What's in a square?

I have been trying to justify (to myself and to others) my current fixation with the square format. That's when I found a post on George Barr's blog titled The delights of the square format. Let me quote a particularly interesting (and polemical?) sentence:

"That it isn't a horizontal rectangle actually takes away from the sense of a window onto the world and instead suggests that it is a created object - it clearly isn't a post card."

I couldn't have said it better myself...

Vale do Teixeira

The valley of Teixeira river is one of my favorite spots in Peneda-Gerês National Park. It is at least an one hour hike to get there from the nearest car-accessible location. Quite a small effort considering the beauty of the place.

Olympus E-P2 + Panasonic Lumix 20/1.7

Looking at the ground

Sun rays hitting the ground, filtered by tree foliage. Say what you may, but I really find these images beautiful.

Olympus E-P2 + Panasonic Lumix 20/1.7

If only I had brought my bike ...

Give me a bicycle and I'll be free!

Olympus E-P2 + Panasonic Lumix 20/1.7

High in the sky

My Zeiss 135 mm just can't cut it for bird photography. Too short, even considering the E-P2's 2x crop factor. Still, I like these "minimalist" images.

Olympus E-P2 + Zeiss Sonnar 135/2.8

You're wrong!

Crop of photo on yesterday´s post

In addition to the stork and the swallow, there were five more birds around the nest, totaling seven birds!


After these entertaining moments, this blog will now go back to its regular content on the serious art of photography.
 

Another one

After the huge success* of last week's challenge, let's try another one. This one is a bit more difficult, I must warn you.

Olympus E-P2 + Zeiss Sonnar 135/2.8

How many birds are visible on the photo above? You may click on the image for a larger view.

* Well, not really...

And the answer is...

100% crop of yesterday's photo

There is a house! A pink house! There is a freaking pink dollhouse in the middle of freaking nowhere!

Something strange...

Olympus E-P2 + Panasonic Lumix 20/1.7

This is the Tejo river. In this region it marks the border between Portugal and Spain. This photo was taken from the Portuguese side.

It is a remote location. No one comes here anymore, except for occasional birdwatchers. The only accesses are dirt roads. The closest village is now a pile of stone ruins.

Given this, there is something strange, almost disturbing, in this image. Can you see it? The answer will be on tomorrow's post...

Golden fields

By this time, Southern Portugal displays a typical Mediterranean Summer landscape. The dry grass turns the land yellow-brown while olive and cork trees remain heroically dark green. It was only mid-June when I took these photos and the temperature was already 32 ºC (90 ºF). But since the air is dry one can bear the heat as long as there is some shadow to rest under.

Olympus E-P2 + Panasonic Lumix 20/1.7