Uma vila Alentejana, a photo from Beja, South

Photographer's Note

Hello friends,
Another view from the streets of Serpa find myself at the top of the stairs, a stone wall on the side of the photo is a tower with a clock.

Serpa (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈsɛɾpɐ]) is a municipality in Portugal, in Alentejo Region, with a total area of 1104.0 km² and a total population of 16,178 inhabitants. The Guadiana River flows close to the town of Serpa.
The present Mayor is João Manuel Rocha da Silva, elected by the Unitarian Democratic Coalition and the President of the Municipal Assembly is José Jacinto Sargento Valente, also elected by the Unitarian Democratic Coalition.
Serpa is of ancient origins and its establishment probably preceded the coming of the Romans to the area. After the Roman occupation, the neighbouring town of Beja (known as Pax Julia to the Romans) became the Roman capital of Pacensis (southern subdivision of Lusitania province) and Serpa was settled by Roman settlers. The archeological remains of a Roman Villa today lie close to Serpa.
The Moors settled in Serpa after their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula and remained until their defeat at the hands of Portuguese forces fighting their way south during the period of the Reconquista (the Christian re-conquest of Iberia).
As a result of Serpa's proximity to the Spanish border, the town has always been a defensive stronghold and today is still surrounded by thick castle walls. The town castle stands in the middle of town and is partly damaged as a result of the last Spanish invasion.
Owing to its rich past, Serpa offers much in historical interest to visitors, including archeological sites, the town walls, the castle, the aqueduct, the clock tower, the town's museum and numerous interesting old churches.
The area surrounding Serpa consists mostly of wheat farms and wheat has traditionally been the staple of the local economy employing many people. Due to the area's strong agricultural reliance much of the area's people have traditionally been peasants or sheep herders.
After the Portuguese Revolution of 1974 the Portuguese Communist Party gained strong support in the area and its popularity continues to this day.
Today many urban residents of Lisbon, Beja and other cities maintain country homes in Serpa or take weekend breaks to the area as a result of Serpa's rural location and laid back lifestyle.
Serpa is famous for its cheese, a spicy and strong-smelling cheese made in the area and eaten throughout Portugal, although a good one is now hard to find. Other local and regional specialties include Shepherd's Lamb Stew, a Clam and Pork dish and Sweet Potato Pastries. Slightly to the northeast, Pias 38°1′16″N 7°28′39″W is known for its wine.
The municipal holiday is Holy Tuesday.

http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpa

Nikon D40X
2012/07/13 14:05:54.9
Compressed RAW (12-bit)
Image Size: Large (3872 x 2592)
Color
Lens: 10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 G
Focal Length: 10mm
Exposure Mode: Manual
Metering Mode: Spot
1/400 sec - F/9
Exposure Comp.: 0 EV
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Optimize Image: Custom
White Balance: Preset
AF Mode: AF-S
Color Mode: Mode IIIa (sRGB)
Tone Comp.: More Contrast
Hue Adjustment: +3°
Saturation: Enhanced
Sharpening: Medium high
Long Exposure NR: Off
VR Control: Off
High ISO NR: Off

Reserved copyrights: The present photograph is intellectual workmanship protected by law 9610/98 being forbidden to the reproduction for any way without the previous authorization in writing it author. Please contact Gonçalo Lopes

Highmountains, JRushen, Budapestman, kato, Graal, ikeharel, baddori, timecapturer, jlbrthnn, adramad, bukitgolfb301, jhm, delpeoples, PecoBud, josepmarin, Angshu ha puntuado esta nota como útil.

Critiques | Translate

jemaflor (148248) 2012-08-08 12:21

Hi Goncalo,
Well framed, good fg with this ground, nice village, the whie walls are well captured, good exposure.

Budapestman (82620) 2012-08-08 15:55

Hi Goncalo,
a beautiful peaceful atmosphere with attractive composition and warm lights. Nostalgic and lovely view, Tfs! Have a nice week! Kellemes hetet kívánok!
György

pierrefonds (115546) 2012-08-08 18:10

Hi Goncalo,

The length of of the stairs is giving depth to the composition. The point of view is showing the details and colors of the stairs and of the houses. The afternoon light is giving nice tints to the colors. Have a nice day.

Pierre

kato (11630) 2012-08-08 18:41

Hello Goncalo,

You're capturing well this cityscape by a good composition and excellent tone/clarity, so it's interesting and impresive to see a lot of houses with white wall and red roof. You catch well this scene from a good angle of stair's top. And, the entire color is harmonized and balanced beautifully.
Have a nice week.

Kind regards,
mikio

Graal (103040) 2012-08-08 23:59

Hi Goncalo,
another interesting place in Serpa. Nice perspective of stairs. Pleasant peaceful atmosphere here. Good note and photowork.
Have a nice day.
Aleksander

rbellemare (2109) 2012-08-09 0:44

Hello Gonzalo,

Great shot of this beautiful village. This stair path in very interesting and is surely the central point of this picture.

Regards,

Réjean

ikeharel (114605) 2012-08-09 2:27

Ola Goncalo,
Good DOF and clearity collected, on a super bright day.
Looks as it was a siesta time as nobody stroll along there. I like the natural colors on.
Regards
Ike

baddori (20341) 2012-08-09 2:32

Gonçalo
As linhas limpas e definição de volume perfeito.
O limite videnza branco e outras cores.
Profundidade e as escadas para baixo.
Pela partilha de boas-vindas.
Gianfranco

dkmurphys (79209) 2012-08-09 4:45

Ola Goncalo,
Lovely stairs that goes into the white calm town. Well taken POV, good shot!

Daniel

timecapturer (49288) 2012-08-09 4:59

Hi Goncalo
well it does not get an more inviting than this composition. Superb lines and light that just entices the viewer to trip on down the steps and explore further. Intense light inside this shot that just exudes a real sense of a hot summer sun beating down.

Kind Regards - Brian.

Silvio1953 (222925) 2012-08-09 5:02

Ciao Goncalo, great perspective on lovely village, excellent clarity, splendid light and colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

abmdsudi (95869) 2012-08-09 6:46

Hi Goncalo
It's wise decision to have emphasized much of the textured pavement in the fg and extending the depth into the far end and you managed to register the main subjects of contrasty brown and white old houses in the bg. The lighting really catches on the the main interest holding the focus in and boosting the overall effect and perspective. Nice coloring, sharpness and pleasant to view, Congrats, TFS
Best regards

jlbrthnn (76043) 2012-08-09 8:47

Oi Gonçalo,
A aldeia esmagado pela luz e calor é maravilhoso, desse ponto de vista levantado. O nettté e profundidade são excelentes. Bravo.
Bom dia.
Amicalement
Joël

cornejo (61504) 2012-08-09 9:54

Oi Gonçalo, tiro muito bom dessas belas casas brancas imaculadas do Alentejo. Imagem muito boa, tecnicamente muito bem e com qualidade. Excelente trabalho e lindo o meu amigo, meus parabéns. Tfs.
Boa tarde e fim de semana feliz.
Com os melhores cumprimentos e melhores votos.
Angel.

adramad (73450) 2012-08-09 10:20

Hola Gonçalo.
Magnifica foto en esta bonita villa, calles desiertas, buen sol y sopongo que tambien calor.... me gusta la perspectiva de la calle en bajada y la uniformidad de las casas en altura, con sus blancas fachadas y sus tejados rojos, la pavimentacion de la calle da un bonito toque de grafismo con esos dos colores.
Muy buena la gestion de las luces, con un bonito colorido muy natural. Buen trabajo.
Un abrazo.
Luis.

bukitgolfb301 (54014) 2012-08-09 19:17

Hi dear Goncalo, how are you?

Sorry for my late reaction to your latest posting, just posting my shots, as I have beeen so busy for several mattres.
This is another great shot, presenting typical South Euroean image in Summer! Marvelous color touch, good daylight catch and perfect framework. You very well described so mauch tasteful atmosphere that makes us relaxvery much. Thanks for your sharing and have a nice last working day!

Takero from Tokyo

lousat (139990) 2012-08-10 2:36

Hi Goncalo,this south portugal corner remember me the greek villages whit this white houses..eheh..a beautiful long perspective and a great light management,details and colors,i like it! Have a nice weekend and thanks,Luciano

Fis2 (171937) 2012-08-10 12:59

Witaj Goncalo!
Bardzo ciekawe schody.
Dobry kadr i perspektywa.
£adne ¶wiat³o i kolorystyka.
Pozdrawiam
Krzysztof

pajaran (117063) 2012-08-10 13:34

Dobro vece.
Vrlo interesantan i dobar tekst o Serpi, i istorija ...
Lep pogled na stepenice i lepe kuce sa crvenim krovovima, na selu.
Dobra ostrina snimka, kontrast i perpsektiva, lepe boje.
Dobra kompozicija, lepe stepenice i arhitektura.
Dobar tekst sa datim podacima o upotrebljenoj tehnici i elementima snimka.
Prijatno vece i sve najbolje za vikend.
Srecno.
Paja.

Boa noite.
Artigo muito interessante e bom em Serpa, ea história ...
Bela vista da escada e belas casas com telhados vermelhos da aldeia.
Nitidez da imagem, contraste e perspectivas, cores muito bonitas.
Uma boa composição, bela arquitetura e escada.
Bom texto com os dados fornecidos para a técnica utilizada e os elementos da imagem.
Noite agradável e tudo de melhor para o fim de semana.
Boa sorte.
Paja.

aliabazari (23259) 2012-08-10 20:25

Olá
Esta é uma bela tacada. Quadro muito bom, com bela iluminação e cores.
Obrigado.

Royaldevon (86478) 2012-08-10 23:01

Ola Goncalo,

A fine viewpoint, where the fence and the opposing wall help to funnel the viewer deep into the shot.
It was obviously a bright time of the day but you have controlled the conditions well and given us some intersting, textural details.

Have a lovely w/e,
Bev :-)

jhm (211738) 2012-08-11 0:31

Hello Gonçalo,

You use the stair on a perfectly way, this gives depth and perspective to the picture.
Also leads these stair us lovely toward the white houses.
Excellent composition, lovely presentation.
Very well done, TFS.

Have a nice weekend,
John.

jmdias (116477) 2012-08-11 3:05

gonçalo

uma foto com enquadramento difícil, eu talvez tivesse dado um passo ou dois mais à esquerda, usando um pouco mais da cerca, mas vc na verdade queria apanhar a textura do piso. lindos elementos urbanos e pedaços diferentes bem espalhados dentro da compo. o sol estava terrível, bem de meio-dia, a imagem transmite essa sensação de fornalha alentejana.bem feito.

abraços

jorge

mohammad_H (10178) 2012-08-11 4:25

Olá
Paisagem muito bonita, com fachadas atraentes e construir a escada com um design interessante
Fotos adicionadas à beleza do fundo do céu azul
Resolução muito boa
Tenha um bom dia

delpeoples (60342) 2012-08-11 6:59

Ola dear Goncalo

Have you been on holiday? We have missed you!

You bring us another characteristic and charming town. I love the strong white tones and the graphism of the pavement and stairs. A lovely shot, evidencing the fascinating local architecture so well.

Parabéns, um abraco
Lisa

TopGeo (38220) 2012-08-11 7:46

Hello Gonzalo,

Great shot of this beautiful village

Very impressive photo, perfect in any aspect! Excellent perspective, fantastic "lead in" line!
Great composition and framing, excellent light management, wonderful colours, impressive sky! Congratulations!
Georgios

lakshmip1949 (19081) 2012-08-12 6:01

Hello Goncalo,

A lovely village with peaceful atmosphere. I like the white walls and red roofs making a nice color contrast. I like the inclusion of the stone paved stairs leading to the village. Nice colors, texture and sharpness.

Lakshmi

Cricri (176) 2012-08-12 9:21

Hola Congalo
Bel effet graphique des escaliers descendent vers le village de maison blanche aux toit rouge, beau contraste du blanc et du bleu du ciel
Belle soirée
cricri

PecoBud (3824) 2012-08-12 18:50

Beautiful curvature of stone work here, giving us a dizzying DOF. Excellent colors and light management and with superb clarity. Your POV is very artistic and well thought out, great presentation here Goncalo!!

TFS.......Your Friend from California..........Buddy

josepmarin (59385) 2012-08-16 4:29

Olá, amigo Gonçalo,
gracias a tu espléndido trabajo fotográfico podemos conocer bellos pueblos y bellos rincones de Portugal, algo que es muy bienvenido para los que amamos viajar, como nosotros, y que además solamente conocemos Lisboa en tu país.
Has captado la sencilla y serena belleza de esta arquitectura tradicional, tan blanca, con sus tejados rojos, bajo una luz directa del mediodía que has controlado perfectamente, alcanzando una exposición muy equilibrada.
Es un bello trabajo.
Um abraço,
Pili e Josep

emka (158826) 2012-08-16 23:33

Hi Goncalo, Nice view from the top of the stairs. I like these houses all white and red roofs. very nice composition.

WArm regrads

MAlgo

Angshu (56760) 2013-02-21 3:08

Ola Goncalo
The lead-in with the pattern on the stairs is well achieved and the down ward slope is quite apparent. The white houses with the red tiled roofs look nice under the clear blue sky.
Um Abraco
Angshu