Almograve beach sunrise

[Paulo Bizarro]

This beach is located in SW Portugal, and is very popular during the summer. I have been going here since 1976, and it is a region I love. Especially in August, is a popular vacation place. I have a small house about 1.5 km inland, so I am fortunate to be able to make weekend trips, or longer, during the year.

The weather has been a bit overcast this month, with clouds, some haze and fog, making for interesting images. So last Saturday I got up really early, and went out to photograph this beach in low tide. It is the only time of the day when there is no one around:)

#1 taken with Sony 55 f1.8, others with Nikon 20 f1.8. All in the A7.

[Chairman Bill]

Two & four stand out for me, but all are well done

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Two & four stand out for me, but all are well done

+1.

[Patricia Sheley]

Hello Paulo, Should you find the time at some point, I hope you might entertain the idea, in reference to image 9_8_15_3, of lifting/opening the shadows of the rock formations on the left. There you will find a wonderful interplay between their striations and the sky, following around to similar mirrors in the water reflections. Hoping it is a raw file.

One other, 9_8_15_3 really comes into its own when removing about 7/8ths of the sky and similarly gently lifting/opening the shadows...it becomes almost calligraphic/sumi painting.
Lumine.

[Paulo Bizarro]

Thanks for the feedback.

Patricia - thanks for the suggestions, I will for sure try them out. I thought of opening up the shadows on the rocks, but in the end, I liked them darker better. These are really black rocks (Palaeozoic black shales), so if you open the shadows a bit, they look unnatural.

[Patricia Sheley]

Paulo,
I have just emailed to you a small file/rough edit

[thierrylegros396]

Two & four stand out for me, but all are well done

+1

Thierry

[Paulo Bizarro]

Paulo,
I have just emailed to you a small file/rough edit

Patricia,

thanks. I made some of your suggestions, here is the result.

Rgds

[MattBurt]

Yes, 2 and 4 are great!

[Rajan Parrikar]

Beautiful images, all. But #2 stands out for me.

Not far from Portimão, I see, which is where my aunt was born.

[sdwilsonsct]

4 for me. The crop is nice but I think the uncropped sky adds a lot.

[Paulo Bizarro]

This is what I value here, all this learning and exchange of different ways of seeing.

@Rajan - yes, not far, probably about 90 minutes drive along the coast. Unless if you stop at the several beautiful beaches along the coast:) Portimao is famous for its grilled sardines:)

P.S. I just saw that the "Landscape Photography Magazine" folks are having a "Long Exposure and Tilt and Shift Workshop" in July 2016, and they will be based in the village of Almograve. So this beach is getting famous:)

[churly]

They are all nice Paulo.  I think I would pick #4 but if the rocks had a bit more light I think it would be #2.  I'm viewing on my monitor at work and it tends to crush the shadows.
Chuck

[Arlen]

I have to maintain the near unanimity in picking #2 and #4 as standouts. Well done.

[jerryw]

IMHO #4 is by far the best image.  Very well done.  Would love to see the color version as well, for comparison.

[mseawell]

Beautiful captures! I really like the last one. It has a nice feel, tone to it.

Mark