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25th April — 25 de Abril — is Portuguese Freedom Day

Today, 25th April, is a national holiday in Portugal. It is the anniversary of the Carnation Revolution and this day commemorates the start of the bloodless military coup which with the help of civil resistance led to the fall of the Estado Novo bringing democracy and civil liberties to the Portuguese people and the withdrawal of Portugal from its African colonies. It brought to an end nearly five decades of dictatorship (1937-1974).

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The Alternative Horizon Tutorial: How to Create Great Portrait Images for Online Publication

Here are some composition lessons learned from my recent photo challenge for getting great images for blog article.

First the basics

1 Read the manual — know your camera, learn what each button does, which the flash is, which the backlight, which is the timer is and how to control the zoom.

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Alentejo Landscapes in Portrait

This was a photographic challenge — to share my backyard/neighbourhood landscapes in portrait format instead of traditional landscape format.

This first view is across the fields towards the small mountain range called Serra do Cercal, you can see the aqueduct which is part of a huge irrigation project in the region crossing the valley and the fire breaks in the forested mountain slopes behind.

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Marching to the Beat of the Sun

I awaken each morning to the soft early light of the rising sun as it filters through the window shutters directly onto my pillow. Its arrival means it is time to rise and shine — no alarm clocks needed here.

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Things that Go Bump in the Night in Alcácer do Sal

Today we returned to the house in Alcácer do Sal, time to photograph and measure up rooms ready for advertising the house for sale. I have to say it looks and feels much better in the sunlight.

This must be my fifth or sixth visit to the house, we went up and back in a day today but we have spent one night there in the past. I was reminded of that today as I lay down for a ten minute rest in the heat of the afternoon.

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Exploring Portugal: Alentejo and Beja

Beja is the administrative centre for Southern Alentejo and it was administration that took us there today. Mr P had to renew one of his residence permits — there are several — so he could renew his driving licence.

Beja has been a strategically valuable population centre since Celtic times. It was named Pax Julia by Julius Caesar in 48 BC. Emperor Augustus renamed the thriving town “Pax Augusta”. Next to take over the region were the Visigoths, the town then fell to the invading Umayyad army in 713. This was the start of approximately 1000 years of warring between Christians, Muslims and the Moors. The inhabitants of the city have been massacred and the buildings razed to the ground more than once in it violent history. In spite of all this destruction and reconstruction it retains a certain historic charm.

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Aspects of Alentejo: Wine

Alentejo is becoming famous for its wines and rightly so. The North of Portugal, specifically the Douro region, has a long history in wine production.  Alentejo is catching up quickly both in terms of quantity and quality. Wine is Alentejo’s biggest export accounting for nearly 40% of their exports to a wide variety of countries, including Australia, China, Angola and the Americas.

Most of Alentejo’s wine production is centred in the area of Vidigueira to the east of the region in the hot centre of the country although some producers are now expanding to the coastal area where we currently live.

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