Anta do Curral das Galhordas I, a photo from Portalegre, South

Photographer's Note

This is another dolmen (or anta, like is popularly known in Portugal) that is located only some Kms from the one I posted the other day.

This is a HDRI, made by merging two shots with exposures differing 2 EV. One is mostly used to the darker parts and the other for the lighter ones.

I posted also two alternative pov's as WS's (1, 2).

Dolmens are the oldest `monuments� we can find in Western Europe. As far as I know, most or all of them were built at least 5000 years ago and they were tombs, (actually not every archaeologist is fully convinced of that). Those in better shape still preserve the cover stone that make them look a bit like huge mushrooms or tables (the word derives from the antique Breton word that means 'stone table'). I have written something more on the earlier post mentioned above.

Location (latitude, longitude): 39.4612,-7.5446

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Update 26-Jul-2007: I posted a panoramic photo of this place.

31-Jul-2007 update: I have posted 3 views of the zone taken from the hills that are visible on the right (1, 2, 3).

You can browse all my posts taken this day on this region on this "travelogue".

jwmunro, Docarmo, danos, riclopes, jmcl, JCG, pboehringer, xuaxo, maloutim, adores, paura has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

mfonda (891) 2007-06-22 22:14

Hi Jose,

Great shot!
I think you execute the HDR technique perfectly here; it is very good here because the image still seems natural- it does not have the almost unreal look some HDRs do.
Photo wise, I love the composition here, and good choice to include the tree branch in the upper left.
Nice work, thanks for sharing!

-Matt

jwmunro (286) 2007-06-22 22:36

Hello Jose -

A very nice image captured in some very pleasing light. All of the technical details seem to be spot on the money. I did not know that Dolmen's were found on the Continent. All of the Dolmen's that I have seen have been on the British and Irish Islands. Interesting! Well done.

Thank you for sharing.

John

Docarmo (9767) 2007-06-22 23:45

Ol� Jos�,
Gostei das tr阺 apresenta珲es, sendo que a principal, acima, tem um jogo de luz e sombra, associado � nitidez pur韘sima, tudo dando a impress鉶 de que, se estendermos a m鉶, vamos realmente tocar as pedras. Parab閚s!
Maria do Carmo

danos (110407) 2007-06-23 3:33

Good morning my friend Jose,
very nice your lessons about dolmens i'm ready to give my examinations for my diplomatic,i'm joking of course.Excellent your shot with the HDRI method.Well managed colours,light and contrast.The perspective and the POV are great.The branches of the tree give a nice stroke in your capture.Well done.
Have a good weekend,Danos

PS How do you merge the two shots? With Photoshop?

vincz (19113) 2007-06-23 6:54

Looks very familair, like a landscape and dolmen from Brittany. vert surprising to see how you find the same in Portugal. The picture is very plesant with grat soft light, very good details and textures on the stones.

danyy (0) 2007-06-23 16:36

Bonjour Jose,
je pr閒鑢e nettement cette prise sans retouche, que le pr閏閐ente. Les lumi鑢es naturelles et les contrastes ici sont assez bien que pour ne pas les retravailler ou du moins, pas trop.
J'aime beaucoup la m閠hode HDR, demain en principe, je pars faire des photos en bracketing pour appliquer cette technique.
Best regards.
Daniel.

feather (51130) 2007-06-23 18:30

I thought at first this was the same place as your previous post as it is very similar. Your three images make a perfect presentation to show this place. All three images could have made a main post. You are becoming an expert at merging different exposures and are managing well to make them look natural.
Well done
Kath

riclopes (35577) 2007-06-24 3:31

Bom dia Jos�, gosto muito dos dois WSs e acho que at� prefiro o WS2 a este, devido ao enquadramento com a 醨vore e campo verdejante que faz um 1� plano muito bonito. As 鷏timas tentativas que fiz para encontrar estas antas, deram-me muito trabalho e os resultados n鉶 me satisfizeram - est鉶 muito escondidas e tirando uma ou outra, n鉶 s鉶 muito impressionates, mas tamb閙 n鉶 andei no s韙io certo. Tenho que ver melhor a galeria da Anabela. J� lhe fiz uma visita, mas ela agora foi de f閞ias...
Um abra鏾,
ricardo

jmcl (14535) 2007-06-24 14:38

Hi Jos�,

I am fascinated by these ancient place .. the leafless tree and the long shadows add to the sense of mystery about it ..the image has a wonderful sense dimension and depth. Nice job with the exposure.

take care,

John

UnTrained (0) 2007-06-25 9:36

Ol� Jos�,
this close version is very natural balanced in the result, very much apreciated. It is a good composition with the leaves and the surrounding landscape, as the dolmen is very much in focus, the centering is quite good. The textures on the stones are well done.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

JCG (35153) 2007-06-25 14:06

Hi Jos�,

Very interesting places of history and photographed very well. Qualities of the images are superb, I like much the management of the lights which gives interesting and pleasant colors in particular those of the stone. I like much the panorama in complementary photograph which deserves a publication. The photograph is well balanced and the sky is splendid. Beautiful work, cheer and thank you Jos�.

With all my friendships and a good evening,

Jean-Charles

pboehringer (770) 2007-06-26 11:11

Jose, a very nice and simple documentary shot of this dolmen. You got a very warm light and I love how you included the flora in your shot. The tree branch on the upper left corner, the grasses around the dolmen and the tree in the backdrop provides good additional elements to the "dead" stones. The clouds are on the limit to be overexposed, but certainly better after your HDR treatment.

xuaxo (6854) 2007-06-26 12:53

Ol� Jos�,
Bela foto de uma anta, apesar de sem o aspecto tradicional.
� curioso, gosto do c閡 nesta foto, apesar de quase todo branco, o que normalmente � desagrad醰el.
Um abra鏾,
F

maloutim (13617) 2007-07-04 2:19

Bonsoir Jos�!
Tr鑣 jolie composition avec ce dolmen un peu d閒onc�, bien encadr� par un beau ciel nuageux, par la lande, et par cette branche d'arbre qui d閏ore le tout.
Je croyais na飗ement que les dolmens et les menhirs, comme leur nom l'indique 閠aient une sp閏ialit� de la Bretagne. Je suis donc tr鑣 contente d'apprendre qu'il y en a aussi beaucoup au Portugal.
Ces m間alithes me fascinent moi aussi; j'ai fait quelques recherches et j'ai emprunt� certaines photos que je vais te poster en WS.
Amicalement.
Marie Louise.

[workshop] [compare] +

adores (46979) 2007-07-04 12:23

Al� Jos�!
Vejo que continuas a descobrir os dolmens do Alentejo. Tenho que continuar tamb閙,est� complicado mas tenho alguns em agenda que quero fazer.Ficou bastante bem, gosto do detalhe do ramo da 醨vore e as cores est鉶 bastante boas. Tambem est� em propriedade particular? � que por aqui est鉶 quase todas.

paura (25802) 2007-12-10 18:59

Jos�,
Uma fotografia boa pelo que mostra, de novo para muitos de n髎 como eu. A composi玢o tamb閙 est� boa, com elementos propiciando boa profundidade de campo.

Abra鏾

Paulo