The climate in most of Europe is temperate, with an alternation of two contrasting seasons, with appreciable variation in temperature, humidity and solar radiation between seasons.

Portugal has a Mediterranean-type climate with hot, dry and long summers, without rain and clear sky, and generally mild, rainy winters (in recent years, rain has been concentrated in autumn or spring, very irregular and with episodes of large rainfall).

Snow is rare and only occurs in the highest mountains and the northern interior. Trees are an element that greatly influences the landscape, and deciduous trees can determine large chromatic variations. On the other hand, the irregularity of rainfall creates large variations in river water flows. In Portugal, many rivers almost dry up in summer but have a stormy flow in winter. These factors are of the utmost importance for landscape photography.

In much of the country, we can visit the same places throughout the year and be surprised by the variation in the landscape. That's what happened to me when I visited the Bestanca River in Prado a few days ago. In my portfolio, I have an image taken last spring, in March. The sky was clear on both occasions, and the sun was shining. The Bestança Valley is especially rich in deciduous trees. In March, the new leaves started forming; now they are turning yellow.

The river still had a strong flow; now that the autumn rains have not yet arrived, the flow is very weak. To try to capture the great virtue and calm of the site, I used a very long exposure with a neutral density filter and a small lens aperture. The Hasselblad was set in uncropped mode.