Picture Story
I was driving through the interior region of Odemira, in the southwest part of the Alentejo province of Portugal, when I noticed this secluded valley by the side of the road. I parked the car on the berm and walked along the road, trying to find a good viewpoint from which to take a photo.
This is an area I know very well and which I have visited during several seasons. This time around, the landscape is covered in green in late December, thanks to the recent rainfall.
This image is quite representative of the region’s rural character, with a succession of gentle hills and valleys, with often abandoned farmhouses. In this location, the early morning light illuminated the hillside and started to descend to light the bottom of the valley. I like how the line of naked trees provides both a break in the topography and a color contrast with the dominant green and blue of the image.
I used my standard APSC format 33mm lens to frame the scene; in fact, I only had two lenses in my backpack because I was on my way to walk one of the region’s trails, and on such occasions, I prefer to travel light. The lens's angle of view was adequate to include the foreground with the valley still partly shaded, the middle ground with the trees, and the background with the hill and farmhouse. After finding a good spot, I chose an aperture of f/8 to ensure a good depth of field. After taking this photo, I returned to my car to resume my journey.
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Dimitri Vasileiou • Editor