Pink vs White, a photo from Aveiro, North

Photographer's Note

No tour of Northern Portugal is complete without a visit to Buзaco, a mountain forest located just northeast of Coimbra on the way to Viseu. Buзaco is a delightful refuge of cypress groves, ferns, statues, fountains, and formal gardens.

The Buзaco Forest was first settled by Benedictine monks in the 6th Century. Later, it was administered by priests from Coimbra Cathedral, and a Papal edict of 1622 declared that women entering the forest would be excommunicated.

The Discalced Carmelites, an order of barefooted monks, took over in 1628. They built a monastery and surrounded the 250-acre (105-hectare) forest with a wall. Over the centuries, the monks and the government foresters who succeeded them have planted nearly 400 Portuguese varieties of trees, shrubs, and flowers while importing some 300 species from as far away as Mexico, Chile, and Japan.

In 1810, 66,000 French troops attacked the Duke of Wellington and his army of British and Portuguese soldiers during the unsuccessful Napoleonic invasion of Portugal. The forest survived, and so did the monastery--although it fell into government hands in 1834, when monasteries were abolished throughout Portugal.

Later in the 19th Century, the Portuguese royal family commissioned an Italian operatic scene painter and architect to build a summer palace and hunting lodge in the Buзaco Forest. The building (see photo above) was completed in 1907, shortly before the assassination of the king and crown prince. The king's Swiss chef obtained government permission to turn the palace into a hotel in 1910, and guests have been wallowing in pseudo-Manueline architecture and Edwardian comforts ever since.

This is my visit card... ;)))

jmdaoudal, isamar, leonorkuhn, ChrisJ, jhm, nwoehnl, papagolf21, dsidwell, supereira, pamastro has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

jmdaoudal (82) 2005-09-22 4:17

Could be a "sanguine" with these fallen flowers.
Good succession in the perspective of the red and white. The is also this "tunnel" wich gives a nice aspect to the place.
I like the composition.
jean Michel

isamar (1424) 2005-09-22 5:39

Lindнssimo caminho.
Gosto do pormenor do banco!Bonitas cores.

dkeus31 (27739) 2005-09-22 5:55

Hi Carlos,
superb buccolic place.
Nice colors and perspective.
Regards,
Didier

leonorkuhn (16237) 2005-09-22 8:12

Olб Carlos,
Que composiзгo poйtica, o chгo salpicado de flores. Com certeza um local maravilhoso para se caminhar e apreciar a natureza. O enquadramento estб уtimo, a perspectiva formada pelo caminho, a luz suave. Belo trabalho.
Abraзos,
Leonor

ChrisJ (171340) 2005-09-22 8:25

Ola Carlos

I like the diminishing linear perspective, of the flower strewn path. Excellent color & sharpness. Obrigado & parabens!

jhm (211734) 2005-09-23 12:46

Hi Carlos,
Congratulations with your 100th photograph on TE, I hope more see pictures in future, the autumn give very lovely colours, excellent depth through the road, good perspective too.
Have a nice weekend,
John.

nwoehnl (122) 2005-09-23 12:53

Hi Spoony. An interesting still-life with the fallen blossoms in April. Nice colors and a good shooting angle to give us a light perspective around the gently bending walkway in the forest. The areas where the light is breaking through are well rendered, too.

papagolf21 (152605) 2005-09-23 14:38

Bonsoir Carlos,
Une bien belle carte de visite ! Un chemin couvert de pйtales, croulant sous la voыte des glycines. Serait-ce l'allйe qui conduit au Paradis ?
Trиs belle prise de vue Carlos.
Bravo !
Amitiйs.
Merci pour la note.
Philippe

dsidwell (9783) 2005-09-23 20:47

Happy 100th, Carlos! This image is fun. I like the leading lines of the path and how they lead the eye through the photo. Very nice work!

supereira (9576) 2005-09-24 10:06

Bonita foto.Gosto do ambiente.Boa composiзгo e ponto de vista.Bonitas cores,luminosidade,nitidez e texturas.Gosto do detalhe das flores.Bom trabalho!

Galmeida (12559) 2005-09-24 13:35

Olб Carlos,
Os meus parabens pelo seu 100 no TE. Agradeзo tambйm a sua visita а minha obra. De facto como tambйm disse eu igualmente tambйm nunca me tinha apercebido da sua obra. Sгo inumeros os membros que por aqui andam e muitas vezes em horas diferentes. Comentarei tambйm uma previa do seu excelente Portfolio.

Gosto deste enquadramento vertical e perspectiva que tomou. Excelentes cores, contraste e captura da luminosidade existente. De acto й um branco com o cor de rosa no caminho. Bonita foto dentro do petico e bucolico do Buзaco.

Parabйns e bom fim de semana.
Fernando

Kenny10pin (19301) 2005-09-25 11:52

the pinkish red gets my vote, very good and well spotted with the bench too, well done

Jeppe (18654) 2005-09-25 16:38

A nice moody atmosphere you captured here - the different colours of dead flowers and the bend (and bench) gives the feeling of autumn, even this must have been spring - thanks Carlos for sharing your visit card and congratulation with your shot #100.

pamastro (7296) 2005-09-26 23:34

Beautiful mix of colors here in this one Carlos. The vines are beautiful, especially the mix between the different textures and colors. The path is serene and calm in its emptiness. The petals on the ground and the empty bench gives it a romantic atmosphere. And the perspective draws the eye into and around the curve, letting the imagination imagine what is there. Perhaps it could be cropped, about half way between the bottom and the bottom of the bench. But still it is beautifully photographed.

sergio1 (12152) 2005-10-12 13:43

Hola carlos,

Bonita profundidad de esta foto y los colores estбn muy bien. Buena POV.
Saludos

Benedict (7076) 2007-06-20 1:26

hi carlos,
a cluttered beauty!! well composed with light and clarity managed so well.
mais desse tipo. parabens....
benedict

r021251 (3917) 2007-12-02 5:33

Quelle beautй ces fleurs, beau concept de prise d,image
Bravo great shot and super colors ,perfect for me this post
Rйal.