon Walkabout in Cascias. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

Snapshot from the Vanl. Afternoon Street Photography in Lisbon. Image taken with a Nikon 1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR telephoto zoom lens. (DAVID J MATHRE) — Snapshot from the Van. Afternoon Street Photography in Lisbon. Image taken with a Nikon 1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR telephoto zoom lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Wednesday (17-October-2018) — Portugal

Gone to See Portugal. Street Photography Workshop with Steve Simon. Day 3: Lisbon, Portugal.

Left foot still hurting. I was up several times during the night, finally just stayed up and selected and processed images for the day’s classroom review. Breakfast at 07:00, which I recorded with the Garmin VIRB-360 camera. I’m getting used to the runny scrambled eggs.

Time-Lapse Video (360 degree Pano, Tunnel View and Little Planet View) of Breakfast at the Bessa Hotel. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

We spent the morning traveling on the Metro to practice Speed Shooting. We stopped at several stops on the Blue and Yellow lines. I mounted the Garmin VIRB-360 camera on a short pole attached to my backpack. For my street shooting I chose the Nikon D850 camera with a 8-15 mm fisheye lens, mainly because we would be riding the subway and potentially in close contact with potential subjects. While stopped at one of the stations, a Poliza officer approached and told me I was not allowed to take pictures of people. The officer let me take his picture standing next to Steve after discussing our project.

Time-Lapse Video (360 degree Pano, Tunnel View and Little Planet View) of Metro Stop Speed Shooting. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

Statue in the Subway Station. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Poliza & Steve Discussing Street Photography in Lisbon. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens. (DAVID J MATHRE) — Poliza Officer & Steve Discussing Street Photography in Lisbon. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

After the last stop we dispersed with the assignment to walk back to the hotel for the afternoon image review and classroom session. I made a wrong turn, so just followed a main road down until I reached the Tagus river. I was almost at the place where we docked on the MV Explorer when I visited Lisbon four years earlier with Semester at Sea. At that point still a long walk back to the hotel. I was exhausted, and my left foot was really hurting. For the remainder of the walk back, I set the camera to do interval shooting while resting it on my arm. I found a couple of building murals near the Time-Out market that I want to see again. Just before getting back to the hotel, a group of preschool or kindergarten kids dressed in uniforms were leaving Cinemateca Júnior. I just stood still and let the camera click every 5 seconds.

Time-Lapse Video (360 degree Pano, Tunnel View and Little Planet View) of the Walkabout back to the Hotel. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

Individual images from the slide shows can be viewed here.

Lessons learned for the day include the Nikon D850 camera needs better hand-holding techniques, a tripod, or very fast shutter speeds — even with the wide-angle fisheye lens. I bailed on the afternoon and evening shooting to rest my foot with an ice pack.

Tuesday (16-October-2018) — Portugal

Gone to See Portugal. Street Photography Workshop with Steve Simon. Day 2: Lisbon, Portugal.

I slept well after the Portuguese Bacalhau dinner last night. It was a bit salty, so I drank a lot of water. I woke up early (04:00) to select and process images for the afternoon image review session. This morning only my left big toe was sore but the foot was still swollen so it was difficult getting my walking boots on. The sky was overcast so I didn’t go out to shoot sunrise. I recorded breakfast using the Garmin VIRB-360 camera. This time with three of the other workshop folks.

Time-Lapse Video (360 degree Pano, Tunnel View and Little Planet View) of Breakfast at the Bessa Hotel. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

The first photography activity for the morning was a tour of Lisbon in Tut-Tut vehicles. My sore foot was happy that I wouldn’t be walking right away. I mounted the Garmin VIRB-360 camera on the Tut-Tut vehicle. I chose to use the Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens for street photography while riding the Tut-Tut to give some reach. My best shot during the ride was the inspection of a Police Guard in formal uniform.

Police Guard Inspection. Morning tut-tu ride. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Time-Lapse Video (360 degree Pano, Tunnel View and Little Planet View) of Tut-Tut Tour of Lisbon. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

We were dropped off in the Castelo district of Lisbon. I mounted the Garmin VIRB-360 camera on a shout pole mounted on my backpack. Before going on a walkabout, I took a series of images for rooftop panoramas overlooking the Alfama district with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. We then wandered around the area before heading to the castle (Castelo de S. Jorge). Afterwards we walked back to the hotel for lunch and our second classroom/image review session. Fortunately, there were a couple of elevators to bring us down to sea level. My left foot hurt, and I was barely able to keep up with the group.

Morning Panorama Over Lisbon. Composite of 10 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens (ISO 800, 23 mm, f/11, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated with AutoPano Giga. (David J Mathre)

Morning Panorama Over Lisbon. Composite of 17 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens (ISO 800, 23 mm, f/11, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated with AutoPano Giga. (David J Mathre)

Time-Lapse Video (360 degree Pano, Tunnel View and Little Planet View) of the Morning Photo Walkabout. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

After the class we went out for an afternoon walkabout through Mouraria (old Lisbon). The area includes a large population of immigrants. Even though I mounted the Garmin VIRB-360 camera, I forgot to confirm that it started shooting. Now on my checkoff list — watch that the light on the camera starts to flash (two green, then one red). Since my foot hurt, I traveled light with only the Nikon 1 V3 camera and 10-30 mm lens. At one point I sat down on a bench to rest my foot, and just watched the local residents. On the walk back to the hotel I switched to the 70-300 mm lens to get some pictures of seagulls on statues/monuments and then of some kids on skateboards doing tricks.

Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed/purchased here.

Monday (15-October-2018) — Portugal

Gone to See Portugal. Street Photography Workshop with Steve Simon. Day 1: Lisbon, Portugal.

I didn’t sleep well, as my two big toes were still sore after yesterday’s long walks. Yesterday I wasn’t wearing my walking boots, but rather the easy on/off shoes I wear when flying. That was a mistake. Finally, I just got up and worked on some images until going down for breakfast at 07:00. I used the Garmin VIRB-360 camera to record images for a time-lapsed video.

Tunnel View and Little Planet View of Breakfast at the Bessa Hotel. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

I didn’t go out for sunrise due to clouds and light rain. I also wanted to rest my feet some more. A little before noon, I went out to get some fresh fruit and a sandwich for lunch. It stopped raining and the sky was partly cloudy. I mounted the Garmin VIRB-360 camera on a short pole strapped to my backpack. That worked. With the little planet view the camera appears to be floating above me and behind my head with a 360 degree view of my surroundings.

Little Planet View of a Walk to Pick Up a Sandwich before Class. Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

Steve reserved a conference room a the hotel for our classroom and image review sessions. During our first classroom session the workshop participants met and showed examples of our work. We also got a schedule for the week with the proposed street photography shooting locations. After the classroom session, we went out on our first photo walk. I set up the Garmin VIRB-360 camera in my backpack to record the walk. I chose to use my Leica CL camera with a 23 mm f/2 lens for my street photography. I set the camera to record and view the jpg images in B&W for this assignment. The raw (DNG) images would still be in color. We started out going down toward the river from the hotel. We soon broke up so we wouldn’t all be photographing the same thing and looking like a horde of paparazzi scaring people away. In this area of the city there are locals, and lots of daily tourists that arrive on busses from the cruise ships. Soon after we split up, it started raining. I stood under a shop awning and used the even lighting to capture moving bicycles, trams, and motorcycles. My two favorite images were abstract art in the hotel lobby before we started, and a couple under an umbrella.

Abstract Art in the Lobby of the Bessa Hotel. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (David J Mathre)

Rainy day discussion out on the street under an Umbrella in Lisbon. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (David J Mathre) — Rainy Day Discussion Under an Umbrella in Lisbon. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (David J Mathre)

Individual images in the slideshows can be viewed here.

Little Planet View of the Afternoon Street Photography Walkabout. Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

The group got together for a traditional Portuguese dinner of Bacalhau (dried and salted cod). I’ve seen the cod drying on racks out in the open while visiting Norway. The salted and dried cod can be stored for years, and is one of the foods that the Portuguese used in their sailing ships while exploring the world. It is also common in Brazil and parts of Africa. The Bacalhau needs to be soaked in water for a long time before it is cooked. The Bacalhau we had at the restaurant was still a bit salty, but an excellent meal.

Tunnel View and Little Planet View of Bacalhau for Dinner. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

360 Degree Panorama View of Bacalhau for Dinner. Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.