I kicked off my first ever visit to Europe in Portugal where I spent three weeks having an unscripted wander. I started in Porto and made my way to Coimbra in the centre of Portugal. From Coimbra I Travelled to the delightful little town of Tavira in the Algarve. I left my heart in Tavira and went to the capital of Lisbon before flying to Paris for a week of street photography.
Portugal is such a cool country. Great scenery, amazing food and friendly people. There is nothing not to like about this beautiful country.
What was in my bag for this 4 week wander? I took very little in the way of camera gear, trying to be as minimalistic as I could be. My entire kit consisted of: One Canon 5D Mark iii camera body, a Canon 24-105mm f4 lens, a Canon 50mm 1.4 lens as a backup in case I dropped the 24/105 and for low light situations, a circular polarizing filter, a three stop and ten stop neutral density filter and a small cleaning kit. For a tripod I took a knock off Gorillapod that I bought in Vietnam for $15USD before I left to which I fitted a ball head that I already had.
This kit served me well. Everything that I needed and nothing that I didn't. The 24/105 had enough zoom for most situations. I would have preferred to take my 24/70mm for the faster f2.8 aperture but I knew that 70mm was going to be just too short. The "gorilla pod worked well when I needed a stable platform but given it's cost I made sure to keep the camera tethered to my arm when I was shooting with it on bridges or near water :)
Below are a small selection of my favorite shots from my first stop in Porto, Portugal.
A building decorated with Azulejo tiles glows in the light of a Porto sunrise.
Porto city is dominated by the Tower of Clergies, one of only four oval shaped churches in the world.
Romance lives.
Portugal's national sweet the mouth waveringly delicious Pastel De Nata. #mymy
Portuguese clothes dryer. A common scene through Portugal is washing hanging from windows.
Porto city and the Douro River.
Abbey Road meets Harry Potter. University students in their traditional black capes cross the street.