city
In San Diego, you don’t need to go too far to encounter wildlife. In fact, Balboa Park - a popular tourist spot featuring an assortment of local museums, gardens, and eateries - is an excellent place to spot some urban dwellers such as black phoebes, squirrels, and Eastern bluebirds. Here are some of my favourite images from an afternoon spent walking around the park and appreciating the urban wildlife that lives in this beautiful corner of Southern California.
Although I admittedly spent much of my time in Belgium eating chocolates and waffles, I did find some time for photography! If I am not mistaken, all the images shared here are of the little town of Bruges, which you might also spot elsewhere on my website. I would love to return some day and spend more time exploring this adorable country.
I was lucky enough to spend three years studying for my undergraduate degree at the University of Oxford in the UK, and I still miss it at times. The city is a charming mixture of many architectural styles, dating as far back as the 1000s, when it was founded. My college was more modern than most, built exclusively with the purpose of accepting women as students and academic staff at the University in Victorian times, but I still got to explore almost every other college in my time there. The collection of images below is a little longer than my usual blog post length, but I hope it will be a fun one to scroll through.
Porto is the second largest city in Portugal, known for its tile-covered buildings. The city really comes alive at night, when tourists flock to the restaurants and shops on the waterfront. We were lucky enough to stay at an apartment with a perfect view to the canal, which resulted in some great evening photos. To capture the details of the buildings on the other side of the canal, I used a telephoto lens - and of course, a tripod to keep the shot steady!
The Douro is one of the largest rivers in Portugal, and flows from Spain to near the city of Porto. It is the world’s oldest demarcated wine region, and a World Heritage Site. It was a change of landscape from our travels through the small medieval towns of Portugal. Douro Valley is a great place to relax and enjoy the vibrant green landscapes, a good glass of wine, and some local olive oil to boot.
Unfortunately our visit to Piódão was not a particularly lucky one. The town was shrouded in mist throughout our stay, and it rained quite often. Nevertheless, the eerie atmosphere of the part-time ski-destination, part-time sleepy village made for some interesting photos. We were lucky enough to get excellent views out of our hotel room, overlooking the town and the surrounding cliffs.
Contuinuing on the theme of small medieval towns in Portugal, the village of Sortelha is one of the oldest. Its streets are probably some of the narrowest I saw. A single taxi services the entire town, which is mostly inhabited by retirees and those working in the village’s hotel and restaurant. It is a truly charming little place, which surrounds the ruins of a small castle.
I was lucky enough to photograph the sunset over the town of Monsanto from the town’s plaza, half-way up the steep hill to the medieval ruins that sit above the city. The so-called “most Portuguese village” is truly unique, mixing natural rocks and stonework for a truly unique architectural style. I hope you enjoy the fantastic light in these images as much as I have.
Monsanto, deemed “the most Portuguese village”, is a town of small red-roofed houses interweaved with enormous rocks. Its narrow streets climb up the sides of a small cliff, from which you can gain a spectacular view of the village. The top of the cliff is also the grounds of the ruins of the town’s medieval past, with a couple of buildings still left standing.
The white buildings of Marvão, together with its medieval fortress and the surrounding farmland, make for incredible aerial images. I seized the opportunity to fly the drone over this stunning medieval town a couple of times, resulting in some amazing landscapes.
The town of Marvão is surrounded by typically Portuguese countryside. Even in the stark afternoon light, the landscape comes alive with the yellows and greens of the endless farms extending in every direction. In retrospect, I would have liked to photograph a sunrise over these fields, as I imagine the softer yellow would have made for even more breathtaking views.
Marvão is another small medieval town nested within the Portalegre district. It is known for its white buildings with colourful trimmings, and the local castle. I enjoyed a peaceful couple of days in this town. Here are some of my favourite images from my meanderings through its streets…
Perhaps the most spectacular views of Óbidos are from above. During my visit, I made the most of the birdseye views from the city and of the city. There are two ways to capture these images: by walking along the medieval walls that envelop the town, and by flying your drone from outside the city for a view of the castle and its surroundings. Here are some of my favourite images from both viewpoints.
Óbidos is a small medieval town to the north of Lisbon. It provides an interesting mixture of medieval fortress walls encapsulating the city, where white buildings with colourful trimmings are nestled between narrow cobbled streets. The progression of the city through the ages is clear in its eclectic architecture.
Another spectacular spot from which to appreciate Lisbon is the lookout at Miradouro da Senhora do Monte. During the Summer, this is an ideal place to watch the sunset, as it colours the sky bright pink and purple. But don’t be fooled by the warm colours - it’s very cold up on that hill, so come prepared for some very chilly winds!
Below are some of my favourite images of one lovely sunset over Lisbon…
In every photographic trip that I take, I try to make the most of the soft light during sunrises and sunsets. This was no different in Portugal. The first sunrise of the trip was photographed at the Miradouro de Santa Luzia, a viewpoint in the Alfama neighbourhood. Even in the peak of the Summer holidays, this was nearly empty for sunrise, suggesting that not many other photographers are aware of this place.
Lisbon truly displays architecture for all tastes. From medieval to colonial and modern, there is a street for everyone. Along with the amenable weather and blue skies, this makes it an unmissable travel destination and endless photographic opportunities. Here I share some of my favourite images of a day walking through the city.
When thinking about Uyuni, the first picture that comes to mind is of the white salt flats stretching to the horizon. However, there are other incredible landscapes in this extremely arid part of Bolivia. One of them is the fantastic Train Cemetery. A couple hours’ drive away lies San Cristóbal, a traditional village on the ride to the Andes from the salt flats.
Below are some of my favourite photographs from these two locations (and see this for tips on how to best explore Uyuni and its surroundings as a photographer).
I recently had the incredible opportunity to spend two weeks in St Andrews, in Scotland, as a participant in the first ever Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute. Naturally, I packed my camera bag and tragged all my equipment to the other side of the world.
This was my second visit to Scotland and although I only had a couple of photography opportunities in my spare time, it again surpassed all my expectations. Here are some of my photos from an evening out in the city of St Andrews.
